Black Stone: Magic & Steel

"Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery"

Let's make one thing perfectly clear from the start, this IS just another "Gauntlet" game. Everything in "Gauntlet" is in this game, and very little else. I still think, though, that this game has been unfairly maligned. If you like "Gauntlet", you should like this, after all, it is exactly the same game. It differs only in that it has way fewer levels, but is much harder.

GRAPHICS: 9/10 This is where the game really shines, as it puts "Gauntlet" to shame. The environments are lush and colorful, and very busy both in scenery and in enemies, and yet no slow down at all. Enemies look great and animate quite convincingly.

MUSIC/SOUND: 8/10 Again, the game puts "Gauntlet" to shame. The music is always level appropriate, and the sound and sound effects are great. Of course you will notice the usual theft of "gauntlet" ideas, like the booming voice, but at least they did manage to improve on what they stole.

CAMERA/CONTROL: 6/10 Of course they had to steal what was bad as well, as there still is no camera control. The controls are spot on, but, your character has a tendency to keep swinging his weapon, and often in the wrong direction, too.

GAME PLAY: 6/10 The game play is exactly the same as "Gauntlet", and, had this not been a direct theft of that game, it would have gotten a higher rating. Once again you collect keys to open chests, and can only have 9 at a time, and there never seem to be enough of them. You can use magic, and you never know what that might be( actually you could know what scroll is coming up by using the black button to change the info screen), and can carry 16 magic scrolls at one time. You kill everything in sight, especially the monster generators, and can find some level up items from time to time. Collect all the gold you can and buy HP level ups, as well as meat and temporary weapons. You have both a long range and short range attack, and the long range attack can be more effective when the meter is full( it is the bottom line, not explained in the manual or anywhere else , as are a lot of things you have to find out on your own). There really isn't much problem solving, though in the second level, near the end, there is a wall that can be lowered by a switch, but it isn't low enough to walk over, and won't stay down anyway. If any one reading this knows what to do here, please let me know. The box of the game boasts about 26 huge levels; however, 10 of these are one screen boss levels, and the others are not all that big either. On the other hand, the manual says that to unlock the other two bonus characters for each type will require level 40. The first level is a very easy practice, just to get you situated, as you only start with 410 HP. After that is when the game really starts, and really ramps up the difficulty. You can revisit any level but the first one, and will be replaying that second level quite a bit or you never will get past the later levels. Each level usually requires you to find one or two items. You will also have to find the boss weapon on some levels. None of this is very hard to do. If you finish a level and find everything you get an "s" rating and one extra continue. You can have up to 9 continues, and you will be needing them, trust me.

VALUE: 6/10 Not knowing how there could be 40 levels in a 26 level game, I assume the 26 levels. Constantly repeating level 2 after every higher level will not appeal to a lot of people. I'm not even sure if it sells new for $30 or $40. After 6 hours I have only done 5 levels. It would appear to be in the 20 hour range. I would not pay more than $25, and if you have doubts, I'd consider renting it first.

FINAL COMMENTS: This game should have been called "Black Gauntlet" etc., and then everyone would know what it was and not complain that it is major theft. I myself really like this game but wish it were longer, and wish then that the difficulty went up a lot slower. I also really like the entire "Gauntlet" series, and if you do not, this will definitely not make you a believer.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/07/04