Gauntlet (1985 video game)

This article is about the 1985 video game. For other things called "gauntlet", see Gauntlet.

Gauntlet
Arcade game flyer
Developer(s)	Atari Games
Publisher(s)	Atari Games, U.S. Gold
Designer(s)	Ed Logg
Composer(s)	Hal Canon, Earl Vickers (Arcade/NES) "2 Bit Systems Replay" (Atari ST) Ben Daglish (Amstrad CPC/ZX Spectrum) "Tiertex" (Sega Master System)
Series	Gauntlet
Platform(s)	Arcade (original) Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Apple Macintosh, Commodore 64, MSX, Master System, NES, Genesis, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS
Release	November 1985
Genre(s)	Hack and slash, dungeon crawl
Mode(s)	Single-player, 4-player multiplayer
Cabinet	Custom upright
Arcade system	Atari Gauntlet
CPU	1xMotorola 68010 @ 7.15909 MHz, Template:6502
Sound	1xYamaha YM2151 @ 3.579545, Template:POKEY, 1xTexas Instruments TMS5220@ 650.826 kHz
Display	Raster, 336×240 resolution

Gauntlet is a fantasy-themed hack and slash 1985 arcade game by Atari Games. It is noted as being one of the first multi-player dungeon crawl arcade games. The core design of Gauntlet comes from Dandy, a 1983 Atari 8-bit family title, which resulted in a lawsuit.

The arcade version of Gauntlet was released in November 1985 and was initially available only as a dedicated 4-player cabinet. A total of 7,848 units were distributed. Atari later released a 2-player cabinet variant in June 1986, aimed at operators who could not afford or did not have sufficient space for the 4-player version.

Gameplay

Arcade version screenshot

The game is set within a series of top-down, third-person perspective mazes where the object is to find and touch the designated exit in every level. An assortment of special items can be located in each level that increase the player's character's health, unlock doors, gain more points, and give magical potions that can destroy all of the enemies on screen.

Each player controls one of four playable fantasy-based characters: Thor, a Warrior; Merlin, a Wizard; Thyra, a Valkyrie; or Questor, an Elf. The characters are named on the cabinet artwork, but in-game they're referred only by the title of their classes. Each character has his or her own unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Warrior is strongest in hand-to-hand combat, the Wizard has the most powerful magic, the Valkyrie has the best armor, and the Elf is the fastest in movement. The characters are assigned by control panel in the 4-player version, whereas in the 2-player version each player selects his or her own character at the start of the game or while joining during the middle of play.

The enemies are an assortment of fantasy-based monsters, including ghosts, grunts, demons, lobbers, sorcerers, and thieves. Each enters the level through specific generators, which can be destroyed. While there are no bosses in the game, the most dangerous enemy is "Death", who can only be destroyed by using a magic potion—otherwise Death will vanish automatically after he has drained a certain amount of health from the player.

As the game progresses, higher levels of skill are needed to reach the exit, with success often depending on the willingness of the players to cooperate by sharing food and luring monsters into places where they can be engaged and slaughtered more conveniently. While contact with enemies reduces the player's health, health also slowly drains on its own, thus creating a time limit. When a character's health reaches zero, that character dies. The character can be revived in place with full health by spending a game credit—inserting a coin in the arcade—within a certain short time window after it died. This allows even the least proficient players to keep playing indefinitely, if they are willing to keep inserting coins. However, each player's final score will be divided by the amount of credits they used to play, resulting in an average.

Aside from the ability to have up to four players at once, the game is also noted for the narrator's voice, which is produced by a Texas Instruments TMS5220C speech chip. The TMS5220C speech was encoded by Earl Vickers. The narrator (voiced by Ernie Fosselius) frequently makes statements repeating the game's rules, including: "Shots do not hurt other players, yet", "Remember, don't shoot food!", "Elf shot the food!", and "Warrior needs food, badly!" The narrator occasionally comments on the battle by saying, "I've not seen such bravery!" or "Let's see you get out of here!" When a player's life force points fall below 200, the narrator states, "Your life force is running out", "Elf needs food", or "Valkyrie is about to die!"

The control panel for the 4-player cabinet is wider than other standard uprights in order to accommodate four people at the same time. Each player has an 8-way joystick and two buttons: one for "Fire" (ranged attack) and one for "Magic". The Magic button also starts 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.

Development

Originally called Dungeons, the game was conceived by Atari game designer Ed Logg. He claimed inspiration from his son's interest in the paper-based game Dungeons & Dragons and from his own interest in 1983's Atari 800 home computer game Dandy. The game's development spanned from 1983 to 1985, with a team being led by designers Ed Logg and Roger Zeigler. The working title became legally unavailable in April 1985, so it was renamed Gauntlet in May. Based upon some of the most elaborate hardware design in Atari's history to date, it is the company's first coin-operated game that features a voice synthesizer chip.

