Gauntlet - Arcade

Gauntlet (c) 12/1985 Atari Games.


Up to four players take on the role of either Elf, Valkyrie, Wizard or Warrior in this classic Dungeons & Dragons-inspired shoot-em-up. Gauntlet's four heroes each possess different strengths and weaknesses : Elf inflicts the least damage but is the fastest and has good magical skills, Wizard is slow but inflicts the highest magical damage, Warrior is the strongest in hand-to-hand combat but has the weakest magical attributes and Valkyrie is the best all-round character, with good mixture of both magical and physical strength.

Players must battle through one hundred mazes, fighting for survival against the hundreds of creatures that populate them. Keys must be found to open the many locked doors and gates that bar the players' progress, food also needs to be sought to top-up the players' ever-diminishing energy levels. Potions can be collected and used at any time, these range from straight 'smart bombs' that clear the screen of monsters (depending on the magical abilities of the character) to increasing player attributes, such as shot power and speed.

After Level 8, the game presents the dungeons to players in random order from the hundred that are available; thus ensuring that no two games were ever quite the same.

Main CPU : 68010 (@ 7.15909 Mhz), M6502 (@ 1.789772 Mhz)
Sound Chips : YM2151 (@ 3.579545 Mhz), POKEY (@ 1.789772 Mhz), TMS5220 (@ 650.826 Khz)

Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 336 x 240 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 1024

Players : 4
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2

- SERIES -

1. Gauntlet (1985)
2. Gauntlet (1985, NES)
3. Gauntlet II (1986)
4. Gauntlet - The Third Encounter (1990, Atari Lynx)
5. Gauntlet III - The Final Quest (1991, Atari ST)
6. Gauntlet 4 (1993, Sega Mega Drive)
7. Gauntlet Legends (1998)
8. Gauntlet Dark Legacy (1999)
9. Gauntlet Seven Sorrows (2006, Sony PlayStation 2 & Microsoft XBOX)

Gauntlet was originally going to be called 'Dungeons' and was inspired not only by TSR's tabletop RPG, ''Dungeons & Dragons'', but also by another Atari game called ''Dandy''. Dandy's creator, Jack Palevich, tried fruitlessly to get his name added to the list of credits in Gauntlet. In lieu of public recognition, Atari Games Corp gave Pelvich a Gauntlet cabinet, and he in turn agreed not to sue Atari.

Gauntlet's revolutionary, non-linear game-play gave players multiple choices, as they were no longer forced into taking a linear route through the game. Like 'Dungeons & Dragons', Gauntlet players could choose their own path, searching for keys, treasures, food and transporters to take them to other levels. Unlike most other games at the time, the player didn't always have to fight; a simpler route through the dungeon could sometimes be found, or players could simply try to make a run for it.

Another Gauntlet milestone was in the game's use of sound effects. Synthesized human voices had been used sporadically in games in the early eighties and while it had proved, on most occasions, to be moderately successful, was still considered something of a novelty. Gauntlet, however, revolutionized the concept of in-game speech and added immeasurably to the game's superb atmosphere. The deep timbre of Gauntlet's very own 'Dungeon Master' would guide players through the levels, informing them that 'Elf needs food, badly', or that 'Blue Wizard is about to die' and the always-good advice that is 'Don't shoot food.'

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Gauntlet
• Arcade
• action
• rpg
• classic
• genesis
• mame

[chump5874]

How come at one arcade i played at you started off with 200 health yet at another you started with 2000!!!!! Answers please.....

[classicgamevideos]

@chump5874 Just about every arcade has "Dipswitch settings". These allow the owner to change certain parts of the game like difficulty, how many lives you get or how much money you have to spend to play one game.

[loomp]

@classicgamevideos I still enjoy popping in Midway Arcade Treasures for GameCube to play Gauntlet mainly since GameCube has 4 controller ports to support 4-player, I can use NES and SNES controllers via Retroport controller converter adapters I purchased from the Retrozone website so I can use Arcade Sicks made for both those systems (such as the NES Advantage for example) for that arcade feel, and most GC games are dirt cheap and I only paid $4 for Midway Arcade Treasures at GameStop.

[classicgamevideos]

@loomp Advertise much?

[domialad]

Gauntlet was the game that taught me not to shoot food.

[TheZB17]

best voice acting ever!

[Tiwaking]

Valkyrie is the best!

[Nagneto]

USE KEYS TO OPEN DOORS!

[NCamargodnb]

Remember, not shoot food!

[VapmpiricRock]

I played the game for 10 hrs and i said fuck this

[DrJReefer]

@tydoggy808 I used the shift cheat on the Spectrum to get to the end of the tape... The final screen....

INSERT TAPE AND PRESS PLAY

[sprocket2cog]

@chump5874 also how much money you put in gauntlet increases you health, so the mrroe coins, the more life you stat with. if you emulate this in MAME you will be able to open the dip settings menu and tweak the settings like chump5874 said

[kenster102]

The wizard is secretly god.

[EastCoastDude99]

80s arcade games are great.  I used to play this and Time Pilot all the time at the local Acme. They don't even have arcades at food stores anymore. Damn shame.

[TheJustaverageJoe]

So now we know were stephen hawking got his voice....