Dragon's Lair CD-ROM A rambling walkthrough by Steve Derby (sderby@netcom.com) In the early 1980s as a teenager, I (like many teenagers) had a paper route to earn a little extra spending money. Being the young carefree soul that I was, most of that extra spending money went directly from my pocket to the local video arcade. The lion's share of the money went (at 50 cents a pop!) went to Dragon's Lair. I shudder to think how much I had spent before finally defeating the loathesome Singe and rescuing the beautiful Daphne. Many years later, I readily bought Readysoft's diskette versions of the game, only to be disappointed by the poor animation and shortness of the games (in 3 parts, even). Years after that, I bought a CD-ROM unit and (only for testing purposes, of course :) purchased a copy of the CD-ROM version of Dragon's Lair. It was like being transported back in time. (Though I guess that would be Dragon's Lair II, wouldn't it?) The large capacity of CD-ROMs had allowed Dragon's Lair to be played on a PC almost in its entirety. (Purists will note that a few scenes from the arcade version, like the burning vines and the falling platform have been eliminated, but almost everything is there.) Anyway, on with the walkthrough: General notes: - The CD-ROM version of Dragon's Lair is somewhat forgiving about timing, but it's still important in some areas. I've tried to indicate timing in the walkthrough where it's important. - All movements are given in uppercase: LEFT, RIGHT, UP, DOWN, SWORD. - Many of the scenes have two versions: one is a mirror image of the other. I've indicated the ones I know about, but if I've missed any, just replace the LEFTs with RIGHTs and vice versa. - The moves I've listed work for me. In some cases, I've probably included unnecessary moves (particularly at the end of scenes). These extra moves won't hurt you, in any case. - The scenes probably won't appear in the order listed: they appear in a quasi-random order, with a few fixed ones. - If you find this walkthrough helpful or have any comments or criticisms, please drop me a line: sderby@netcom.com DRAWBRIDGE AND CRUMBLING ROOM (Beginning) When Dirk falls through the bridge and the tentacles emerge from the moat, SWORD, then quickly move UP. Dirk will run into a room which begins to crumble around him. When the door on the right opens, move RIGHT. GREEN TENTACLES As soon as the first tentacle slithers out from the hole in the ceiling, SWORD. Wait until the scene changes (the door will flash), then move RIGHT. Jump BACK and when tentacles begin to come down the stairs, jump LEFT and UP through the door. SNAKES, SNAKES, EVERYWHERE When you hear the hissing of the first snake, SWORD. SWORD the second snake, then move RIGHT to release the rope and escape. EARTHQUAKE ROOM This scene, one of my favorite in the game, has two versions. When Dirk first enters the room, note which side his sword is on. You'll be moving the direction first. The directions are for the first moving being to the right. If your scene is reversed, reverse and the LEFT and RIGHT actions. When the floor begins to crumble, run RIGHT, then UP when the scene changes. The floor will continue to crumble, so move LEFT, then UP to jump into the pool. Go RIGHT to exit the pool and UP when Dirk steps on the pressure plate. A spider will emerge from the ceiling. Quickly SWORD it, and move UP fast to leave the room. THE GIDDY-GOONS As soon as the first goon appears, SWORD it, and quickly move RIGHT towards the stairs. The scene will shift somewhat, then go UP the stairs. When more goons appear in front of DIRK, SWORD them and go UP through the door. SLIDING STAIRS This scene MAY have a mirror-image. I'm not entirely sure. The first move will be the direction Dirk is walking at the beginning of the scene. When the shot changes to a close-up of Dirk's face, move LEFT (the direction Dirk was walking). When tentacles emerge from the pit, swing your SWORD at them, and move left away from the pit. Don't be fooled into pulling that chain! Instead, move LEFT towards the porthole, then LEFT again to leave. FLYING WEAPONRY This is one of those mirror-image scenes, but there's only one lateral move in it. As soon as you enter the room, draw your SWORD. An enchanted sword will fly into the air, SWORD it out of the way. Next, a morning star will fly into the air. SWORD it, too. Don't attack the anvil, though, move move LEFT (away from the fire) to avoid it. SWORD the flying spear out of the way, and SWORD the statue when it begins to move. SPINNING BATONS Timing is crucial with this scene. Watch carefully as Dirk approaches the batons. He will extend one of his hands (it's a mirror-image scene so it could be the left or the right, but it doesn't matter) and begin to duck deeply. Count the number of times he ducks. As he ducks for the third time, run UP. The staff at the end of the catwalk will glow: better SWORD it, and move DOWN quickly. Move UP through the door, avoiding the thorny branches. MAGIC CLOSING WALL This one is easy. Move UP. FIRE AND LIGHTNING The timing is tricky with this scene. After the bench falls and ignites, move RIGHT quickly. As soon as (or even just before) the lightning strikes, move UP then immediately DOWN. Move LEFT to avoid the fire and LEFT again to leave the room. RIDE 