Previous Next

Atari's Gaunlet first appeared in 1986 and swiftly became one of the most top-grossing arcade machines of all time. Last year, Gauntlet II was released, boasting similar gameplay, but plenty of new features.

For those who were born yesterday, Gauntlet is an exploration game in which each player takes control of either a Wizard, Elf, Valkyrie or Warrior (each character has his or her own special abilities) and enters a multi-directionally scrolling dungeon to find treasure and do battle with the creatures that dwell within. Progress is made by finding the exit, whereupon the next level of the dungeon is entered. Food and special potions are found scattered around and are picked up to help prolong a character's life.

US Gold converted the original Gauntlet to the Atari ST last year; unfortunately, the excellent graphics and sound were sadly let down by juddering scrolling, sluggish joystick response and irksome bugs. However, things are difficult with Gauntlet II...

The first thing to strike you are the graphics; vibrant colour schemes have been used to make the game almost leap out of the screen. The bas-relief backdrops are fabulous, and the beautifully detailed sprites easily match their coin-op counterparts. Scrolling is smooth and fast, and the characters are very quick to respond to the joystick. There are no bugs, and even in the midst of the most furious battle the action doesn't visibly slow down.

If that isn't enough, the programmers have also digitised all of the arcade machine's sound effects and speech and somehow squeezed them into the game. The speech is a little scratchy at imes, but the overall effect is great - there's nothing quite like being told "That was a heroic effort" after a particularly hectic battle, and the guilty party responsible for shooting food is always named!

By now you might be thinking that to cram in all the visual and aural effects, the programmers have had to cut corners. Well, I'm happy to say that all the features of the arcade machine have been faithfully reproduced in this conversion. Everything has been included, from 'IT' monsters, the dragon and acid pools to moving exits, the mugger and treasure chests. Oh yes, all the extra weaponry is present, so you won't miss out on treats like reflective and super shots, repulsiveness, invisibility and transportability.

The gameplay is superb, and again it's totally faithful to the original. I've spent many hours fighting through Gauntlet II's 100 levels, and can honestly say that it's one of the finest arcade conversions I've ever seen - don't miss it.

Gauntlet purists might be interested to know that there's an extra player interface available from US Gold for £5.99. It's a neat little widget that plugs into the user port and allows another two player to muscle in on the action - giving four-player interaction, just like the arcade machine!

This four player stuff really get even the hard-to-please C&VG ad department clustered around that monitor. This is possibly the most fun we've had in the office since the waterpistols came in for Fax, and that's saying something!