Gauntlet (1985 video game)

Gauntlet
Developer(s)	Atari Games
Publisher(s)	Atari Games, U.S. Gold
Designer(s)	Ed Logg
Platform(s)	Arcade, DOS, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, MSX, NES, Atari Lynx, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Sega Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Windows
Release	1985, 1988, 1993
Genre(s)	Action/run and gun
Mode(s)	Up to 4 players simultaneously

Gauntlet is a 1985 arcade game by Atari Games. Released during the height of popularity of role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, this game was a sensation, being the first true dungeon crawl arcade game. Gameplay was based on Dandy later Dandy Dungeon, a game for the Atari 800 computer (Dandy, by Activisions sister label Electric Dreams, released on the Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, etc.) written by John Palevich. In 1988 Atari re-published Dandy for the 2600, 7800 and XE as Dark Chambers

Gameplay

Gauntlet is a fantasy-themed arcade game which can be played by one to four players simultaneously, unique for arcade games of its day. A player may control either Thor the Warrior, Merlin the Wizard, Thyra the Valkyrie or Questor the Elf. The hero being controlled is dictated by the player's position on the cabinet. (There is only one of each hero.) Each hero has a unique specialty/advantage: The Warrior is strongest in hand-to-hand combat, the Wizard has the strongest magic, the Valkyrie has the greatest armour and the Elf is the fastest in movement.

Players must cooperate to traverse the perils of a dungeon via a top-down view. The game has no actual goal; the only way to stop play is to die or walk away and simply let the character wait for death.

The players traverse the dungeon levels controlling their assigned heroes, attacking monsters and collecting treasure, food, and potions. The monsters of the first Gauntlet game included ghosts, grunts, demons, lobbers, sorcerers, and thieves. Each kind of monster was generated in specific houses spread in each level. A special enemy, "Death", was able to drain the life force of the four heroes. The players must cooperate by sharing food and luring monsters into places where they can be engaged and slaughtered more conveniently. The heroes continuously lose health during gameplay, regardless of what they are doing — even if they are just standing still. Heroes lose even more health when attacked by monsters. Besides finding food in the dungeon, players can add health by depositing more coins. Hence, Gauntlet was notorious for being a money gobbler when it first appeared, since players desperately shoved in handfuls of coins in order to avoid being ejected from the game and sometimes waiting hours in line in order to play again.

One of the game's features was the narrator's voice. He would frequently make statements repeating the game's rules, including: "Shots do not hurt other players (yet)," "Remember, don't shoot food!" and "Warrior needs food badly!" Occasionally, the narrator would encourage (or mock) the players in the thick of battle by saying, "I've not seen such bravery!" or "Let's see you get out of here!" A memorable statement of the game occurred when a player's "life force" points fell below 200: "Your life force is running out" or "Valkyrie...is about to die!" Some of the game's statements are humorously ambiguous due to limited memory, such as "You are full of bombs and/or keys." These catch phrases are still repeated today among many role-playing and computer fans, especially "Wizard needs food badly!", which appears in NetHack evidently as a tribute. It is also the name of a song by the late Christian ska/punk group Five Iron Frenzy.

Due to the fact that Gauntlet was designed for up to four players, the cabinet is wider than other standard uprights. Each player had a joystick and two buttons, one for "Fire" (to attack) and one for "Magic". The Magic button also started the game. After Gauntlet's release, other games started using this design, so it was a popular conversion target for newer games after it had its run.

Impact

The historic influence of Gauntlet can be seen in later dungeon crawler games such as Cadash, Dungeon Explorer, Dark Seal, and Diablo. Though by no means was Gauntlet the only influence on these games, it clearly left a mark on them. For Atari ST and Amiga, a direct Gauntlet clone called Garrison was produced.

Gauntlet also has a place in pop culture (specifically '80s video gaming culture). Quotes from the voiceover announcer such as "Wizard needs food badly!", "Valkyrie shot the potion!" and "Elf shot the food!" are some lines from the game that became popular with video arcade patrons and later with nostalgic Internet users, similar to all your base are belong to us or the dog from Duck Hunt. Because of this popularity and the designers' nostalgia for the older games, such lines have been included in the more modern Gauntlet sequels.

