"Blue Warrior needs food badly!"

Hahahaha. My old memories are coming back to me here. A legendary game ported from the Arcade original, this is one furious game that all Amiga owners should have in their collection. Gauntlet was a big franchise back in the day; all the kids huddled around the arcade machine to watch another brave contender and co to battle it out to reach the final level. Did they? Did they 'eck. Gauntlet II is a hard and unforgiving mistress of a game, but they couldn't help but come back for more whipping.

Gauntlet II was one of the first games to support a 4-Way Co-op mode, long before Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, or The Simpsons. Just having this feature caused gamers to flock to their local game stores to buy it up, along with a few spare controllers. The game wasn't multiplayer only, as anybody could go it alone and fight their way through dungeon after dungeon of brilliant gameplay.

A total of 4 unique characters were available to play as, each being a different class: the Warrior (the battler), the Wizard (the magic dude), the Elf (the archer) and the Valkyrie (the female warrior). Now using these characters, gamers must delve deep into mazes and labyrinths to find hordes of treasure, gold and all sorts of booty. Sadly, there is no real story behind it, but it doesn't matter at all, since this is all about finger-aching, sweaty-hand and wide-eyed gaming. It's a fun-filled ride of determination and grit; you die, you're not man enough to handle it.

Like I've said, it's all about fighting. You must navigate your way around large mazes, swarming with enemies, traps, keys, doors, food, treasure and exits. You can stand and fight, but you'll soon be circled and trapped fighting an unstoppable force. Make a break for the exit to save yourself, but this means leaving the treasure undiscovered. It's all about determination and what you are capable of. Many people might say how the game is endless, with no way to complete the never-ending dungeons and mazes. That's a lie. It is endless, but thanks to the random-level generator, every game is fresh due to the different sequences of levels, keeping players on their toes. Monsters are varied and have their own attacks; slime bubbles will slurp towards you and leech into your skin, ghouls will swarm around and grope at you (in a menacing way, of course), with gremlins, elves, orcs and any other mythical creature making their appearance. Big, badass dragons also turn up as a sort of "mini-boss", guarding either a massive bonus of treasure (usually 5x the total amount found on any level) or the exit. Fight, or run like a coward.

The game has no eerie soundtrack to match the looming dungeons, but thanks to the voice effects, us nerds are free to giggle and quote our favourite lines:

"Green Valkyrie your time is running out!"
"I've not seen such bravery!" (This is basically Halo's "KILLING SPREE!")
"Three! Two! One! ....just kidding!"
"Red Wizard needs food badly!"

Excellent. Sometimes the sounds might begin to grate, like the bubbly sound when the slime enters you, but other than that, it's acceptable.

On the whole, it's one superb game which will even outlast Current-Gen games. It's a hack-and-slash title with bite, and it still has the challenge appeal to beat it. If you are interested in this game, you can find it pretty cheap in lots of game stores, as well as eBay, but for a much better alternative, buy Midway Arcade Treasure 2 for GCN, PS2 or XBox for 20+ retro titles, including this gem. Rock on, rock off.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/05