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Our review copy of Dragon's Lair must have been lost in the post for a couple of months, so we decided to review both it and its successor Escape From Singe's Castle at the same time. They're based on the first laser-disc game to appear in the arcades but obviously have the limitation of being on a home micro.

You play the pan of Dirk the Daring, the only knight dumb enough to take on this suicide mission into the dragon's lair. There are nine separate stages, all extremely difficult. On the starting screen, you leap between ramps on which killer kangaroos - oh all right, Giddy Goons then - are hopping around. You must slay them with a sword before going on to the next ramp. Get off the ramps quickly, or they'll disappear underneath you.

You can lose a life by falling down between ramps or being got by the Goons. This takes you to a nice resurrection sequence and back to the start of the screen. The second screen involves jumping onto a disc and running into the wind blown by air genies trying to blow you off the disc. Then comes Skull hallway and more monsters.

There are five more stages before your final encounter with the dragon. Here you have to slay the dragon to rescue Princess Daphne. And that's where part II comes in.

I dislike this kind of game. Game after game you must repeat the same thing, trying to learn each screen by trial and error. The constant repetition and death drives me up the wall. Of course you always have to go back to the beginning and do the whole damn thing over again. It presents a great challenge, some good graphics and original gameplay - but I find it frustrating to the point of insanity.

Get to the Skull hallway.

Graphics 68%
P. Good graphic settings.
P. Excellent animation sequences.

Sonics 66%
P. Pleasant tunes throughout.

Grab Factor 60%
P. You may think it's frustratingly addictive...
N. ...Or just horribly frustrating.

Staying Power 70%
P. The nine screens will test anyone.
N. The men in white coats will get you before you see them all.

Overall 67%
P. Very original gameplay and concept.