Games

Gauntlet is a fantasy-themed hack and slash 1985 arcade game by Atari Games. It is noted as the first class-based multiplayer game. Released during the emergence of popularity of other role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, the game was a sensation, being one of the first true dungeon crawl arcade games.

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is the follow-up to Gauntlet: Legends and another installment in the long-running Gauntlet series of hack-and-slash action games. As with all the Gauntlet games, you play a medieval fantasy character who, along with allies if you have them, fights his or her way through hordes of evil creatures on the never ending quest for more gold and perhaps even an eventual goal. This version contains the characters and levels from Gauntlet: Legends, plus the new characters and levels from the Dark Legacy arcade game, with a few extra levels thrown in. There are eight characters to initially choose from: the mighty Warrior, the deadly Valkyrie, the quick-footed Archer, the powerful Wizard, the spellcasting Sorceress, the stalwart Knight, the valiant Dwarf, and the chaotic Jester. Although there are similarities between characters from the two games, each character looks and plays differently. In addition, there are eight alternative-modes for these characters to unlock, plus dozens of secret characters to obtain. With a multi-tap, up to four players can play, with rules governing how much they can hurt each other. Unlike the original Gauntlets, the levels you'll face take place in various terrain from forests to mountains to volcanic plains. Many of the monsters are familiar to old fans of the series, but there are some new blood among the ranks of evil, including some rather large foes.

The gameplay is very similar to the original Gauntlet, a topdown dungeon crawl supporting up to four players. The biggest difference from the original game is that players can choose identical classes, instead of being limited to a particular one for each joystick; the players being differentiated by colors. Thus, instead of having a "warrior", "wizard", and "valkyrie" (for instance), in Gauntlet II there could be a "red wizard", a "blue elf" and a "green warrior". In addition to the new "class" system, new level designs were added, including the possibility of encountering them in altered ways by having the playfield turned in steps of 90°.

Gauntlet III is an action-based dungeon exploration game. Like in the predecessors you empty areas infested by all kinds of enemies while running for the exit. Like this was rather a straight forward thing in the first two games, it's not that easy to finish a level anymore. While you only had to run until you find the exit (and besides killing hordes of enemies you probably find some keys to unlock doors leading to deeper dungeons) you might have to solve a few "quests" to proceed to the next level in this installment. These "quests" are very basic, for example you have to find object A, then bring it to B, advance to C and finally go to D to uncover the exit. While the first two games had a top-down view, Gauntlet 3 has an isometric perspective. The old four characters (warrior, wizard, elf and valkyrie) are ready for action again and this time they get backup by four new characters which include the Lizard, Neptune, Stoneman and the Iceman.

Choose again from Thor the Warrior, Thyra the Valkyrie, Merlin the Wizard and Questor the Elf (each with their own advantages/disadvantages) and 1 to 4 players(supports Sega's four-player adapter). Alongside the standard arcade mode, there are the Quest, Battle and Record modes. Quest Mode: Defeat the four towers and solve the mystery of the ancient castle; weapons can be bought with collected gold from merchants in the main hub area, where you can also choose which tower to take on next. Experience points are good for increasing your stats. Battle Mode: Fight your fellows to the death. Maps can include teleporters/monsters/items etc. Avoid exits(or you'll be out of the round). Record Mode: Arcade mode with some variations such as a password continue, also you can't die - although points will be lost for every 500 health lost.

In ages past, a corrupt mage named Garm used a set of Runestones to summon a demon named Skorne (It is not stated what Garm intended to use Skorne for; however, as Gauntlet Legends introduces Garm as a "greedy young mage", it can be assumed he wanted Skorne for his own personal gain.) However, Skorne crushed Garm and imprisoned his soul in the Underworld. Skorne, fearing the power of the Runestones, scattered them throughout the four realms, so that they could never be used against him. The player(s) must defeat the end bosses of each of the four realms to obtain the four golden keys which allow access to Skorne's temple. While traveling through each realm, he/she/they must also collect the Thirteen Runestones from where they have been scattered. The complete set of Runestones allows him/her/them to pursue Skorne to the Underworld in order to finally destroy him. The players must find 3 rune stones on each kingdom in order to defeat Skorne in the Underworld, and of course 1 from the battle grounds.

Gauntlet is back for yet another iteration. The Emperor has crucified his four loyal heroes to a magic tree, driven by a maniac thirst for their immortality. Hundreds of years later, as only a ghost, he came to regret all the wrong deeds he has done and frees them, asking them to defeat his six former advisors in an attempt to undo what he has done. This version of Gauntlet goes back to the roots: The warrior, valkyrie, elf, and wizard fight their way through hordes of enemies to make their way to the six bosses. The game is mostly a hack'n'slash affair, puzzles are limited to finding keys and pressing buttons that open doors and portals. Every character has a unique set of moves and attacks: The warrior has rather powerful attacks, the valkyrie has quick moves, the elf can shoot powerful arrows, and the wizard has several magical range attacks. Defeating enemies gives you experience points that may be used to increase your three stats; some chests in the levels contain better armor or weapons. Also, new moves can be purchased with gold. The game can be played both in single-player as well as cooperative multi-player, where up to four players fight together. The newest feature of this game (other than the much better graphics) is the online gaming feature. Played online, the game is identical to a regular multiplayer game, with each player on a different box.