Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair - PC

In 1983, a new era in videogames was born. At a time when the staple diet of gamers worldwide was the 2D, sprite-based shoot-em-up, all of a sudden, an entirely new concept arrived: the interactive movie. Now arcades were packed full of kids huddled round one particular machine, at the controls the lucky player had just paid £1 to actually PLAY A CARTOON!

It was crap. It basically involved watching an animation and occasionally having to move the joystick or press the button at a specific time in order to continue. But it certainly looked darn nice. And it used laser disc, which was pretty cool. Well, twenty years on and we finally have the technology to do it properly. Dragon's Lair 3D does exactly what everyone first thought the original arcade game did all that time ago, delivering a 3D platform adventure, complete with some smart looking cel-shading, in which Dirk the Daring again attempts to rescue Princess Daphne from the evil dragon Singe.

Legendary animator and creator of the original, Don Bluth, has lent a hand with the development of Dragon's Lair 3D, assisting with the creation of new designs and characters. The castle, which is the location for the core of the adventure, is made up of 16 unique areas, each with multiple rooms and dangers. And now that everything is actually interactive you can run, jump, crouch, somersault, and perform a host of other tricks as you guide the lanky hero through the treacherous environments. Along the way, Dirk can also make use of a variety of items, change weapons and drink potions in order to regain his dwindling health.

It's been a long time coming, but the classic cartoon adventure has finally realised its videogame ambitions, delivering an immersive and atmospheric adventure to the PC. And with such a brilliant plot as 'rescue the Princess', who can resist?
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