A standard-issue buxom princess with an annoying voice has been kidnapped and taken deep into a magical castle where she is held prisoner in a dragon's lair by an evil wizard. A bumbling hero, who is just a little too dense to realize that there is no way he can carry off a rescue, goes in and saves her anyway. That simple premise sums up your adventure in Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.

This same scenario was the backdrop for the original arcade game released in 1983. Updating popular and fondly-remembered classic games is a risky business, but in this case the developers did not disappoint. Fans of the original arcade game will definitely feel they have returned to the familiar world of Dragon's Lair. Gamers new to the franchise will get the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a groundbreaking game in a modern presentation.

Dragon's Lair was the first coin-up arcade game to employ laser-disk technology to put cartoon-quality graphics in a video game. Most fans were attracted to the quality graphics rather than the gameplay. The play was simply a series of choices whether to move left, right, up, down or swing the sword at certain pre-determined points. It was more of an interactive cartoon than a real game. Dragon's Lair 3D offers much more

A third-person view of the action gives players excellent control over the intrepid hero, Dirk the Daring. Major controls are rather straight forward. The left analog stick fulfills Dirk's basic movements while the right analog stick allows him to look around. Combat consists of half a dozen basic sword attacks or crossbow shots using the X button while Dirk assumes a defensive posture by pressing the B button.

The weakest element in Dirk's control has got to be the left-trigger. Normal analog stick movement gets Dirk moving at a steady plod. When analog movement is combined with the left trigger, he'll start to hustle. Why a run button was was even necessary? It seems that the transition from a walk to a run could easily be taken care of with varied pressure of the analog stick.

As he ventures ever deeper into the castle, Dirk encounters distinct levels with various themes such as the forges of the Smithee and sewers populated by tentacle-eyed monsters. The arcade game's most recognizable enemies, Singe the Dragon, the Lizard King, and the Giddy Goons, have all made it to the 3D world along with some great new enemies to encounter. Each level requires players to overcome obstacles, enemies, and solve some simple puzzles to advance to the big payoff; the rescue of Princess Daphne.

To fulfill his quest, Dirk must also collect the five "Dragon Essences." These power-ups allow Dirk to take on attributes of the dragon. For example, Dragon Scales makes Dirk fire-resistant (notice I did not say fireproof) while the Dragon Eye lets him see enchanted walls and doors. Collecting all these essences and learning to use each of them will be necessary if Dirk ever expects to see Princess Daphne again.

Graphics and animation are both very good. While not quite the cartoon quality of the laser-disk game, everything looks crisp and clean. The characters are all very well conceived and drawn. The only annoying glitch occurred when Dirk didn't quite start up a ladder completely centered. When this happened, one of his arms and one his legs proceeded to climb in thin air. It was only a small glitch, but it abruptly broke the spell of exploring the dungeons.

Simply put, the audio was outstanding. Sound effects and voice-overs all tracked well with the original game while the music had an especially nice orchestral quality to it.

Fans of the arcade game will be thrilled to hear that most of the original's elements made it to the 3D update in one form or another. Sadly, the barrel boats and the enchanted horse armor didn't make it in. Guess the development team couldn't quite get Dirk into vehicular conveyances in his new 3D world.