Arcade1up Dragon's Lair Review! (Dragon's Lair II/Space Ace)

After a month of owning the cabinet, I wanted to do a review and see if I still enjoy it as much now as when I first played it in my office. Join me as I seek to outrun the setting of the Dragon's Lair sun from 1983!

[@CorvetteLS7427]

Retro 530 sells a kit to cover all the screw holes with black covers and a led mod to light up the coin door, I got the kit, it’s great, gives it a nice touch.

[@outruntheneonsun]

I’ve seen a few things but in your opinion, since I’m going to get the x-arcade coin door, it seems like a simple black tape might be better to save some money? I could easily DIY this too…

[@CorvetteLS7427]

No I wouldn’t want to use tape, leaves residue or depended on the tape you use, could wreck finish, but to each there own, if you ever had to take your machine apart for some reason.

[@kevincooke7724]

I did the coin door and screw cap mod from retro530... looks awesome! kzbin.info-YfHEFXGrW4?feature=share

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

[@TheBigb1973]

I love this cab I have it also. I remember the 80s seeing it. Then in the early 90s roller skating. I saw it there. I was like omg dragons lair. I always sucked at it. Still do lol.

[@danidavis7912]

I know this is a year old, but I finally got mine ordered! Hard to ignore the $499 sale. Great video, sir!

[@georgef551]

Actually, the first game to be priced at $.50 by default was Missile Command. Most arcade owners thought that was a rip-off, so they were set back to $.25. Funspot has one at the default $.50 price to play, but you get a crap-ton of tokens for $20 anyhow.

[@outruntheneonsun]

I had no idea. And I’d love to see the funspot you are referring to! Interesting that the popularity of the DL cabinet was so high to justify the price increase, even though missile command was arguably a much more wide selling and popular cabinet in its hay day. Thank you for the comment!!

[@georgef551]

@@outruntheneonsun These cabinets cost way more than the traditional cabinets, because they had a laserdisc player that doubled the pricetag, so they had to double the price per credit.

[@danidavis7912]

Never paid more than a quarter back in the day.

[@GamersReckoning]

Mine is on its way! Can't wait! Thx for the awesome review!!!

[@outruntheneonsun]

Seriously?!? Oh man send me a message when you get it!! You’ll love the packaging and MAN, when you load it up for the first time…you hear the attract mode…man it’s glorious! Thank you for sending g this message and commenting my friend!

[@GamersReckoning]

@@outruntheneonsun I'm pretty excited! Says it'll be here Thursday and just ordered it from Wayfair this past Saturday! I'll probably share my thoughts on it too! Ashamed to admit but I have never played this. Even worse is that I am a massive Bluth fan and his movies are some of my all time favorites. I've always wanted to play it but there were no Lair cabs around my area back then. Anyway like I said super stoked! Cheers!

[@outruntheneonsun]

@@GamersReckoning dude you gotta mention that on your video. I never played DL2 but just DL and Space ace. They are all so much fun though, and the history is fascinating on how huge these cabs were. Looking forward to the review!!

[@alkohallick2901]

You won't be happy when you see the audio/video sync problem.

[@GamersReckoning]

@@alkohallick2901 Already seen videos of it and it does suck but 90% of the game runs fine so not a deal breaker.

[@KongsRUs]

Love the history commentary, nice video!

[@outruntheneonsun]

Thanks Bee, hope you are well my friend. Didn’t look like you enjoyed SDCC very much hahaha jk!

[@dariusq8894]

I've got multiple different ways to play all of these games and I still bought the AC1up at full pop. It's not flawless, but neither was the original arcade cab.

[@SamanthaMunitz]

FYI... Space Ace is NOT the most difficult of the 3 games. Dragon's Lair II by far is. ❤❤❤

[@outruntheneonsun]

As you mention that, I think I agree. Space Ace seems very similar in style and feel to DL. It also came out just a year later I think where as DL2 came out at the end of the 80s. BUT, thanks for your comment! I think you might be the first female to watch one of these? Is it weird that I feel like jumping up and down? Hahaha jk.

