Gauntlet Legends

"The true arcade multiplayer experience has come home!"

I remember the old days of Gauntlet, playing multiplayer with friends, and hearing that booming voice say ''Elf needs food badly.'' Well, Midway created a true upgrade to the series in Gauntlet Legends, and add some new twists while keeping the gameplay of the original intact. On the Dreamcast, we have the best looking veersion of the home systems, and those of you looking for a multiplayer game, look no further.

Story - 8
Rather basic story, though more than the original ever had. Instead of wandering aimlessly through almost neverending dungeons, this time you are on a mission. First of all Skorne (the main boss of the game) has scattered the 13 runestones through out 5 worlds. You must locate them. Easier said than done. You may miss them your first time through, as some are easy to find, while others require hitting switches and destroying hidden walls. If you miss the runestone, just go back in, and a small icon will lead you in a cold/hot type way. Also, there are 4 bosses, 1 each for the first four worlds.

Graphics - 9
Gauntlet in 3D, who would have thought? The graphics here rival or even surpass that of the arcade version. The levels look great and some levels really capture the feeling of the original. The characters, while not really detailed, are nicely animated. Very nice graphics on the spells and turbo attacks.

Sound - 8
The music isn't anything to write home about, but the sound is quite nice. Explosions, walls breaking, gates opening, drawbridges lowering. Lots of grunts and screams. And of course the booming voice making comments throughout.

Gameplay - 9
Good Gauntlet gameplay. You get 8 characters to select from, with another 4 hidden. Each has strengths and weaknesses. You hack and slask through countless enemies, while collecting treasure and keys. In order to stop the enemies, you must destroy the generators which spawn them. The levels are huge with multiple paths, switches and walls. While in the mazes, you're looking for the legendary weapons as well as the runestones. With more people playing, more monsters are out at once, and gives you the feeling of being against an army like the original was. There are some new features to note. One is like an RPG, you gain experience and levels and as you do, your stats increase as well as max hit points. There are new items introduced, such as 5 way shots, fire breath, fire shields and such. Also with the gold you collect, you can buy powerups to use in the next level. The downside? Food can be found in levels, but not bought. So you usually have to reenter easier levels repeatedly to gain HP back for a boss encounter. Also new are turbo and team attacks. Turbo allows you to block, to run faster, and to pull character specific moves which can kill loads of enemies. When two charatcers are near each other and one does a Turbo attack it changes to different teamup attacks. Oh did I mention the IT is back? (For those who don't know or don't remember in the original, IT touched a player and they became, well IT. All monsters gunned for that player til he touched another player. That player became IT and so on....)

Overall - 9
Overall, this is a great game and conversion. As a single player game, it's not as much fun. But get 4 players going, and just lay waste to all in your way. And with the IT feature, multiplayer get hilarious as players aren't just fighting monsters, but also running from each other. Get this if you want a party game or a game for all your friends, you won't be disappointed. But if you were never a fan of the original, or this game seems too mindless for you, you may want to look elsewhere.

''Blue Knight is about to die''

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/00, Updated 04/25/01