Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp

Dragon's Lair 1 required memorization and timing. Dragon's Lair 2 requires the ability to observe everything on the screen and to mentally filter out the unnecessary parts. Thankfully, throughout Dragon's Lair 2, flashing objects in the background (and the cues of sound effects) are the game's way of telling you when to press up, down, left, right, or sword. Dragon's Lair 2 is more forgiving and easier to play than Dragon's Lair 1 was. Both games feature the distinctive traditional animation style of Don Bluth. Dragon's Lair 2 might offend Christians and Jews during the Garden of Eden stage. Dragon's Lair 2 might offend feminists. Dragon's Lair 2 might be too intense for children due to the many different gruesome ways that the protagonist can die when the player makes a mistake. ( That said, I personally love both games. Back when they first came to arcades, Dragon's Lair 1 and 2 were the sort of video games where a crowd of onlookers would gather behind you as you progressed ...

This continues the tradition of being more of an interactive cartoon than a traditional video game - but with some meaningful improvements. Like Space Ace, the prompts are much easier to hit than in the original Dragon’s Lair, which helps make the experience feel more manageable and less like pure guesswork. This sequel also follows a more defined sequence of events instead of the random scene order from the first game, making it feel more like a proper story rather than a chaotic highlight reel of death traps. That said, the classic mode is still punishingly vague - no prompts, no mercy. But once again, Don Bluth’s animation is the real star here. The visuals are even more colorful and unhinged than before, and it’s a treat to just watch it all unfold, even if the gameplay wears thin. It’s a product of its time, a beautifully animated oddity that straddles the line between game and cartoon.