[@kevincooke7724]

Hold player 2 button down when finished with game.. hold it down til scoreboard resets to zero and release.. it will go back into attract mode.

[@outruntheneonsun]

Had no idea!! Was always weirded out that the attract mode wouldn’t go back on! Huh thanks so much!

[@kevincooke7724]

No problem.

[@outruntheneonsun]

@@kevincooke7724 what cabinets do you own besides the dragon’s lair?

[@kevincooke7724]

Golden tee 3d and the defender/midway legacy cab.

[@kevincooke7724]

kzbin.infoW7V6jiYln5Y?feature=share

[@ZAKU-GD]

what emulation base are they marketing for this 1uparcade version??? is it custom designed Laser-disc EMU or some sort of mame-like Dragon's lair EMU?? just want to get an idea of how authentic they wanted to go with this Arcade. I never wanted to buy a 1Up arcade, but since this released i seriously debating it now. Just a great retro piece of true classic nostalgia recreated beautifully

[@outruntheneonsun]

That's a great question. From what I know, toastmasters has a few that port the games from different sources, but I believe they tried to be as authentic as possible on this cab because of the demand and memories associated with it. People would rage if it wasn't close. I'm not familiar enough because I didn't spend more than a few hours watching it/playing it when I was younger because of the price (my money needed to last longer lol). I think the problem was in that the laser disc has a longer lag for gameplay that they couldn't emulate properly and so it's actually a lot quicker response. I know that's a difference. And from what others have said, there are a few audio sink issues with Daphne's character. It SOUNDS like it's more of a custom design from the Laser Disc. It's not mame-like thankfully...

[@alkohallick2901]

Now they just have to fix the audio/video sync issue.

[@outruntheneonsun]

So I saw a comparison side by side with the IIRcade version next to the A1Up version and the sound is off as well with Daphne. It’s rumored that this was in the actual game but I can’t remember. Have you seen the audio synced anywhere? Thanks for the comment!

[@djretro83]

@@outruntheneonsun I own the actual laserdiscs for all three games and there aren't any audio-to-video sync issues whatsoever with those. It could be an issue when they converted everything over to whatever format A1Up is using.

[@outruntheneonsun]

@@djretro83 Interesting. Well, hahaha there you have it! You can't really argue with someone who has the direct link to the games! Thank you Dave! I was completely wrong then...thank you again!

[@spaceace4613]

Just got this w the waterfall panel mod ...Space Ace is the BEST ONE ...Dragons Lair 2 is phenomenal..much harder than 1 ..I used to travel 40 miles ..my father would bring us as kids ..I'm 42 now ..still a kid

[@outruntheneonsun]

Wait are you serious??! You’d travel that far? Man I’d love to hear more! I need to play space ace more but it definitely is hard for me. I played it only a few times in the arcade but the only one that had it was so far away in Laughlin Nevada. I’m in SoCal so it was a multi hour drive. I would love to actually play with someone on my cab who had all those memories and show me the ropes! I’m 44 so I get it!!

[@outruntheneonsun]

Mod1up??

[@spaceace4613]

@@outruntheneonsun the water fall pod is a recreation of the original dragons lair control panel...You can't see the Arcade 1up on the plexi

[@outruntheneonsun]

@@spaceace4613 awesome. Do you get it from Mod1up though?

[@spaceace4613]

@@outruntheneonsun yeah used to travel to Hampton Beach at Playland arcade...It was amazing as kids...I own all the original machines and dedicated Space Ace also ..They are flawless in storage...I love the 1uo arcade.. I also have the AI enhanced dragons lair 1..2 and Space Ace w all new HD it's also 4k ready ..I'm 99 percent sure .....it's absolutely stunning w all the enhanced scenes ect.... Someone ran it through AI software..You can put that in the arcade 1 up to replace the computer and run an unreal visual version

[@traviskeith3802]

What happened to the shooters with Lasor disk back grounds?

[@outruntheneonsun]

Travis, I am so sorry for not responding earlier. You have no doubt moved on and probably answered your own question, but what shooters are you referring to?

[@traviskeith3802]

@@outruntheneonsun mach , sewer shark and some space one whos name is long lost.

