Gauntlet (universe)
Gauntlet is a fantasy video game universe, originally created by Atari, which went on to spawn several sequels. The games revolve around various heroes who have entered a maze of dungeons which contain monsters and treasure. In the earliest games, the goal was simply to amass a high score by collecting treasure and killing monsters, but later games in the series added stories and plot lines.
My first experience with the Gauntlet series was playing the original arcade game in a hotel where my family was staying. My older brother had found the game and convinced me to play it with him. In the late 1980s, we got a copy of the game for our NES. We played most of the levels, but never beat the game. In the early 1990s, I bought the NES port of Gauntlet II which we played for awhile, but, lacking an ending, we got bored of it. I didn't play any of the home computer ports or later sequels released on consoles. At the end of the 1990s, I remember seeing Gauntlet: Legends in arcades when it first came out and thinking it was kind of silly to see such an old game resurrected. I never bothered to play any of the remakes. In 2019, annoyed that I had never beat the NES port of Gauntlet, I spent the time to play and beat the game. As a child, I loved the theme of Gauntlet, but, as an adult with more refined video game taste, I find the first few titles to be poorly made. They were decent for the time, but they haven't aged well.
Video Games
| Title | Released | Developer | Original Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gauntlet | 1985-11-?? | Atari | Arcade |
| Gauntlet II | 1986-08-?? | Atari | Arcade |
| Gauntlet | 1987-??-?? | Atari | NES |
| Gauntlet: The Third Encounter | 1990-??-?? | Atari | Lynx |
| Gauntlet III: The Final Quest | 1991-??-?? | Tengen | Amiga |
| Gauntlet IV | 1993-??-?? | Atari | Genesis |
| Gauntlet: Legends | 1998-10-?? | Atari | Arcade |
| Gauntlet: Dark Legacy | 2000-??-?? | Midway Games West | Arcade |
| Gauntlet: Dark Legacy | 2002-11-20 | Pocket Studios | Game Boy Advance |
| Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows | 2005-12-12 | Midway Studios: San Diego | PlayStation 2 |
| Gauntlet | 2014-09-32 | Arrowhead Game Studios | Windows |
Other Video Games
- Gauntlet: The Deeper Dungeons - A level pack for home computer ports of the original game.
- Gauntlet and Gauntlet II: Limited Edition - A compilation of Gauntlet I and II for home computers.
- Gauntlet / Rampart - A compilation of two old Atari arcade games emulated on the GBA.
- Gauntlet - A canceled game for the Nintendo DS.
Board Games
- Gauntlet - A Klix Pocket Travel Game.
Books
- Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Book 1
Links
