Gauntlet. - Atari, 1985
The Gauntlet main screen
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Gauntlet was a groundbreaking game in several respects. Firstly, it had one of the best custom cabinets that had been released up to that time. It featured great stereo sound. Contained dozens of digitised speech recordings and you could play 4-players simultaneously! Four people at the same time?! You must be having a laugh! Gauntlet was a top-down maze type game in which players fight monsters, collect treasure and potions, eat food and attempt to reach the next maze level by finding the 'Exit'. There was no way of 'completing' Gauntlet. Levels just kept on coming (eventually repeating in a random pattern). |
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In Gauntlet, players were able to take control of one of four different characters. They were:
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These four characters each had a unique set of six characteristics. The characteristics are as follows:
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What I find interesting here, is that the character traits are not all based on a three tier system. For some reason, some have three levels and some have four.
Warrior
Warrior's characteristics are thus:
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Movement Speed: SLOW
Fight Power: HIGH
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Shot Speed: SLOW
Magic Power: POOR
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Shot Power: EXCELLENT
Armour: 20% PROTECTION
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Warrior - down position
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Warrior - up position
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Warrior - left position
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Warrior - right position
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Warrior is a character of extremes. He is the slowest of the four characters in Gauntlet. He also has the weakest Magic Power. Further to this, it is not possible to fire his shots through diagonal blocks within a maze - making it impossible to reach monsters or generators that are not immediately adjacent to the gap.
These three elements make him a difficult character to succeed with. However, he makes up for these shortcomings by having the strongest Shot Power and crucially, the best Fight Power.
These three elements make him a difficult character to succeed with. However, he makes up for these shortcomings by having the strongest Shot Power and crucially, the best Fight Power.
Valkyrie
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Movement Speed: MODERATE
Fight Power: GOOD
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Shot Speed: MODERATE
Magic Power: MODERATE
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Shot Power: POOR
Armour: 30% PROTECTION
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Valkyrie - down position
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Valkyrie - up position
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Valkyrie - left position
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Valkyrie - right position
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In my experience, Valkyrie was always the least popular character in Gauntlet and consequently the least used. I think this may be because she is a middle ground character when it comes to stats and has no obvious stand-out statistic. She does have the best armour though, although I think this is the one statistic that is least visible to the player and so is easily overlooked.
Wizard
Wizard - down position
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Wizard - up position
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Wizard - left position
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Wizard - right position
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Movement Speed: SLOW
Fight Power: POOR
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Shot Speed: FAST
Magic Power: EXCELLENT
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Shot Power: GOOD
Armour: NONE
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Wizard is a very popular character in Gauntlet. Probably because his Magic Power is so good. As a single player, he was probably the most popular. His unmatched magic power is backed up by decent Shot Speed and Shot Power. However, he lacks armour and his Fight Power is very poor.
Elf
Elf - down position
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Elf - up position
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Elf - left position
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Elf - right position
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Movement Speed: FAST
Fight Power: MODERATE
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Shot Speed: FAST
Magic Power: VERY GOOD
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Shot Power: POOR
Amour: 10% PROTECTION
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Elf is the cheeky chappy in the group. His movement speed is the fastest, he is often the one who has the best chance to grab any food when in a group. His Magic Power is second only to the Wizard and his Shot Speed is excellent too. He is let down by poor shot power.
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So WARRIOR has the best Fight Power.
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Valkyrie has the best Amour
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Wizard has the best Magic
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Elf has the best Speed
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The Common Four Enemies
Ghost
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Demon
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Sorcerer
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Grunt
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The Less Common Enemies
Lobber
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Death
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Thief
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- Grunt
- Ghost
- Demon
- Scorcerers
Other characters in the game:
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Purpose of the Game
You cannot 'complete' Gauntlet. The levels just keep on ticking upwards and start repeating. So it was the sort of game where you had to set yourself a target. For example, how far could you get on 20p? Once you get past level 7, the levels appear randomly; and some are a lot kinder to the player than others. The level shown on the right is actually one of about three which are very similar in layout. All of them are horrible, as they are big 'health drainers' and there is no quick way to complete them. |
One of the more annoying & dull levels in Gauntlet
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Levels
Some levels are 'continuously scrolling' and just 'wrap' around as you walk from left to right.
Some levels are 'continuously scrolling' and just 'wrap' around as you walk from left to right.
Common items you can carry
Key
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Destructible Potion
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Indestructible Potion
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Common consumables
Treasure
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Destructible Food
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Indestructible Food
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Key: These are used to open doors.
Potion: Used to destroy monsters
Food: Used to gain health
Potion: Used to destroy monsters
Food: Used to gain health
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Some levels gave you the opportunity to 'Find the Hidden Potion'.
This is one of the five 'special' potions that provide the player with an enhancement to one of their characteristics. These potions can be shot, just like a normal potion, so care must be taken. If a player already has the potion in question and picks it up again, you are given a 'normal' potion instead. In a multiplayer game, this is one big cause of frustration, since another player could have benefitted from picking it up! |
Extra Fight Power hidden potion!
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Treasure Room title screen
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Limited Invisibility. Interestingly, the game still gives you the prompt, even if you have picked one up previously in the same game. |
Speech!
There is a good deal of digitised speech in Gauntlet. For it's day, it was groundbreaking both in the amount of speech and also the quality.
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There is a good deal of digitised speech in Gauntlet. For it's day, it was groundbreaking both in the amount of speech and also the quality.
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Hints and Tips
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- Use transporters to kill death
- Let Demons shoot eachother
- Shoot through gaps
- Concentrate on monster generators
- Know when to use a potion
- Use 'items' to channel enemies into your path (food/keys etc.)
- Thief always follows your own walked path in order to get to you. Knowing this greatly helps in shooting him!
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Find the hidden potion!
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Grunts feel the Wizard's fireball
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Characters with weak fight power (such as the Wizard and the Elf) can really struggle when surrounded by Grunts. In these cases, you should move whilst tapping the fire button, so that you are firing and also fighting at the same time. This gives you the best chance of moving forwards. |
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Note that if you play Gauntlet now on an emulator. The levels are 'fixed' in their sequence, rather than being random.
Lobbers are annoying. Especially when you can't get to them immediately like in this case.... |
Lobbers are so annoying!
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Extra Armour!
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Events
There are various 'events' that can happen:
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Quirks
Around 185 health ticks, walls turn into exits.
Note that this includes destructible walls, so sometimes if they turn into Exits, it is then impossible to walk around the level
No keys?
Doors open automatically after 30 ticks.
Full Up
Carrying too many keys/potions? Sometimes this can cause you to be stuck.....(game says 'bombs'!) Poor.
Thief takes a special potion and you are full in a corridor, you will be stuck!
Around 185 health ticks, walls turn into exits.
Note that this includes destructible walls, so sometimes if they turn into Exits, it is then impossible to walk around the level
No keys?
Doors open automatically after 30 ticks.
Full Up
Carrying too many keys/potions? Sometimes this can cause you to be stuck.....(game says 'bombs'!) Poor.
Thief takes a special potion and you are full in a corridor, you will be stuck!
Disappointing message...
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