[@SpecialAgentEBunny]

This cab looks so good. I have to keep reminding myself how much I hated this game as a kid.

[@outruntheneonsun]

Hahahaha but you’ll love it now haha

[@DoctorGeek1]

I hated this game when I was 11 yrs old because: It was 50 cents, it was always very BUSY, it took a LOT of money to ‘memorize’ all the patterns outcomes… And it was the most beautiful, magical game that my friends and I had ever seen!

[@outruntheneonsun]

Love this comment! I would always watch my brother play this because I would die so quickly and it too would eat all my money! So I decided at a young age to watch only, and play other games haha. Thanks again Doctor Geek; enjoyed this comment!!

[@TheBigb1973]

This also was $1 at several arcades

[@vsully360]

Has anyone been able to get through DL2 yet? I can beat DL1 on one life without issue. But some inputs in DL2 seem to require absurdly precise timing and/or fail constantly even when I'm sure I made the right move at the right time. Level 3 has a few- grabbing the Ace of Spades above the Jabberwock, then using the Sword as the next move seem particularly unforgiving. Level 4 has a bunch. The three sword inputs after grabbing the first golden apple, and then the moves of jumping down, then L/R after grabbing the real apple, and essentially every single input after lightning hits the chain feels like you have to be so exact with the input timing or you fail. Even a fraction of a second too soon or too late and you fail. Level 5 feels normal. Level 6 is a nightmare and I haven't been able to finish it yet because of several absurdly strict input timing windows towards the end. Once you're dangling from the bat, it's sword/sword/up followed by a L/R that I seem to fail 75% of the time regardless of my timing. Then it's sword (which is forgiving), then down, L/R, R/L and these three inputs feel like you have to be frame perfect to succeed. I've played to this point dozens of times and only gotten past these three a few times, only to fail in one of the next inputs which also feel unfair as far as timing goes. I've made it onto the time machine ONCE, which simply requires a few sword inputs, but somehow failed. Several hours later I'm still unable to complete this level. Is it like this for everyone?

[@outruntheneonsun]

Honestly I don’t know. I hope someone responds soon! After this busy season for me dies down I’ll have to tackle that game again and let you know!

[@chuckbridgen6785]

The audio/video is out of sync and the "finance team" doesn't want to fix it.

[@outruntheneonsun]

Seriously?! That’s actually not ok

[@garypranzo9334]

33-55 Shit? I am 55, What am I going to do next year with all my 1ups?

[@outruntheneonsun]

Hahaha…buy more? Be the wisened Jedi? Hang out with me at the arcades? Lol thanks for the comment!

[@deniseclaeys8295]

57 here. I was a senior in high school when this came out in 1983. I actually missed this game because I was doing other things. Bought it for the amazing art, and to serve as a kind of "historical time bookend" for my collection. (My newly acquired Pong pub table is the other bookend.) I even plan to frame the gorgeous art printed on the DL box! I can see that learning the three games will be a lot of fun. The gameplay is so unique- perfect complement to my other, more familiar, cabs.

[@vietdragon5610]

and T2 also

[@DoctorGeek1]

WHAT??! Did you say JOUST?!?

[@outruntheneonsun]

Yeah! Joust is one of my favorite games and A1Up is coming out with a full cab (like the mortal kombat 30th) with a similar lineup of games!

[@maxwellhouse750]

I was terrible at Dragon’s Lair.

[@outruntheneonsun]

Haha I think most of us were unless we had massive piggy banks!

[@MrDapperton]

If you could only have one. Which one would you choose? Dragons lair or Tron? I only have space for one.

[@outruntheneonsun]

That’s a tough one for me. I love them both, but between the two I’d go with TRON because it’s more of a “game” and holds just a tad more nostalgia for me. It’s all about the nostalgia. Sorry for taking so long to get back to you! What was your choice?!

[@MrDapperton]

@@outruntheneonsun whichever one goes on sale! Lol

[@outruntheneonsun]

@@MrDapperton wait, I thought TRON was on sale for $399 somewhere…try Walmart!