Gauntlet, the Video Game by Atari Games Corp. [CA, USA]
DESCRIPTION
KEYWORDS :
Gauntlet © 1985 Atari Games.
Gauntlet is a maze-based shoot-em-up for up to four players. Heavily influenced by classic fantasy conventions, players take on the role of either an Thor the Warrior, Thyra the Valkyrie, Merlin the Wizard, or Questor the Elf and must play cooperatively as they explore and fight their way through the enemy-packed mazes. Competitive play is encouraged as players must fight for the limited amount of food, treasure, magic potions and power-up items that litter the dungeons.
Each of Gauntlet's four characters posess different strengths and weaknesses: Thyra has great armour, Thor is best at hand-to-hand combat, Questor has the fastest speed, and Merlin has the best ability to use magic. The object of the game is simply to survive as long as possible while exploring Gauntlet's mazes in search of treasure, food, magic potions and ultimately, the exit that leads to the next dungeon.
The potions - shown as blue bottles - that litter the levels offer either improved character abilities (such as 'speed' or 'extra shot power') or can be used as a 'smart bomb', destroying some or all of the on-screen monsters. Potions are also the only way to kill the game's 'Death' character that appears in many of the stages. Magic potions can be kept and used at the player's discretion by pressing 'Magic' button, although each potion can only be used once.
The first seven mazes are always the same, but from level eight onwards, players will find themselves on any one of over a hundred different mazes. If a player survives long enough, the mazes will be repeated in a different order. How long a player lasts depends upon the player's 'health' level. Health continually depletes as time progresses and further health is lost by contact with various monsters or their projectyles. Health can be replenished by consuming the food found in the mazes or by inserting more credits. The many treasure chests that litter the levels can be plundered for points, and collecting treasure increases a player's score multiplier when two or more players are playing the game.
TECHNICAL
CABINET :
;)
Main CPU : 68010 (@ 7.15909 Mhz), M6502 (@ 1.789772 Mhz)
Sound Chips : YM2151 (@ 3.579545 Mhz), POKEY (@ 1.789772 Mhz), TMS5220 (@ 650.826 Khz)
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 336 x 240 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 1024
Players : 4
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2
TRIVIA
Released in December 1985.
Gauntlet was originally going to be called 'Dungeons' and was inspired not only by TSR's tabletop RPG, 'Dungeons & Dragons', but also by another Atari game called 'Dandy'. Dandy's creator, Jack Palevich, tried fruitlessly to get his name added to the list of credits in Gauntlet. In lieu of public recognition, Atari Games Corp gave Pelvich a Gauntlet cabinet, and he in turn agreed not to sue Atari.
Gauntlet's revolutionary, non-linear game-play gave players multiple choices, as they were no longer forced into taking a linear route through the game. Like 'Dungeons & Dragons', Gauntlet players could choose their own path, searching for keys, treasures, food and transporters to take them to other levels. Unlike most other games at the time, the player didn't always have to fight; a simpler route through the dungeon could sometimes be found, or players could simply try to make a run for it.
Another Gauntlet milestone was in the game's use of sound effects. Synthesized human voices had been used sporadically in games in the early eighties and while it had proved, on most occasions, to be moderately successful, was still considered something of a novelty. Gauntlet, however, revolutionized the concept of in-game speech and added immeasurably to the game's superb atmosphere. The deep timbre of Gauntlet's very own 'Dungeon Master' would guide players through the levels, informing them that 'Elf needs food, badly', or that 'Blue Wizard is about to die' and the always-good advice that is 'Don't shoot food.'
Note : The game contains exactly 212 sounds (including digitized voices, effects and musics).
Approximately 8,000 units were produced.
Note : There were 20 officially released versions (see Updates section for detailed info), including 6 '2-player' versions and various Spanish, German and Japanese versions. Counting 4-players English variants alone, there were 7 releases with various bug-fixes.
The default high score screen of "Cyberball 2072" features names of many Atari arcade games, including GAUNTLET.