'EM, COWBOY! This is a mirror scene. The first move will be the OPPOSITE of the direction the horse is facing when Dirk enters the room. Make one move very quickly each time the scene changes to avoid fire and walls: RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT (or vice-versa). THE BLACK KNIGHT Aside from Singe's lair, this is probably the most difficult scene in the game. It's also a mirror-image scene. Note which hand the knight's sword is in when the scene begins: your first move will be in the OPPOSITE direction. Make the first move immediately, then make one move every time Dirk starts to jump: LEFT, RIGHT, UP, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT. SWORD to draw the sword, and SWORD again to destroy the nights. LAUGHING HORSEMAN When the horseman appears, move LEFT. When he appears again, move LEFT again. The third time he appears, move RIGHT, then RIGHT again to jump into the hole and escape. CRUMBLING CATWALK Move UP and UP again to avoid plummeting to your death. When you reach a fork, move DOWN to duck the bats, and SWORD at the bats. Quickly run RIGHT, then jump RIGHT to escape. MORE BATS SWORD at the bats to get them out of your way and run LEFT. When the stairs begin to crumble, move LEFT to jump across. SWORD the giant bat which will appear and move LEFT through the door. THE LIZARD KING Uh oh! Dirk has lost his sword! Better go get it! Move LEFT to follow the sword, then as Dirk reaches the end of each hallway, move RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, and RIGHT (there are 5 hallways). Finally, Dirk will reach the end of the line. Move UP to get the sword, and SWORD to swing it. Dirk will drop his sword. LEFT to retrieve it, and lunge RIGHT at the lizard king. Duck by moving DOWN and swing the SWORD to finish the reptile off. DRINK ME Don't do it! Move RIGHT. CHECKERBOARD FLOOR As soon as the floor begins to vanish, jump DOWN, then UP, UP again quickly, and immediately go through the LEFT door. DIRK'S REALLY GOT BALLS The timing is important here, but there's a pretty good window of time in which to move. To run past each of the six balls rolling past, move DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN as the ball passes Dirk, then UP to jump over the hole inconveniently placed at the end of the corridor. A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT For the rapids, wait until Dirk enters the light-colored stream in the center of the screen, then move UP, UP, UP, and UP. For the whirlpools, move away from danger (obviously): RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT. When the boat crashes, grab the chain to the RIGHT. THE MUDMEN This scene is long, but easy. SWORD at the mudmen as soon as they appear, then move UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP, UP every time the scene changes. At the end, move UP to jump over the lava. CRYSTAL BALL Dirk's hat and sword are gone and there's electricity all around. What's a wayfarer to do? Immediately, jump RIGHT. When the scene changes, jump UP, then RIGHT into the throne. The throne will spin around and electricity will follow. Run RIGHT away from the electricity. GREEN SLIME When the pot boils over, avoid the slime by jumping UP. When it comes to life, SWORD it. For that matter, SWORD the fellow coming out of the pot as well. Move RIGHT out of the room to safety. ELECTRIC CAGE A cage will clamp down around Dirk and electricity will begin approaching him. Move UP away from the electricity and UP again through the hyperactive door. Watch the bridge Dirk approaches. Once lava has spouted three times, quickly run LEFT. Look out, Dirk! You've reached... THE DRAGON'S LAIR Take a deep breath. Here we go. After Dirk survey's the room and the shot cuts back to him, move UP to steady the falling debris. Dirk will jump around on a few boxes a bit: move LEFT once he reaches the one on the right, then move LEFT again at the bottom of the pile of gold to avoid the dragon's fire. The dragon will pretend to go back to sleep and some pottery will begin to fall: move DOWN to catch it. Listen to Daphne she really wants to be saved. Uh oh! The dragon is awake now, and he's pissed! When he chases Dirk behind the green pillar, move DOWN immediately. When Dirk begins to duck, duck lower by moving DOWN again. Finally, move LEFT when dirk ducks close to the ground. When the scene shifts to Dirk running away from behind, jump UP behind a pile of gold. You're behind another pillar: move DOWN to run away, then RIGHT when the scene shifts to another behind-shot of Dirk. There's the magic sword! Get it! Run up to it with SWORD, and remove it with SWORD as well. The dragon is hot (pardon the pun) on your heels, so SWORD a third time to deflect the flame. When Singe raises his tail, move LEFT out of the way, ready the SWORD, and throw it at Singe with a final fateful SWORD. Whew! Congratulations! You've slain Singe and rescued Daphne. Give Daphne a kiss and watch the credits roll: the ending credits are nicely-done and a commercial for Space Ace (not yet available as I write this in early October 1994, as far as I know) shows up at the end. This walkthrough is Copyright 1994 Steve Derby: distribute freely in its entirety. No modifications, please. Dragon's Lair is Copyright 1983, 1993 Don Bluth and Readysoft.