Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp

Overview

As with the original, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp consists of an animated short film that requires the player to move the joystick or press a fire button at certain times in order to continue. The game follows a traditional damsel in distress storyline where Dirk the Daring must find and rescue Daphne with the help of a well-spoken time machine. It seems that the time machine is (or has been possessed by) the brother of Mordroc, the foul wizard that has kidnapped Daphne. Dirk travels through several dimensions and historical eras searching for Daphne, some inspired by classic stories and fairy tales such as Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty, to prevent Mordroc from enslaving Daphne to his whim with the dreaded Death Ring. Voice actor Michael Rye reprises his role as the narrator in the attract sequence, as he did with Dragon's Lair as well as Space Ace.

Development

Development on the game began in 1983 after the success of the original Dragon's Lair, and finally reached arcades eight years later, hence Leland Interactive's credit on the title screen, although a commercial from Don Bluth Productions featuring completed animation from stage 3 in the game had aired on television in 1984. Gameplay differs from the original in two important ways. First, it's linear, as opposed to the randomized sequences of rooms from the first game; "dying" in the sequel also forces the player to resume from a checkpoint in the level rather than starting a randomly different level as in the original. Second, golden treasures are scattered throughout the game; getting each treasure is optional and requires an extra move, but the player is awarded extra points. The developers originally planned to include a longer battle sequence at the end if the player managed to collect all the treasures, and a shorter one if they missed any, but this idea was scrapped in the final version and the longer sequence is used regardless. In the final release of the game it was made mandatory to pick up all the treasures; if the player misses any, at the end of the game it loops back to the first treasure missed. As well, unlike in the first game, the actions the player must do are prompted by a brief flash of what Dirk should use or where he should go next.

Stages

During the course of the game, the player can optionally find and collect "treasures". In the Director's Cut version of the game, gathering all the treasures offers an alternate, shorter and easier second-to-last stage. In it, Dirk must get the Death Ring and then throw it at Mordroc. This also includes three death scenes that were not used in the final release.

Home computers

Around the time the Arcade was out, an abridged version was released for the Amiga home computers by ReadySoft. It included only some of the scenes and most stages were absent altogether. It included the introduction reaching the machine, followed by the prehistoric stage, the Garden of Eden, and the final stage.

The game was followed by Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread also by ReadySoft. it presented an original storyline with Mordroc's sister, the evil witch "Mordread". She arrives at Dirk's and Daphne's home, and absorbing both the house and Daphne into an orb. This game incorporated the stages of Wonderland and Beethoven's piano from Timewarp but also included some original sequences: an intro, a stage on a pirate ship, a stage in the time realm, and an original ending.

DVD release

Dragon's Lair II was released on DVD on April 17, 2007.

Blu-ray release

Following the release of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace in HD for Blu-ray, Digital Leisure said they were working on a Blu-ray version of Dragon's Lair II for some time in 2008. The disc was released on June 2, 2009.

An easter egg on the Space Ace Blu-ray allows the player to play the first scene of Dragon's Lair II in Blu-ray format.

Reception

Computer Gaming World called Dragon's Lair II "an exceptional program which suffers from uninteresting game-play". The magazine criticized the game for, like its predecessor, being "a long series of trial and error" instead of testing the player's ability. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the CD-i version a 7.25 out of 10, commenting that it looks and plays just as good as the arcade version, and praising the addition of collectable items. One of the reviewers dissented with the majority opinion, saying that FMV games had lost their novelty and that the game was lacking in interaction. GamePro gave it a rave review. They applauded the sharp and colorful graphics, absence of slowdown, high frame rate, realistic sound effects, and outstanding controls, elaborating that "The CD-i's circular directional pad gives you quicker, more accurate button presses that help you get past every snake, dragon, and mother-in-law in sight."