Charles Nagle holds the official record for this game with 4,401,169 points on March 28, 2003.
Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (That's Atari Music Vol.II : G.S.M. Atari Games 2 - PCCB-00070) on 21/09/1991.
Gauntlet was originally going to be called 'Dungeons' and was inspired not only by TSR's tabletop RPG, 'Dungeons & Dragons', but also by another Atari game called 'Dandy'. Dandy's creator, Jack Palevich, tried fruitlessly to get his name added to the list of credits in Gauntlet. In lieu of public recognition, Atari Games Corp gave Pelvich a Gauntlet cabinet, and he in turn agreed not to sue Atari.
Gauntlet's revolutionary, non-linear game-play gave players multiple choices, as they were no longer forced into taking a linear route through the game. Like 'Dungeons & Dragons', Gauntlet players could choose their own path, searching for keys, treasures, food and transporters to take them to other levels. Unlike most other games at the time, the player didn't always have to fight; a simpler route through the dungeon could sometimes be found, or players could simply try to make a run for it.
Another Gauntlet milestone was in the game's use of sound effects. Synthesized human voices had been used sporadically in games in the early eighties and while it had proved, on most occasions, to be moderately successful, was still considered something of a novelty. Gauntlet, however, revolutionized the concept of in-game speech and added immeasurably to the game's superb atmosphere. The deep timbre of Gauntlet's very own 'Dungeon Master' would guide players through the levels, informing them that 'Elf needs food, badly', or that 'Blue Wizard is about to die' and the always-good advice that is 'Don't shoot food.'
Note : The game contains exactly 212 sounds (including digitized voices, effects and musics).
Approximately 8,000 units were produced.
Note : There were 20 officially released versions (see Updates section for detailed info), including 6 '2-player' versions and various Spanish, German and Japanese versions. Counting 4-players English variants alone, there were 7 releases with various bug-fixes.
The default high score screen of "Cyberball 2072" features names of many Atari arcade games, including GAUNTLET.
Charles Nagle holds the official record for this game with 4,401,169 points on March 28, 2003.
Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (That's Atari Music Vol.II : G.S.M. Atari Games 2 - PCCB-00070) on 21/09/1991.
UPDATES
Revision 1 (4-players)
* First world release.
Revision 2 (4-players)
* Added an option called 'Disable Speech?' in the operator menu.
* Fixed some texts in attract mode.
Revision 3 (4-players)
* German release only.
Revision 4 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 5 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 6 (4-players)
* German release only.
* Added 'All walls turn into exits' trick (see 'Tips And Tricks' section).
* Added ability to stop the attract mode with the fire button.
Revision 7 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 8 (4-players)
* German release only.
* Added an option called 'Reduce Text?' in the operator menu.
Revision 9 (4-players)
* World release.
* Levels are different : Level 9 and 10 are removed (Level 12 on revision 8 = Level 10 on revision 9).
Revision 10 (4-players)
* German release only.
Revision 12 (4-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 13 (4-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 14 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 15 (4-players)
* Spanish release only.
Revision 1 (2-players)
* German release only.
* Based on the lastest 4-players revision.
Revision 2 (2-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 3 (2-players)
* World release.
Revision 4 (2-players)
* German release only.
Revision 5 (2-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 6 (2-players)
* World release.
* First world release.
Revision 2 (4-players)
* Added an option called 'Disable Speech?' in the operator menu.
* Fixed some texts in attract mode.
Revision 3 (4-players)
* German release only.
Revision 4 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 5 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 6 (4-players)
* German release only.
* Added 'All walls turn into exits' trick (see 'Tips And Tricks' section).
* Added ability to stop the attract mode with the fire button.
Revision 7 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 8 (4-players)
* German release only.
* Added an option called 'Reduce Text?' in the operator menu.
Revision 9 (4-players)
* World release.
* Levels are different : Level 9 and 10 are removed (Level 12 on revision 8 = Level 10 on revision 9).
