They're all out on PSN now!
DRAGON'S LAIR:
Includes:
* 1080p HD Remastered Video
* Visual Move Guide
* Classic Arcade Monitor View
* Online Leaderboard
* Trophy Support
* Exclusive Dragon’s Lair PlayStation®Home Reward
* Watch Mode – View the Animation Without Dying!
I'm in. But, you already knew that.
SCROLL DOWN FOR REVIEW ...
SPACE ACE:
1st off, seems to absolutely be worth the price they're asking. If you're a fan of laserdisc gaming, these are some of the best commercial versions I've seen.
Space Ace seems to have suffered from some minor MINOR noise in the transfer/remastering to 1080p. I'm not complaining at all because it looks absolutely beautiful, but on my setup I could see some noise in some of the colors.
Space Ace is a far far "busier" game in terms of animation than Dragon's Lair, so this may have been unavoidable in the frame-by-frame remastering.
And, as far as arcade authenticity is concerned, unlike the real thing, this version of Ace does not advance you forward partially in a level when you die. Personally I see that as a positive, as that was one of the reasons that I never "mastered" Space Ace in the arcade, not being able to re-play the section I died on prevented me from learning what exactly I did wrong until my next full play-through.
This version appears to re-start you at the beginning of the scene you're on when you die. (There may be mid-way points on the larger levels).
It has all the features that Dragon's Lair on PS3 does, plus subtitles, which is nice since Space Ace is a far more "chatty" game than Dragon's Lair.
Going to try to beat the game on the three difficulty settings and get some trophies. Will report back later, but the short-short is that all signs point to BUY THIS.
DRAGON'S LAIR II: TIME WARP:
With the return of the PSN Store we have the release of Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp on the PSN.
Featuring most of the bells/whistles of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace (digital transfer, arcade monitor play skin, Playstation Home Arcade Cabinet for personal space, trophy support, etc.) with the exception of the online leaderboard as Dragon's Lair II didn't have a traditional score system, it's a great value at $9.99 for fans of Bluth/Goldman's laserdisc arcade "trilogy".
This version features a variant "Director's Cut" alternate final stage play through where Dirk actually prevents the "Death Ring" from being placed on Daphne's finger. This wasn't included on the arcade cabinet due to the space limitations of the LD Technology.
While Time Warp, like Space Ace doesn't feature the meticulous clean-up work that the original Dragon's Lair got, it most cases in didn't need it and still looks fantastic as-is.
I especially like the fact that in this version you can pause the game and not only see WHAT golden treasures you've collected (those are the key to getting to the final stage) but also save your progress.
The current Dragon's Lair and Space Ace are on sale for $4.99 each, so it's a good time to pick them up to complete the trifecta.
Now ... here's to hoping that the company who has the rights to Cobra Command and Road Avenger for iOS will port those to the PSN in the future.