Gauntlet Legends

"First, a great arcade game. Then, a very stupid N64 game."

I love the arcade game. When Gauntlet Legends came out on Nintendo 64, i went and bought it right away. When i put it in my Nintendo 64, i started right away. I picked the character i usually was; The Valkyrie; and begun playing. I cleared/completed the whole first level in 5 minutes. I was already level 10. I played all day, then all of a sudden, the game was done. Level 99, every quest item, every boss, etc. But, that's after i got my butt kicked a lot and i broke my green controller trying to move or attack. I took the game and sold it on Ebay. Why does this game suck so much after a great arcade release? Well...

Game play: 3/10
Ugh, so choppy and slow. It takes so long to get used to the crappy slowdown and choppiness when there was a bunch of enemies on the screen and i was kicking enemy butt with my sword. Wait? is that even a sword...That brings me to the next section.

Graphics: 1/10
The enemies look like walking amoebas with blue globs on them and a stick in one hand. The enemies don't even look that much different between worlds. Just a new pallet, nothing else. And, the graphics for using potions (Run-of-the-mill magic spells) look horrible. Just little colorful lines along the ground. Wee, look at the yellow line kill the enemies that have no randomness at all! Seriously though, that's all the magic is. Little lines that make enemies flash then fall to the ground and turn invisible! Lock me up if you don't believe me! I'm serious!

Sound: 1/10
The voice over sounds like Will smith and Jim Carrey put together with an overdose of beer and a little swift kick where it hurts. The Dieing enemies don't really say anything except for ''rah'' or ''ugh''. What great sound effects. Heres a little transcript from the game:
Ugh ugh ugh!
Rah ugh!
Rah rah ugh!
(boom)
RAH! RAH RAH RAH!
Ugh ugh ugh!
Yes, that is annoying, isn't it?

Controls: 1/10
This feels like I'm playing a 3D version of Heroes of the Lance. I turn my control stick left, and my character stands there while midgets beat me up. I press attack, and i run into more enemies to meet my doom.

Story: 1/10
Oh dear, some guy stole a runestone...This doesn't differ from the arcade version, but the arcade version made the story sound more exciting.

Challenge: 10/10
Half the game is trying to do anything.

And yes, I'm telling the truth. This game feels like HOTL in 3D. Think about it! Midgets, wooden sticks, bad control...How fun.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 11/23/00, Updated 11/23/00