Revision 10 (4-players)
* German release only.
Revision 12 (4-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 13 (4-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 14 (4-players)
* World release.
Revision 15 (4-players)
* Spanish release only.
Revision 1 (2-players)
* German release only.
* Based on the lastest 4-players revision.
Revision 2 (2-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 3 (2-players)
* World release.
Revision 4 (2-players)
* German release only.
Revision 5 (2-players)
* Japanese release only.
Revision 6 (2-players)
* World release.
TIPS AND TRICKS
* Hints for Game Play : The following hints will help you use your health more effectively and score more points per coin :
1) Play cooperatively.
2) Allow the player with the best ability to use magic (usually Merlin the Wizard, unless one of the other players has acquired the magic potion for extra magic) to pick up the magic potions.
3) Save keys and potions and use them conservatively.
4) Pay attention to your marching order. Allow the players with the best fighting ability and armor (usually Thyra the Valkyrie and Thor the Warrior) to lead the way and fend off attacks.
5) Avoid contact with the ghosts : they take away your health very quickly and you cannot fight them hand-to-hand.
* If you remain motionless (or basically aimless) and stall off about 30 health, all of the doors will open. Everybody knows this, and the game even tells you about it. The game doesn't tell you that if you stall off about 200 health, all the walls will turn into exits! (work on Revision 6 and +) The game designers had to include this because there are some levels which require you to pick up a key before you exit. If you are already filled up with keys, and the doors are all gone, then it would be IMPOSSIBLE for you to exit, and you would starve to death. What they didn't anticipate, is that certain levels of the game which are really difficult, which would require you to take massive health losses to finish, become very simple if all the walls are exits. Or they can be effectively skipped altogether. Because the game has Monty-Hall levels with lots of food on them, you can use this cheat to only play levels which are a wash or increase your health dramatically, and cut your losses to 200 on all the really hard levels.
* The best character to play, in the LONG run, is the elf. His magic is just as good as the wizard's and his fight ability as good as Thor's. His ability to shoot through cracks in addition to all this (when he has the power potions) makes him the best. The Valkyrie is the worst, although some people regard this as a challenge...
* To manipulate the point value of Death, shoot him. Death's point value takes the following progression : 1000-2000-1000-4000-1000-6000-1000-8000, and then back to start. His value keeps from the previous game.
* You can kill Death painlessly by teleporting on top of him.
* Level 8 is the level that the previous game ended on. If you got a really good sequence of boards in a game and you want to repeat them, turn the machine off and on again after you've entered your high score.
1) Play cooperatively.
2) Allow the player with the best ability to use magic (usually Merlin the Wizard, unless one of the other players has acquired the magic potion for extra magic) to pick up the magic potions.
3) Save keys and potions and use them conservatively.
4) Pay attention to your marching order. Allow the players with the best fighting ability and armor (usually Thyra the Valkyrie and Thor the Warrior) to lead the way and fend off attacks.
5) Avoid contact with the ghosts : they take away your health very quickly and you cannot fight them hand-to-hand.
* If you remain motionless (or basically aimless) and stall off about 30 health, all of the doors will open. Everybody knows this, and the game even tells you about it. The game doesn't tell you that if you stall off about 200 health, all the walls will turn into exits! (work on Revision 6 and +) The game designers had to include this because there are some levels which require you to pick up a key before you exit. If you are already filled up with keys, and the doors are all gone, then it would be IMPOSSIBLE for you to exit, and you would starve to death. What they didn't anticipate, is that certain levels of the game which are really difficult, which would require you to take massive health losses to finish, become very simple if all the walls are exits. Or they can be effectively skipped altogether. Because the game has Monty-Hall levels with lots of food on them, you can use this cheat to only play levels which are a wash or increase your health dramatically, and cut your losses to 200 on all the really hard levels.
* The best character to play, in the LONG run, is the elf. His magic is just as good as the wizard's and his fight ability as good as Thor's. His ability to shoot through cracks in addition to all this (when he has the power potions) makes him the best. The Valkyrie is the worst, although some people regard this as a challenge...
