

He makes you think you're the toughest cookie in the jar, the hardest of all the nails, the brickiest of all the shit houses. There might be some back story about him being imprisoned for leaving his post (in order to attempt to save his father, no less) and he might be best mates with Dominic Santiago and they might all have double-barrels of fun blasting locusts and there might be a bit of drama here and there too, but what it's all about it really is making you feel tough. Of all the marines, in all the alternate galaxies, in all the fictional universes, the gruntiest, muscliest, most trigger-happy of them all is one Mr Marcus Fenix. The controls were also rather limited to a well timed shunt in a particular direction but despite its shortfalls, Dragon's Lair saw Dirk become a huge part of young gamers' lives.


Though it only played through for ten minutes, it was so goddamn tricksy if felt like hours. The result allowed this manly man with his tin hat plenty of opportunities to show off his sword swinging skills as he made his way through the wizard's castle, past monsters and ghoulies galore, all with this Disney-esque tone and look that had kids transfixed. In the early 80s! There are no words.ĭirk himself was a brave and highly skilled knight, if somewhat easily scared at times, which all added to the beautiful graphics and design, brought about by ex-Disney animator, Don Bluth. You were basically playing a Disney movie on your TV. Pixels? Pixels? Dirk's better than pixels. Laserdisc or arcade, however you got your dose of Dirk, it was utterly, amazingly, astoundingly astonishing. When Dirk first blundered into our lives, screeching and screaming at any form of danger, it was nothing short of a revelation.
