XBLA review: Gauntlet (3/10)

If you're roughly my age, when you hear the word "Gauntlet", you don't think of armor (unless you've been playing Oblivion recently) or a movie, you think of a classic arcade game, one that would buy you hours of play for a quarter when the settings were just right. So, when I found out that Microsoft was going to release Gauntlet for the XLA, I thought ...

"What? Why would you do Gauntlet instead of Gauntlet II?"

That's right. Everyone knows that Gauntlet II is to Gauntlet as Erin Andrews is to Suzy Kolber. No one in their right minds would produce Gauntlet if they had the option to produce Gauntlet II.

For those of you who never played them, in the Gauntlet series (I and II in the arcades - III on the Lynx and IV on the Genesis were different, so we'll ignore them for now), up to four players plod through a top-down view of a dungeon, killing things and collecting keys, potions, and treasure. The game keeps a total score for you, but keeps the high score boards based on points per credit, so the lame-o who plays it all day with mommy's money won't knock you off the board.

Gauntlet was basic: four characters (elf, wizard, warrior, valkyrie) from which you could choose by using the appropriate coin slot and controls, standard dungeons in the same sequence, no really cool things in the game. Gauntlet II introduced many improvements: color, not character, was tied to the controls, so everyone could be an elf if they wanted to be; level order was random once you got through the introductory levels; dragons were added (had to shoot them in the head a certain number of times to collect treasure and a hidden potion); other abilities were added, like transportability; but best of all, they had secret rooms.

Before certain levels, a hint would appear, something like "To find secret room, go hungry." If you managed to do what the hint was suggesting, you'd go into a secret room, which was like the treasure room except that a) it had more cool things in it and b) if you got out, you got a password-type code that you mailed in for a free T-shirt. Oh yes, I got one.

And the things the machine would say at times were improved:

"Red Elf has eaten all the food lately!"

Anyway, Gauntlet II >>>> Gauntlet. XBLA Gauntlet? Well, they did let you pick the character you wanted. Other than that, it's Gauntlet. Yawn. Finish level 100 using default settings? Right ... anyway, multiplayer is kind of fun if you're all old-school gamers, but if you want quality retro action, I'd recommend Robotron instead.

zlionsfan's rating: 3 valkyries out of 10.