Gauntlet
-
Gauntlet / Rampart
(2005)
-
Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2
(1998) - Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 (1999)
- Arcade1Up: Rampage Arcade Cabinet (2018)
-
Boots: 6 Game Action Pack
(1987) - Gauntlet and Gauntlet II: Limited Edition (1988)
-
Midway Arcade Origins
(2012) -
Midway Arcade Treasures
(2003) -
Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play
(2005) -
Multimixx 4
(1992) -
Solid Gold
(1987)
-
Gauntlet
(1983 on
Atari 2600)
-
Gauntlet
(1983 on
TRS-80)
-
Gauntlet
(1984 on
BBC Micro,
Electron)
- Gauntlet (1986 on Dedicated handheld)
-
Gauntlet
(1988 on
Arcade,
NES)
-
Gauntlet
(2014 on
Windows, 2015 on
PlayStation 4, 2017 on
Gloud)
Description official descriptions
Gauntlet is an action game where players choose characters and fight their way through hordes of enemies that assault them on the way to the end of the level. One or two players must make their way through 100 levels of mayhem and magic.
The game features a choice of four characters to play with, each with different weapons. Thor the Warrior has a bludgeoning battle axe, Thyra the Valkyrie has a close range sword, Questor the Elf has his long range bow, and Merlin the Wizard has magical bolts.
Ghosts, goblins and even the life-draining Death are among the enemies. Enemies stream out of generators, so destroy these before tackling the rest.
Keys are needed to open the many doors within the levels, and in some situations a door will contain only bonus items, not a progressive route. Scattered magic potions act like smart bombs and clear the screen of all enemies. Beware of poison though, this reduces the character's energy level. Treasure is abundant throughout the levels and adds to the player's score.
Spellings
- 圣铠传说 - Simplified Chinese spelling
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Credits (Atari 8-bit version)
4 People
| Game programmer | |
| Graphics | |
| Sound | |
| Additional programming | |
| Music |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 77% (based on 57 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 140 ratings with 2 reviews)
One of the most addictive games ever, and a downright excellent arcade conversion.
The Good
Although I know a lot of people will disagree with me, I have to say that Gauntlet is one of the best games I've ever played. Despite some of its less appealing aspects, it is an immensely addictive game, with more-than-decent graphics, good animation, great level design and certianly does not skimp on gameplay. This is the kind of game I could play for hours and hours because it's just FUN.
It is also a very good arcade conversion - the CGA graphics retain the spirit of the original arcade graphics, and the controls warrant a special A-OK.
The Bad
The two unforgivable bad aspects of Gauntlet are: A. horrible sound and evident lack of music, and B. amazingly repetitive gameplay. Although you can't expect too much of a '88 XT game, still - the sound effects are enough to blow one's brains out and better be turned off. As for the repetitive gameplay, I guess it's just a matter of preference; in any case, most games of the period were just as repetitive.
The Bottom Line
A seriously addictive arcade classic. Get it, play it and see if you like it or not.
DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4535) · 2000
OH YES! The Arcade classic comes to the C-64 Personal Computer!
The Good
A NICE job was done bringing this Arcade Ultra-Classic to the Commodore 64 personal computer. I had just as much fun playing it on the C-64 as I did in the Arcade! This game is solid Arcade action. There is some thought needed if one wishes to make it to the highest levels. Rumor had it there were 99 levels. The highest I've ever gone was the level 30's.
One of the earliest games in which players were given many, and different, multiple character choices. (Perhaps the first one?!?)
The Bad
It is virtually impossible to finish LOL! I've never ever heard of anyone finishing it in the Arcade, or on the PC.
The Bottom Line
One of the first newer generation CLASSIC Arcade games. A nice job was done translating it to the C-64 version. An oldie but a goodie. Still nice to play today for some quick, and instant fun!
Commodore 64 · by XplOrOrOr (14) · 2004
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| advertisement | Pseudo_Intellectual (66760) | Jul 29, 2016 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The Arcade version of Gauntlet appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Development
- Atari arcade programmer Ed Logg wanted to do a Dungeons&Dragons arcade game because his son was a D&D fan. Logg didn't know how to take D&D into an arcade game format, until he was inspired by the game Dandy on Atari 800.
- Tony Porter and Kevin Bulmer - programmer and graphic artist of Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX and Master System conversions - had no support from Atari at coding level. No source code was presented until they had completed the games. They worked everything out by playing the arcade version which they had in the office and could play for free.
DOS version
The DOS version uses a tweaked 256x200 pixel graphics mode and some other graphics trickery in EGA. Many VGA (and later) cards do not support this properly causing the game to hang after the character selection screen. DOSBox (starting at version 0.73) includes proper EGA emulation that allow this game to run when configured with the "machine=ega" option.
PCjr
There is an interesting note in the documentation for PCjr users:
Note to Pcjr users: If you wish to run the program in 16-color mode, the line DEVICE=PCJRMEM.COM present in the config.sys file on your boot disk must be changed to read DEVICE=PCJRMEM.COM /C instead.
This gives a clue as to how to get other Tandy 1000 graphic-mode games running on a PCjr (ironic, since the Tandy is a clone of the PCjr).
Awards
- Commodore Format
- March 1991 (Issue 6) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Great)
- Game Informer
- August 2001(Issue #100) - #64 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
Information also contributed by PCGamer77 and Steven Don
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Related Sites +
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Gauntlet 1987 C+VG Atari ST Special
Interview with Atari ST version creators Graham Lilley and Teoman Irmak regarding the behind the scenes of the conversion -
X360A achievement guide
X360A's achievement guide for Gauntlet.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Macintrash.
Commodore 64 added by PCGamer77. Atari 8-bit, J2ME, Xbox 360 added by Kabushi. ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. Antstream added by lights out party. SEGA Master System added by Terok Nor. Amstrad CPC, Apple II added by Servo. Apple IIgs, Macintosh, MSX added by Игги Друге. Atari ST added by Belboz.
Additional contributors: Trixter, Unicorn Lynx, Pseudo_Intellectual, BdR, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Starbuck the Third, S Olafsson, FatherJack, joicrawu.
Game added June 30, 2000. Last modified August 1, 2024.