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The warriors of the dungeon are back, and their challenge is even more difficult than ever! The burlesque barbarian, the voluptuous valkyrie, the wizened wizard, and the exiguous (that means small to you lot) eff are out once again to defeat the forces of darkness by travelling through 100 levels of manic maze action, blasting nasties and generators, collecting food, drink and keys, and generally trying to stay alive!

Not only are there monsters from the first Gauntlet, such as the ghosts, lobbers and Death, but new creatures to deal with, namely some very large fire-breathing dragons, and the IT monster, which turns everything into a lethal game of tag!

Have you get what it takes to run the Gauntlet?

One of the most astonishing features of this Nintendo conversion is that it includes all the coin-op speech - and there's a lot! While you're playing, expect to hear things like, "red elf shot the food", "blue wizard, your health is running out", "yellow valkyrie is it", "blue barbarian now has temporary repulsiveness" and "green valkyrie now has reflective shots". It's certainly the chattiest Nintendo game we've ever heard!

The NES version of Gauntlet II differs from almost every other game on the machine (with the exception of Super Off-Road) in that it allows four players to participate at the same time, utilising the Nintendo Four Score, a fancy widget that allows four joypads to be plugged in at the same time!

The only disadvantages to this are, firstly, the thing requires a whopping six AA batteries, and secondly, with four players, the riotous action is more than likely to split out of the screen, resulting in more than a little aggro in your front room!

1. Extra Armour Increases protection from hits

2. Extra Magic Power Increases the effect of all potions

3. Extra Pick Up Power Increases carrying ability to an unlimited number of items

4. Extra Fight Power Increases hand-to-hand combat strength

I'm a great fan of the Gauntlet games, and Gauntlet II simply blew me away. Graphically excellent, and audibly superb (there's all the speech from the coin-op in there, too!), this has a level of addictiveness that just doesn't let up, no matter how repetitive the action may seem.

With the four-player option as well, Gauntlet II represents excellent value for money, and fans of the genre and the coin-op would do well to grab it quick.

What an astonishing conversion! Boasting stunning graphics and awesome special effects, Gauntlet II is one of the finest coin-op translations I've seen on an 8-bit system.

It's got all the fun and action of the original machine, and when played with two or more players, it's one of the most enjoyable games you'll play on the Nintendo.

The game is a bit easy when you play it on your own, but it's just so brilliant you just want to keep playing anyway, since the order of the screens is random and there's always plenty of surprises around the next corner. Arcade addicts should make this a priority purchase.

Presentation 84%
A nice title screen, four-player option and multi-character choice.

Graphics 90%
Bags of colour, excellent animation, smooth scrolling and hardly any flicker. What more could you want?

Sound 97%
An excellent rendition of the coin-op's title track, along with all the spot effects and all 600K of speech!

Playability 93%
Addictive from the outset...

Lastability 88%
...and will have you hooked well into the small hours. The four-player option also helps to elongate the game's lifespan.

Overall 90%
A brilliant conversion of a great coin-op and one that warrants immediate attention.