Ports and re-releases

See also: Gauntlet (NES video game)

Gauntlet was ported to MS-DOS, Apple II, Apple Macintosh, MSX, NES, Apple IIGS, Master System, Genesis (as Gauntlet 4), Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum.

The Genesis port, released as Gauntlet 4 (spelled Gauntlet IV on the packaging and manual) outside Japan, adds three modes in addition to the Arcade mode: Quest (an action RPG), Battle (a deathmatch game), and Record (a single-player only variant of Arcade mode in which progress is kept track via a passcode).

An emulated instance of the original Gauntlet arcade series is included in Midway Arcade Treasures (2003), a compilation of arcade games available for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows.

Gauntlet: The Deeper Dungeons

Gauntlet: The Deeper Dungeons is an expansion pack for the original ports of Gauntlet with 512 new levels and required the original program. It was released in 1987 by the British company U.S. Gold in the UK and Europe, and Mindscape in the United States. It was released for Amstrad CPC, MSX, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. It was developed by Gremlin Graphics.

Many of its levels were entries in a competition throughout Europe in which only ten winners were awarded prizes, "A Gauntlet T-Shirt and a copy of the program for their computers." The contest was announced in the instructions of many of the ported games: "In early 1987, U.S. Gold will release an expansion cassette for Gauntlet containing hundreds of new levels and treasure rooms. You can have the chance to have your own maze included on this tape!" The levels are presented randomly and its artwork is the side panel artwork of the arcade cabinet with only the main characters shown. The enemies were removed from the image and replaced with a pink background.

Many reviewers noted that the levels were much harder than those in the original game, although the consensus was that it was not quite as good as the first game or the then newly released arcade sequel.

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Crash	92%
CVG	CPC464: 36/40 SMS: 92%
Dragon
Sinclair User
Your Sinclair	9/10
ACE	859
Amstrad Action	93%
Commodore User	9/10
Computer Gamer	94%
The Games Machine	72%
Joystick	79%
Mean Machines	94%
Mega	90%
MegaTech	94%
Your Computer
Zzap!64	93%

Awards

Publication	Award
Golden Joystick Awards	Game of the Year
ZX Computing	Smash Hit

The game was highly profitable upon its October 1985 launch, reportedly earning one San Mateo, California, arcade operator US$15,000 in sixteen weeks and another Canadian operator US$4,500 in nine days. Atari ultimately sold a total of 7,848 Gauntlet video game arcade cabinets. At the 1986 Golden Joystick Awards in London, Gauntlet won Game of the Year, and was runner-up in the category of Arcade-Style Game of the Year. Entertainment Weekly picked the game as the 14th-greatest game available in 1991, saying: "There have been sequels to this game, but nothing matches the original Gauntlet, an innovative, fast-playing mix of mazes, monsters, and magic spells."

The Macintosh version of the game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon No. 150 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars. Compute! praised the Macintosh version's sound effects. Computer and Video Games praised the accuracy of the Amstrad version, and said that it had "great graphics, good sounds, and perfect playability." Crash praised the smooth and fast scrolling, and the longevity, with Avenger being listed as the only alternative. In their Master System review, ACE said that people of all ages could quickly master the controls and tasks. The Spectrum version was the biggest-selling game of 1986, and was voted number 38 in the Your Sinclair Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time.

Of the Mega Drive release in 1993, MegaTech said that "the action is flawless" and had stood the test of time well. They continued that it was "a brilliant game, and one that warrants immediate attention". Mega praised the longevity of the game, saying it was "huge fun and a must-buy" and placing the game at No. 19 in their list of the best Mega Drive games of all time.

More than a decade after release, the Official UK PlayStation Magazine noted that they "spent many a night hunched over a fag-stained Gauntlet machine", but said that the limitations had become apparent in the late 1990s. Next Generation, while not including the game in their "Top 100 Games of All Time", noted in the intro that "for the record, Gauntlet was number 101."

Controversy

Controversy arose after the release of the game in the arcade and its subsequent port to the Nintendo Entertainment System. Ed Logg, the co-creator of Asteroids and Centipede, is credited for Original Game Design of Gauntlet in the arcade version, as well as the 1987 NES release version. After its release, John Palevich threatened a lawsuit, asserting that the original concept for the game was from Dandy, a game for the Atari 8-bit family written by Palevich and published in 1983. The conflict was settled without any suit being filed, with Atari Games doing business as Tengen allegedly awarding Palevich a Gauntlet game machine. While he is credited as "special thanks" through 1986, Logg is entirely removed from credits on later releases and as of 2007 Logg claims no involvement with the NES game. Dandy was later reworked by Atari Corporation and published for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, and Atari 8-bit family as Dark Chambers in 1988.

In popular culture

The world record holder for Gauntlet is Russ Cool with a score of 5.1 million points, set December 6, 2013.

External links

• Gauntlet at the Killer List of Videogames
• Gauntlet at the Arcade History database
• Gauntlet at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
• Gauntlet can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive

Template:Gauntlet series