As part of a newly secured publishing deal for the rights to the classic Dragon’s Lair franchise, Conspiracy Entertainment Europe has announced plans to bring the timeless interactive cartoon/game to the Nintendo DS in Q1 2008 (it’s coming to North America too, but no publisher has been announced yet). Developed by United Coders, Dragon’s Lair DS will feature two modes of play: a 1983 Arcade mode that is 100% authentic to the original arcade release and a Director’s Cut mode mostly meant for Dragon’s Lair newcomers with new gameplay options, improved scene flow and interaction and support for stylus control, voice recognition and the not-used-enough DS Rumble Pak.
Following the release of Dragon’s Lair, Conspiracy will also be bringing Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp to the DS further on down the road, presumably with the same types of enhanced features, though no details to confirm anything have been announced.
”This is such an important gaming franchise it left its mark on a generation,” said Hans Olsen, Lead Programmer & Executive Producer of United Coders. “People still recall when they first saw Dragon’s Lair and having to pay an incredible 50 cents per play! We talked long and hard with the original creators of Dragon’s Lair – Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and Rick Dyer – they were so impressed with our vision for these titles, that we now have these gaming gems to bring to this new format.”