"Great game which is good for more then just Nostogia."

Who could forget American Gladiators? For those of you who were living in a hole or anywhere outside of North America during the Mid-Nineties, American Gladiators was a television show which was hugely popular for a while, and spawned multiple imitators. Unfortunately, like most fads, American Gladiators eventually faded away into obscurity, remembered only by those who would admit to ever having watched it. As for the show itself, it wasn't quite sports, and it wasn't quite professional wrestling, but it definitely balanced itself between the fine line separating the two. Every week millions of television watchers would turn on their TV's to watch their favorite Gladiators (Very well built bodybuilders) compete with the competitors in various events, such as Joust, where the Gladiator and Competitor would beat each other senseless with giant q-tips while trying to knock each other off a platform, or The Wall, where the competitors would climb up a giant wall while the Gladiators loomed below them, trying to pull them off. There were several other events which were a staple of the show, but they would all end with The Eliminator, a giant obstacle course where the competitors would race to the finish while trying to avoid various traps such as rotating platforms, and the gladiators themselves. The show was always enjoyable, but after facing fierce competition from Professional Wrestling, and other forms of entertainment, the show was eventually canceled, but not before a huge marketing campaign in which the gladiators faces were seen on everything from lunchboxes, to action figures, to even Video Games, and that leads us to this game.

Game play- The game features five of the more popular events from the show, all of which I will give an individual rating to

Joust- Press the A and B buttons to attack the opposing gladiator and knock him off the podium. Sometimes the gladiators block your normal attacks, so you must attack high or low to knock them off. After they fall, you must proceed to move forward and jump from platform to platform until you reach the next gladiator. Not very difficult, and not very exciting. 6/10

The Wall- Easily the best and most difficult game in the lot. Alternate between pressing A and B while using the directional pad to move up the maze like wall. While moving up the wall, you must deal with the gladiators above you who will try and knock you off. Tactful maneuvering will be needed to get up the wall and avoid the gladiators. Really great game. The only downside is by level 3, this game gets insanely hard, and next to impossible to boot. 9/10

Powerball- Go back and fourth across a vertical level, grabbing the ball and putting it into one of five bins. The only problem is, there are gladiators on all sides, and coming into contact with one causes you to drop the ball you are carrying. This is the only event, which doesn’t require any skill to complete. You could just stand around and let time run out if you wish, but you won't get any points for it. Mildly amusing, and somewhat difficult. 8/10

Assault- More boring then six hours of C-Span. Run up a screen while grabbing weapons and shooting them at the gladiator who is moving back and fourth across the top of the screen, shooting tennis balls at you. Whether you hit them or not is a total crapshoot, and you almost always end up beating the level by reaching the top of the area and crossing the finish line. You hit him three times and you win, he hits you three times and you lose a life. Nothing fun here. 4/10

Human Cannonball- you and the Gladiator are on 2 platforms on opposite sides of the screen which are moving up and down. Your goal is to jump off your platform, and onto a rope, which is hanging from the top of the screen and is moving back and fourth. You grab the rope, wait for it to line up with the gladiator, and fly off, knocking the gladiator off the platform. This is one of the easier games, but it's not very good or anything. 5/10

You play through four levels that all have these same five games, but they get progressively more difficult. I hear that once you beat level 4, you get to play the eliminator level, but seeing as how The Wall becomes totally unbeatable by level 3, I've never actually seen it.

Graphics- Gametek really outdid themselves here. Great colorful graphics, that very accurately represent the show and do it a great deal of justice. 9/10

Controls- Nothing complicated here, each game pretty much controls the same, you perform an action with A and B, and move with the control pad. There's nothing wrong with the controls. This is a good example of simple being better, as the Genesis and SNES versions of American Gladiators would show. 9/10

Replayability- Most of the events are fairly simple and don't require a lot of effort to beat. The one exception is of course The Wall, which is an evil masochistic device, designed to rape you of your sanity. You will find yourself playing it over and over trying to master it. 8/10

Value- This is one of the harder to find NES games, but it still shouldn't be too hard to acquire at Funcoland or other second hand stores. A good price to pay would be 5 to 10 dollars.

Overall- American Gladiators was definitely a show that lent itself well to video games. The exciting fast pace of the show translated well to the 8-bit world. The Gladiators easily knock the crap out of the Harlem Globetrotters for the award for best non-game show game for the NES made by Gametek. Highly recommended game

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/10/02, Updated 08/10/02