* To manipulate the point value of Death, shoot him. Death's point value takes the following progression : 1000-2000-1000-4000-1000-6000-1000-8000, and then back to start. His value keeps from the previous game.
* You can kill Death painlessly by teleporting on top of him.
* Level 8 is the level that the previous game ended on. If you got a really good sequence of boards in a game and you want to repeat them, turn the machine off and on again after you've entered your high score.
SERIES
1. Gauntlet (1985)
2. Gauntlet [PlayChoice-10] (1985)
3. Gauntlet II (1986)
4. Gauntlet - The Third Encounter (1990, Atari Lynx)
5. Gauntlet III - The Final Quest (1991, Atari ST)
6. Gauntlet 4 (1993, Sega Mega Drive)
7. Gauntlet Legends (1998)
8. Gauntlet Dark Legacy (1999)
9. Gauntlet Seven Sorrows (2006, Sony PlayStation 2 & Microsoft XBOX)
2. Gauntlet [PlayChoice-10] (1985)
3. Gauntlet II (1986)
4. Gauntlet - The Third Encounter (1990, Atari Lynx)
5. Gauntlet III - The Final Quest (1991, Atari ST)
6. Gauntlet 4 (1993, Sega Mega Drive)
7. Gauntlet Legends (1998)
8. Gauntlet Dark Legacy (1999)
9. Gauntlet Seven Sorrows (2006, Sony PlayStation 2 & Microsoft XBOX)
STAFF
Designer / Programmer : Ed Logg (ED )
Game programmer : Bob Flanagan (BF )
Video graphics : Video graphics : Sam Comstock (SWC), Susan G. McBride (SGM), Alan Murphy, Will Noble, Dave Pettigrew (D F)
Engineer : Pat McCarthy (PMC)
Technician : Sae Oh (SMO), Cris Drobny (CAD)
Sound designers : Hal Canon (HAL), Earl Vickers (EAR)
Cabinet designer : Ken Hata (KEN)
Game programmer : Bob Flanagan (BF )
Video graphics : Video graphics : Sam Comstock (SWC), Susan G. McBride (SGM), Alan Murphy, Will Noble, Dave Pettigrew (D F)
Engineer : Pat McCarthy (PMC)
Technician : Sae Oh (SMO), Cris Drobny (CAD)
Sound designers : Hal Canon (HAL), Earl Vickers (EAR)
Cabinet designer : Ken Hata (KEN)
PORTS
Consoles :
Atari Lynx (1990)
Sega Master System (1990)Sega Mega Drive
Sony PlayStation (1998, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 2")
Sega Dreamcast (2000, "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Volume 2")
Sony PlayStation 2 (2003, "Midway Arcade Treasure")
Nintendo GameCube (2003, "Midway Arcade Treasure")
Microsoft XBOX (2003, "Midway Arcade Treasure")
Sony PSP (2005, "Midway Arcade Treasures - Extended Play")
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2005, "Gauntlet / Rampart")
Microsoft XBOX 360 (2005, as a downloadable Live Arcade game) : boasts an upgrade in graphics, and a special achievements section, where players are rewarded for different achievements they make in the game [Retired in 2010].Computers :
Atari XL/XE (1985) : released as both cassette and disk.
Amstrad CPC (1985)Atari ST (1985)
Commodore C64 (1986)
Tandy Color Computer (1986, "Gantelet")
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)
Apple II (1988)PC [MS-DOS] (1988)
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1998, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 2")
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2004, "Midway Arcade Treasure")
Others :
LCD handheld game (1988) released by Tiger Electronics : contains 9 stages in your quest to find the long-lost Sacred Orb. There are 5 different worlds for your search through and battle evil demons : The Castle, The Dark Forest, The Lost Caverns, The Unseen, and Volcana.
SOURCES
Game's rom.
Machine's picture.
Machine's picture.
LAST EDITION
February 18, 2010