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Gauntlet (1985)

Atari Games

Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Arcade, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST/STE, Commodore C64/128/MAX, DOS, MSX, Mac, Sega Master System/Mark III, Xbox 360, ZX Spectrum

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The players, up to four at once in the arcade version, select among four playable fantasy-based characters; Thor the Warrior, Merlin the Wizard, Thyra the Valkyrie, or Questor the Elf. Each character has his or her own unique strength and weaknesses. For example, the Warrior is strongest in hand-to-hand combat, the Wizard has the most powerful magic, the Valkyrie has … The players, up to four at once in the arcade version, select among four playable fantasy-based characters; Thor the Warrior, Merlin the Wizard, Thyra the Valkyrie, or Questor the Elf. Each character has his or her own unique strength and weaknesses. For example, the Warrior is strongest in hand-to-hand combat, the Wizard has the most powerful magic, the Valkyrie has the best armour and the Elf is the fastest in movement.

Upon selecting a playable character, the gameplay is set within a series of top-down, third-person perspective mazes where the object is to find and touch the designated exit in every level. An assortment of special items can be located in each level that increase player's character's health, unlock doors, gain more points and magical potions that can destroy all of the enemies on screen.
The enemies are an assortment of fantasy-based monsters, including ghosts, grunts, demons, lobbers, sorcerers and thieves. Each enters the level through specific generators, which can be destroyed. While there are no bosses in the game, the most dangerous enemy is "Death", who can not only drain a character's health, but is difficult to destroy.
As the game progresses, higher levels of skill are needed to reach the exit, with success often depending on the willingness of the players to cooperate by sharing food and luring monsters into places where they can be engaged and slaughtered more conveniently. While contact with enemies reduces the player's health, it also slowly drains on its own, thus creating a time limit. When a character's health reaches zero, that character dies. The character can be revived in place with full health by spending a game credit (i.e. inserting a coin) within a certain short time window after it died. This allows even the least proficient players to keep playing indefinitely, if they are willing to keep inserting coins. Read more

Details

Developers
Atari Games
Publishers
Atari Games, Midway Games, Mindscape, Inc., Namco, U.S. Gold
Genres
Arcade, Hack and slash/Beat 'em up
Themes
Action, Fantasy
Series
Gauntlet

Release dates

  • Oct 15, 1985 (Europe) Arcade
  • Nov 1985 (North America) Arcade
  • 1985 (Europe) Atari 8-bit
  • Feb 1986 (Japan) Arcade
  • 1986 (Europe) MSX, Amstrad CPC, Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum
  • Sep 01, 1987 (Early access) (North America) Commodore C64/128/MAX
  • Oct 01, 1987 (North America) Atari ST/STE
  • Dec 01, 1987 (North America) Atari 8-bit
  • 1987 (Europe) Atari ST/STE
  • Feb 02, 1988 (North America) DOS
  • Mar 01, 1988 (North America) Apple IIGS
  • Apr 05, 1988 (North America) Apple II
  • 1988 (North America) MSX
  • May 02, 1989 (North America) Mac
  • 1990 (Europe) Sega Master System/Mark III
  • Nov 22, 2005 (North America) Xbox 360
  • Dec 02, 2005 (Europe) Xbox 360

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