Memories From Participants

Mappy...

OK, so memories of Dragon's Lair are seeing this in the arcade for the first time and being unwilling to play it due to the massive 50p price per game! Probably in one of the Blackpool arcades as we used to holiday there regularly due to having family there. I think I probably played it once or twice and it was all over so quickly that I never really bothered again. I also remember that it had an external monitor mounted on top of the cabinet so that the assembled large crowd that were gathered around could watch the action and marvel at the amazing graphics.

Steve...

I first saw Dragon's Lair at what used to be called Mr B's Amusements on the golden mile. It was close to the Spy Hunter cab which got my attention because of the awesome controller. When I first saw DL it amazed me but the 50p price point put me off trying it. I mean why would I have one game of that when I can have 5 games of other machines? Anyway I watched a couple of people playing it and it didn't take me long to realise it was just a very pretty memory tester with little in the way of real gameplay.

Ponder...

I first saw Dragon's Lair in an arcade in London during a drinking trip with my father and his friend. I had 2 goes, the second of which I had a little bit of help with but it was expensive so that was it for that arcade. The same year it started appearing in seaside arcades with the second screen but I never played due to the cost, just watched. Amazing graphics but until you learn it is very much a cash sink.

Lucas Rainford...

My earliest memories of Dragon's Lair was seeing it on TV, it was that ground breaking it got coverage on the evening news. Later that year it appeared in our local arcade, long queue to play and always a crowd gathered watching people play. My mate and his brother could complete it and I remember they knew a unlimited life hack, they'd start a 2 player game, 2nd player completes the game leaving P1 with unlimited lives, then I could have a go 😉

10shearers...

I first saw Dragon's Lair at my local seaside arcade Fantasy Island, which housed some awesome games. But in 83 DL appeared, to say I was gob smacked is an understatement. Cartoon graphics and you can play it! 20 p one credit, lucky if I lasted 1 min on 3 lives. Time to watch the older kids and learn the moves. Completed the game in the summer of 83 but needed help on Lizard King and the larvar trolls but I got it done. Think the game disappeared in or around 85/86.

PantherUK

I'm not taking part in any scores, but I remember seeing DL in the arcades and being wowed at the age of 11, but much like the rest of you very "it costs how fucking much" as a child. Fast forward to about 1992ish and my mate Sasamisa and his brother had a full sized machine in their flat 8 floors up... I think somewhere I've still got a VHS he recorded for me from the original laser disc...

spectre...

first time I saw Dragon's Lair was in a computer magazine, but it was late 80s. I think it was a review of the Amiga port. Never saw it in the arcades back in the day, but I started to go in 1987, so maybe it had been wheeled out by then. I saw the cabinet for the first time in 2010 at the arcade museum here in Denmark but it wasn't working. A friend of mine got it for his private collection last year, so 2024 was the first time I played the actual cabinet.

Robert Morrison...

My story is pretty much the same as most. I first saw it in an arcade somewhere in my home town. It must have been a large arcade as the smaller ones didn't tend to get brand new games. I assume this cab was pretty expensive. In my memory, it cost four times as much as a regular game; that is to say $1 instead of $0.25. I may have that wrong, as the dollar coin was not introduced until three or four years after this cabinet came out. It was popular, and it was hard to get onto the game with the crowds, so I watched people play. I do remember having one or two goes, but I didn't get too far, and it was just too expensive for me to try and get better at it.

Craig aka flandou...

I always remember seeing dragons lair in my local pool hall besides Firefox couldn't believe what I was seeing.