Richard C. White wrote a novel based on the video game franchise (specifically, the game Gauntlet: Dark Legacy), entitled Gauntlet Dark Legacy - Book 1: Paths Of Evil, in 2004. The sequel Gauntlet Dark Legacy - Book 2: Paths Of Fear has been written and was planned for a 2005 release, but due to the demise of both Byron Preiss Visual Productions and the licensor Ibooks, Inc, this never came to pass. As of this writing, the license for these stories has reverted back to Midway Games and unless a new licensor commissions White to finish his tale, Book 1 will likely be the last of the Gauntlet series (originally planned as a tetralogy of novels).

The line "Elf needs food badly!" was named the third best game line ever in the January 2002 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Cheats

There are many cheats for Gauntlet. While this article doesn't provide an exhaustive list, one example is if the player's character remains inactive for about 28 health ticks (exact amount differs across the various Atari revisions), all the doors in the level disappear.

Another example is that if the character remains inactive for around 188 health ticks, all the walls will turn into exits. This particular trick was intentionally put in place because when playing with multiple players, it was sometimes possible to become permanently stuck.

Ports

File:NES Gauntlet.png

Gauntlet on the NES

File:Gauntlet Spectrum.png

Gauntlet on the ZX Spectrum

Due to its phenomenal success in the arcades, Gauntlet was ported to several home systems of the day. These platforms include DOS, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, NES, Atari Lynx, Amiga, Sega Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, among others. More recently, an emulated version of Gauntlet was included in Midway Arcade Treasures; a compilation of arcade games available for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles and Windows. For some machines, only Gauntlet II was converted, since it was considered to be more advanced than the first game in series. 16-bit conversions (Amiga, Atari ST & Mega Drive/Genesis) had similar sound and graphics as the original game.

The NES version was a departure from the arcade, keeping only the basic game formula and cast of characters. 100 entirely new levels were constructed for this version, which added a definite quest; the goal was to retrieve a "Magic Orb" located in the 100th level, which could only be accessed by collecting portions of a password hidden in certain "clue rooms" scattered throughout the first 99 levels. Power-up attributes that granted extra shot power and faster speed could be carried over from level to level, and a password system allowed the player to save his or her character's progress. The NES Gauntlet was one of only three Tengen cartridges to be released as officially-licensed Nintendo cartridges (the others being Pac-Man and RBI Baseball); it was later re-released as an unlicensed game following Tengen's split from Nintendo.

The Genesis version was called Gauntlet IV, and was also a departure from the arcade Gauntlet in that it featured three new game modes (in addition to a straight port of the original game):

• Quest Mode (A story mode where you must defeat the four towers and solve the mystery of the ancient castle; weapons can be bought with collected gold from merchants in the main hub area, where you can also choose which tower to take on next. You can gain experience points to increase your stats also you can use a password to continue.
• Battle Mode: Where you fight the other players to the death. Maps can include teleporters/monsters/items etc. Avoid exits(or you'll be out of the round).
• Record Mode: A single-player variation of Arcade mode with some variations such as you can use a password to continue. Another feature this mode has is that your character cannot die, although points will be subtracted for every 500 health points lost.

A cell phone version for Java ME and BREW phones was developed by TKO Software.

Gauntlet was recently released for the Game Boy Advance on one of DSI Games two packs, alongside Rampart. In addition, Gauntlet and Gauntlet II are among the emulated games that can be found in Midway Arcade Treasures 1 and 2, respectively, for various modern console systems.

Gauntlet is available for download over Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service as of the launch of the Xbox 360. It was released at the same time on the original Xbox's Xbox Live Arcade service.

See also

• Get Medieval - a spiritual successor to Gauntlet

External links

• Gauntlet at MobyGames
• Gauntlet at the Killer List of Videogames
• Gauntlet at SnakeBecomesTheKey
• Gauntlet Forums.com - The best and only Gauntlet Community
• Category at ODP
• The Gauntlet Warriors Page
• The NES version of Gauntlet being won in 12 minutes (video available on webpage)
• Gauntlet at SpectrumComputing.co.uk