Dragon's Lair for Mega Drive: A Cancelled 1994 Port That Surfaced in 2011
The original Dragon's Lair was a 1983 arcade game from Cinematronics, famous for its LaserDisc animation by former Disney artist Don Bluth. Home versions followed on almost every platform, and in 1994 one more was announced for the Sega Mega Drive: a platformer featuring the knight Dirk the Daring. It was announced at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1994 with an expected release in autumn of that year. Then it was cancelled, with no known explanation.
At a glance
- Created by: Elite Systems, with Eden Entertainment Software and Taito's American branch credited as developers
- Announced: Summer CES 1994, for an autumn 1994 release
- Released: never in its day; a prototype was dumped in summer 2011
- Genre: Action platformer, up to two players (not cooperative)
- What sets it apart: a cancelled Mega Drive game that survives as a playable prototype
How the prototype came to light
- In 1994 the game is announced, and then simply disappears.
- In summer 2011 a member of the SegaAge forum, MrMark0673, dumps a prototype cartridge.
- Sega Retro's page records that every level can be played, although it says it is unknown whether the game as dumped was complete.
Not the arcade game
Despite the name, this is not a conversion of the arcade's interactive-movie format. According to Sega Retro's description, the Mega Drive game is a port of an earlier console platformer in the series, so you play it as a platform game rather than a film you steer with timed prompts.
Why it matters to collectors
Unfinished Mega Drive projects rarely reach players in playable form. The available sources do not say whether this cartridge changes anything in the prototype, so it is best seen as a way to experience a lost 16-bit what-if.