Gauntlet

Copyright : Atari Games | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

Join Thor, Questor, Merlin and Thyra in a dungeon quest to do something or other and escape with an untold fortune of riches? probably. Details are sketchy and no-one seems to know the official plot of this arcade classic.

The home computer version of the revolutionary smash-hit arcade came amidst a glut of rip-off and ?homage? titles but was still deemed worthy enough of a Mastergame and an Amtix Accolade.

Programmed by Gremlin Graphics of all people, under licence to US Gold.

Graphics

The programmers have done a remarkable job of capturing the essence of the arcade?s graphics. It?s unrealistic to expect an arcade perfect conversion but it?s a more than recognisable job and they have wisely decided that the speed of animation is more important than the look of the game.

As a result, the graphics are undeniably blocky but there?s plenty of colour and the sprites are recognisable with the originals from the arcade.

One are of disappointment though is the backgrounds which are a little too plain for my liking, particularly when the playing area is often empty and barren when no bad guys or walls etc are on screen.

It?s probably as good a job as they could do, bearing in mind they had to stick closely to the arcade formula but it doesn?t change the facts I?m afraid. They?re from bad but they?re not the best either.

Sound

Good title tune upon loading and the short burst of sound is a good rendition of the tune used in the arcade. Sound effects are pretty good too in an arcade blast kind of a way.

One big omission from the original though is the lack of synthesised speech which helped make the arcade stick out. Still it?s perhaps expecting a little too much, particularly back in ?86.

Gameplay

Imitated a thousand times but rarely equalled, Gauntlet cashed in big time on the Dungeons and Dragons craze that was sweeping the States in the early to mid-eighties and this along with the remarkable ability to have four people play at once made the coin-op a massive money spinner for arcade owners the world over.

Hopes weren?t high for the Amstrad version with the machine already having been deluged with sub-standard copies since the arcade?s release and no-one really knowing how the best features of the arcade could be translated over. In this respect at least, Gauntlet failed. The four at once gameplay which the success of the original had been built was not transferred to the CPC and it?s a big miss but in all other respects, Gremlin have done a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the game.

Apparently containing over 500 levels, the game is massive in scope and even the best players will take months and months to come anywhere close to completing the game without cheating. The range of monsters and beasts that face you are varied and require different tactics to try and take them out.

As a one player game, Gauntlet on the CPC is very good. As a two player game, it becomes great. Teamwork and co-operation become the order of the day with players often trying to flank the enemy or drawing their attentions or even good old fashioned protecting the weaker member (before running off and leaving them for dead!) and it?s these two player games that you?ll have that?ll live on, long in the memory.

Each of the characters has their own strengths and weaknesses in terms of the strength of their projectile weapon and magical powers and the key to success is trying to get the right blend of character for the job in hand. It?s this surprising strategic element that makes Gauntlet better than the vast majority of its clones.

A landmark game and one that in terms of playability has stood the test of time well. Perhaps not as good as it?s own sequel, Gauntlet is well worth a spin. Just bring a friend along for the ride.