Which one is better, Dragon Lair or Cobra Command?

Entry posted by Fighter17 April 16, 2007

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Note: English is not my strong point, so you'll find grammar errors and blah blah blah.

Laserdisc fans (which are not many to being with) are so up the ante with Dragon Lair that it’s driving me crazy.

Tell any fan what’s your favorite Laserdisc game and 80% of the time the answer will be Dragon Lair.

Why they said Dragon Lair? It was most likely their first Laserdisc game they ever played in their lives.

Remember the arcade graphics back in the 80s? When you saw movie-like graphics next to a Defender machine, what the ten year old is going to play? Most went with Dragon Lair because the graphics was just like a cartoon. Funny that Dragon Lair made over $100 million during its run was amazing.

The game was just guessing, if you press the button or joystick at the wrong time, you’re dead.

Most of those millions of dollars were made just from people guessing what’s the right time to push the joystick or press the button.

After the success of Dragon Lair, they were plenty of crappy laserdisc games out in the market. Crap like Data East’s Bega’s Battle (which footage came from the anime movie Harmadedon) was made just to make a quick buck (and my god it bombed in sales so badly).

After the failure of Bega’s Battle, Data East redeemed themselves by created (to me at least) one of the best Laserdisc games ever, Cobra Command.

Cobra Command (with footage created by Toei Animation just for the game) is an arcade scripted shooter which you’re in a helicopter and you must shoot at the enemies when targeted. All the enemies come in order by the laserdisc (so you can’t have it random like Dragon Liar) and you must use your Vulcan and Missiles in order to destroy the enemy. When an enemy is targeted, try to hit it with the Vulcan and the Missiles at the same time. Vulcan will give you extra time to shoot the missiles. If the missiles are in lock with the enemy, the enemy will be destroyed. Remember this is a scripted shooter, so if you failed to destroy an enemy at a certain time, you’re dead. Also try to aim the enemy when targeted correctly. Failure to aim will result in death.

After poorly typing up how to play the game, why do I think it’s better than Dragon Lair?

Accessibility.

Most of the younger retrogamer generation didn’t grow up knowing how to play Dragon Lair. So when they finally played it, they’ll get frustrated so quick that they’ll stop playing the game all together. Cobra Command is much better for the younger generation because it tells you when to shoot at the enemy and plus it’s actually challenging. Like Dragon Lair timing is a major part in Cobra Command. Not pressing the missile button at the right time will result in death. Also the first two levels are easy for newcomers of the game, but later the game gets really hard.

Plus I like the fact you are killing enemies around the world is also a huge bonus as well.

Great intro, good gameplay, and memorable scenes make Cobra Command a keeper.

Cobra Command > Dragon Lair

F17