Gauntlet (arcade game)

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{{Infobox Arcade Game |title = Gauntlet |image = Image:Gauntlet screenshot.png |developer = Atari Games |publisher = Atari Games |designer = Ed Logg |release = 1985 |genre = Hack and slash RPG/run and gun |modes = Up to 4 players simultaneously |cabinet = Custom upright |arcade system = |monitor = Raster, standard resolution (Used: 336 x 240) |input = Joystick, 2 buttons |ports = DOS, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, NES, Atari Lynx, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows }} Gauntlet is a 1985 arcade game by Atari Games. Released during the height of popularity of role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, this game caused a sensation and was constantly mobbed, being the first true dungeon crawl arcade game.

1 Gameplay
2 Impact
3 Cheats
4 Sequels
5 Ports
6 See also
7 External links

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Gameplay

Gauntlet is a fantasy-themed arcade game which can be played by 1-4 players simultaneously, unique for arcade games of its day. A player may control either a Warrior, a Wizard, a Valkyrie or an Elf. The character being controlled is dictated by the player's position on the cabinet. (There is only one of each character). Each character has their own speciality/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 players traverse the dungeon levels controlling their assigned character, attacking persistent monsters and collecting treasure and potions. The players must cooperate by sharing food and luring monsters into places where they can be engaged and slaughtered more conveniently. The characters continuously lose health during gameplay, regardless of what they are doing - even if they are just standing and not moving (possibly simulating hunger). Characters lose even more health when attacked by enemy dungeon denizens. Besides food found in the dungeon, players can add health by adding more credits. Hence, this game is notorious for being a money-gobbler when it first appeared since players desperately shoved in handfuls of coins in order to not be ejected from the game and run the heartache of sometimes waiting hours in line in order to play again.

One of the game's features was the narrator's voice. It would frequently make statements reiterating the game's rules, including "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 dwindled to the point where he or she was in jeopardy of dying permanently: "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 and is the name of a song by the late Christian ska/punk group Five Iron Frenzy.

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

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Impact

The historic influence of Gauntlet can be seen in later dungeon crawler games such as Cadash, Dungeon Explorer, Dark Seal, and Diablo to name just a select few. Though by no means was Gauntlet the only influence on these games, it clearly left a mark on them.

Gauntlet also has a place in pop culture (specifically '80s video gaming culture). Quotes from the voiceover announcer such as "Wizard needs food badly!" or "Valkyrie shot the potion!" 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, entitled Gauntlet Dark Legacy - Book 1: Paths Of Evil, in 2004, and a sequel, Gauntlet Dark Legacy - Book 2: Paths Of Fear in 2005.

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Cheats

There are many cheats for Gauntlet, such as standing still for 188 seconds on any level will cause all the walls to turn into exits. Also you must not kill any enemies during this 188 seconds period of inactivity or the 188 counter will reset to 0 seconds.

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