RepliCade’s Dragon’s Lair is a hand-crafted miniaturised take on an arcade classic

In 1983, most arcade games either featured crude bitmap graphics or sleek futuristic vectors. Not Dragon’s Lair. Utilising laserdisc technology, it was like an interactive Disney cartoon, charging you with rescuing a princess from an evil dragon. The game itself was pretty evil, too, gulping down coins as you battled the brutal, take-no-prisoners gameplay. These days the game is considered a classic, and RepliCade Dragon’s Lair ($90) finally lets you own your own cabinet – albeit at 1:6 scale. The dinky 12in cab is a properly authentic, fully licensed, premium affair. If you’re great, you can show off your stats on the secondary displays. If you’re rubbish, you can fiddle with dip switches to net yourself endless lives. And if that’s not incentive enough, there’s a 1:6 scale first-gen laserdisc player in the box as well. Alas, you don’t get any 1:6 scale laserdiscs to play on it.

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.