Gauntlet IV

"The right way to convert a classic"

Gameplay (Overall): 9

The original Gauntlet was all about fast-paced multi-player fun, and Tengen keeps this feel alive with four modes of play, each with its own nuances to keep things interesting. But the basic premise is the same: Destroy the hordes of enemies, get the treasure, get keys to unlock doors and potions to kill multiple enemies and/or Death, get to the next level, keep your health as high as possible. And while playing solo is good, the game truly shines when more players are added to the equation. The only real flaws in this game are in its badly-presented menus and password system, as well as repetitive gameplay. Then again, if you're just looking for a nice mindless hack-and-slash session, Gauntlet IV delivers beautifully.

Arcade Mode: 10

Arcade Mode is a dead ringer for the original, right down to the on-screen messages and narration. You also get a nice options menu (with a joypad test!) and sound test that look like they were converted from the original.

Record Mode: 8

Nearly identical to Arcade Mode, except the game keeps a tally of various statistics which it displays for you at the end of each level.

Battle Mode: 1

Not a bad concept, but it's executed incredibly poorly. For some reason, you still get to collect keys and potions, which are completely pointless in this mode. A complete waste of perfectly good cartridge space.

Quest Mode: 8

It's not Final Fantasy, but it's an excellent alternative to Arcade Mode. Characters can gain experience and purchase items that either build their stats or grant them special abilities. Also good is the ability to adjust stats as needed, which can come in very handy for some of the more nasty puzzles, which include ingenious use of special tiles such as no-shot, no-magic, and various area-specific ones which add considerable depth to the gameplay. The final labyrinth is a real challenge, requiring technique, intellect, and a little luck to conquer. And best of all, the Quest Mode supports multiple players. Unfortunately, the ''plot'' just seemed tacked on at the last minute, but this is really only a minor problem considering that you'll probably be too busy fighting off the dungeons' monsters to really care why you're doing it. ;)

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Visuals: 8

When this game was released in 1993, it did the best job of imitating the look of its 1985 counterpart for its time, and only emulators and Midway's own repackaged versions of the original for the next-gen consoles have come any closer since then. For the high number of sprites in the game, the Genesis does a great job of keeping flickering to a minimum. I'm not sure I liked the idea of keeping things retro in Quest Mode (especially with the Castle just being represented by a big black box with the word ''CASTLE'' on it) but other than that, everything looks quite good. Of special mention is the nice graphic opening to Quest Mode, which sadly is the exception to the rather bland presentation of the plot (such as it is).

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Audio: 7

The Genesis hardware almost seems tailor-made to handle the original Gauntlet's sound requirements, and all of the extra music is of outstanding quality. The downside is that there seem to be only a few music tracks spread across the game, and gets rather monotonous after you've spent about an hour in one of the Quest Mode dungeons. The rest of the sound is almost completely faithful to the original, though the narrator's digitized voice is much less clearer than in the arcade version. The quality notwithstanding, the digitized voices are still as memorable as they were back in 1985, with quips like ''Warrior shot the potion,'' and ''Wizard needs food, badly!''

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Final Thoughts:

At the time this game was released, it was one of the best reasons to buy the Genesis multi-player adapter. Today, the game is still a lot of fun to play, and still a great reason to pull your console out of storage, hook it up to an old TV, and play away. It's also a great use of an emulator with multi-player support, if you can find friends willing to play along -- assuming they all have *cough, cough* backups of the game as well. In any case, it's a great console version of a classic arcade game and well worth playing. Just don't hog all the food.....

Overall Rating: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/28/02, Updated 09/28/02