Dragons Lair - FIrst time you saw one.....

[MundoMan4]

The Arcade in the Sears in Abington PA.
Played that game until I could finish it with my eyes closed (except to peak at a new scene to see what orientation the room started at.
Played some SpaceAce when it came out afterward, but was burnt out of memorizing scenes and blowing through money learning the game.

 

[KrisK]

Showbiz Pizza off N. Academy in Colorado Springs. Huge crowd with the before mentioned monitor on the top of the cab so the throngs of kids waiting to play could watch.

 

[Kalan714]

DL

J&B liquor at the corner, the Naugles in the same plaza had an I Robot.

 

[88mph]

The first time I saw one was in the Spaceport in the Bangor Mall (in Maine). I remember walking up and seeing some guy playing the whirlpool sequence... the graphics sure were a surprise!

50 cents was a pretty steep price, as was the learning curve compared to some games. I never spent much time or money on the laser games back in the day. That said, I have a Dragon's Lair that I am in the process of restoring right now. Now that I have full access to the machine, I have really enjoyed playing it. It's not just memorization--timing is almost as big of a factor on some scenes. Plus, Dirk just cracks me up sometimes. It's one of the first arcade games that had a sense of humor..

 

[JPPT1974]

Games like Dragon's Lair are rare to become popular over the laser disc games. But didn't see one growing up in my arcade. Saw it on Starcade though. That is when the game took off.

 

[Alpha-tron]

1st time was in an arcade called Show boat it was in the city of industry next to the Malibu grand prix. The next time I saw DL was rows of them over at the Cinematronics auction down in San Diego.

 

[p1899m]

No clue what arcade I first saw one in. I do recall the large crowd around the game and being mesmerized by the visuals and the idea that you could play a cartoon.

I also recall the first time I played it and how I had no clue what I was doing as well as how quickly it stole my 50cents. I probably played DL and DL II less than 10 times combined when the games were in the wild. DL is iconic and I would love to own one now but as a kid it just kicked my ass and took my money.

Super Don Quixote was the only laser disc game I ever beat in the arcade.

 

[Casey120]

I saw one in Amsterdam when they where first released , I remember being amazed by the spectacular Cab and in game graphics !
After I played it I recognised it for what it was , you don't ever get to control the character but just trigger some pre-made cut scenes , I felt somewhat cheated and turned away .

 

[djw90]

I saw one for the first time in my home town Boise, Id.. I watched the arcade owner uncrate it.. I was either the 3rd or 4th person to play it. It was a big hit from day 1, usually had 20-30 people around it all day long....

Its a awesome arcade.. Im glad I own one.. Congrads on your pick up..

 

[JamBurglar]

My local arcade had it. I spent much time watching it (the attract mode really got me hooked) but only played it once or twice. I just never had 50 cents to my name at that age. The one time I did play it I died almost instantly. For the next 20 years or so I got every port for any game system I had access to (starting with the Adam computer my friend had). I really obsessed over it and wanted the arcade version badly because it was a REAL cartoon instead of a digitized port. I'd ride my bike to the local amusement place trying to see if they had one. Once we found they had a gutted cabinet (this would have been late 80s or early 90s). I used to look in classified ads etc too. The crazy thing was, I was flat broke. At that point owning one was a pipe dream being that I though only the super ritch could own arcade games. Meanwhile the ports kept getting better and better. The blu-ray port that's out now probably runs better than the real thing.

Now that I actually have the means to buy one I'm not sure I want it. I've played the ports so much that I know the game would sit unplayed for 99% of the year. I'm afraid buying it would kill the dream at this point. Pretty sad. I still kind of want one though.

 

[vintagegamer]

Thanks to this thread the memory came back to me. I am 99.9% sure I saw it for the first time BITD when I was at the Reading PA mall with friends.

 

[Steve W]

Aladdin's Castle, Ocean Township, NJ.

My family got to the mall one weekend and we entered through the mall entrance next to the arcade this time and there was a crowd leading out from the Aladdin's Castle out into the mall and nearly spilling into the vestibule of the mall entrance.

When my brother and I finally got up the Aladdin's Castle entrance all we could see was the top monitor of Dragon's Lair. After about 30 seconds of staring at that, we looked at each other and both had a "wtf?" look. It is probably my earliest arcade memory and partially why the game holds a special place for me.

 

[CrazyKongFan]

I think the first place I saw it was at the local Showbiz Pizza Place. They even had one of those monitors on top so everyone else could watch. I was never able to finish it back then (I can now), but I came really close once (was 1 or 2 boards from the Dragon screen)

 

[PublicSectorTech]

I don't remember DL, but seeing Space Ace is one of the most vivid memories I have from my very young years (probably 3). It was at Aladdin's Castle at Almeda Mall in Houston. There was a huge crowd of people watching and they had a monitor on the top so everyone could see. My dad put my up on his shoulders so I could watch.

I played DL and DL2 at an arcade in DisneyWorld when I was older (13 or so). I never got in to those 2, but I still love Space Ace-mostly for the animation and sense of humor. None of the LD games I've actually played (DL, DL2, SA, and Thayer) controlled worth a crap.

 

[1500points]

At a small downstairs dive called The Hole. took games to a whole new level with the graphics. i was blown away. game controls sucked I remember thinking.

met Don B. at an electronic gaming convention in Chicago when Space Ace was debuted. used to have little flip books to promote space and and dragon's lair. but gave them to a friend.

 

[pcjohn]

1983 @ Fun 'n Games, Brunswick Square Mall, East Brunswick, NJ

I worked there part time so I spent a lot of hours playing
it for free after work.

We were a test location for Turbo Sub too !

JD

 

[pookdolie]

We were a test location for Turbo Sub too !

That's very cool.

I had two arcades where I lived in MA, and the "laser age" lasted literally 4 - 6 weeks for us. I think one operator furnished games to both locations and, although I'm sure there were a few others, the only laser dic games I remember - which I saw in `83 - were Dragon's Lair and NFL Football. Dragon's Lair was around for that time, then disappeared, never to return. I think NFL Football's stint was even shorter than that, probably around two weeks.

Gradually afterwards, both arcades started to fade.

 

[Steve W]

1983 @ Fun 'n Games, Brunswick Square Mall, East Brunswick, NJ

I worked there part time so I spent a lot of hours playing
it for free after work.

We were a test location for Turbo Sub too !

JD

Nice. I go there now sometimes but lived further South during that era.

 

[jonathan1138]

Somewhere along the line (this past summer) i managed to get a 19 inch Sony trinitron (1983) off of Ebay and mounted it on top of the cab. Not much too it - just splice into the Laser disc player.

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/jonathan1138/Arcade 6_22_2011/7.jpg

Thats an old photo of the room, some of the vids are gone, but Dragons Lair will be here.

I have not beaten it yet, i get about 3/4 of the way through, still learning the moves in the later stages - haven't spent much time playing it these days. I do find myself admiring it quite often though.

 

[SilverCoin]

1983 @ Aladdin's Castle in Southridge, Greendale Wi.

Saw it, and couldn't even play it due to the crowd. It was THE first game when you walked into the arcade..