Gauntlet
In my thirty-four years clutching tight to this swiftly rotating ball of dirt in the dead of space, I've suffered a lot of advice. "Remember, don't shoot food," may, in the end, be the single best piece delivered to me so far. While other recommendations have been well considered and then usually ignored, I can not think of a single instance yet where I have shot food, and I may just never do it. Thank you disembodied Gauntlet narrator voice! Also, I understand that Wizard is about to die. Someone should see to that.
It would have been nice if all those hojillion coins that I plugged into Gauntlet had somehow rolled straight into a Roth IRA or a money market account, because I would be quite rich now. Instead they delivered hours of meaningless and endless dungeon crawling at my local arcade. For those of you who didn't grow up in the eighties, you don't know what a Mecca the arcade truly was with golden-age games like Golden Axe, Dragon's Lair, Shinobi and at the center of every arcade the great quarter leech Gauntlet.
From a business perspective it was sheer genius implementing a gameplay where the gamer's health constantly drains and can be replinsihed by inserting more coins. That one might have to wait hours for another turn usually meant that, like high-stakes poker, if one approached the Gauntlet machine one better come packing serious money. Don't bring your weak sauce dollar's worth of tokens to this table. That's what they have games like Donkey Kong Jr. at the back of the room for.
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Sounds like a perfect EA release for Xbox Live. Ba-ZING!
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
Chuck, you do know it's available on XboxLive. Right?
I love Gauntlett. The newer incarnations lost that pure simple thrill.
Duoae wrote:
Great. Thanks, momgamer. Now everyone knows I'm a 360 virgin. It's those damn wireless controllers. I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to stick anything and what I was supposed to stick it with.
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
Does it ever end? I bought it on xbox live, and I just can't make it past 40 or so levels. I love it though, and I agree with Momgamer.
I don't know about the arcade versions, but the original gauntlet for NES had an ending, however Gauntlet II for NES did not. We used to play it for hours, pause our game, turn off the TV, and come back to it later. My friend and I actually made it about 200 levels in before his sister turned the power off one time so she could play Contra.
Gauntlet is beatable. You have to find all the secret rooms with the letters or orbs or whatever, then beat the three headed dragon at stage 100. If you didn't find all the secret rooms, I believe it starts you back over.
Please let me sig that. It's dying to be one.
Yet even then we ran like the wind,
whilst our laughter echoed under cerulean skies...
Sig away!
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
I hated that damn little thief. High-voiced bastard.
"You can't catch me!"
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come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
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'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
Sometimes, when I see an underweight girl, I have been known to proclaim, "Valkyrie needs food, badly!"
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
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Double dragon for the win!
I don't think I've ever said this sentence before, but man would I love to hump that butterfly.-- KrazyTaco
One phone call and you're melting like butter over my kettle pop. -- Edwin to Mex
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Ha ha
I'll always remember this game because my local Kwik Shop had this in the day and one time the "top" was broke or didn't get locked so my friends and I were able to reach down and get free games (health). Loved that game until Arch Rivals came out. I think Dig Dug and Kangaroo were there at the same time.
Gauntlet FTW baby! Top three on Barbarian's Arcade cabinet wish list (but where would I put it?) I remember being so disappointed when I realized the cool manly barbarianesque Warrior couldn't shoot on the diagonal between blocks like the wussy elf. Darn elves.
Words of wisdom: "Shots don't hurt other players. Yet."
Finding a working Budweiser Tapper, with the installed ashtray and foot-rest bar was the greatest finds. Well, if you don't count the old Atari Star Wars in a hydraulic mod-kit we stumbled upon one year at the Jersey Shore.
MaxShrek .. Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doing it.
Horror Vacui
Wow, now that brings back memories! I think I was the first person in my town to figure out how to play forever on a quarter, and I eventually learned how to do it with any character! I shudder to think of just how much of my youth was consumed by that game... I never did figure out that there was a true ending to the game, though... Never fought the three headed dragon... Ah well, I did have my health well over 50,000 on a single quarter, and some amazing high scores, which was enough of a victory for me when I was a kid.
What was the trick?
Don't shoot food!
Well, Cooking Mama didn't help me become a better cook, and Trauma Center certainly didn't help me become a better surgeon. I have the proof of both sitting in my freezer. -- imbiginjapan
I was writing about Gauntlet a while ago for some reason. I remember writing something about it being groundbreaking in that you had a dynamic friend/foe co-op play, you could choose who you wanted to be based on different characters instead of just being player 1 or 2, and some other things. I'm no expert so I don't know if these were firsts, but I'm sure Gauntlet must have introduced some then-new gaming concepts. I also jokingly wrote something about it having a voice that told you 'warrior needs food, badly' and 'elf shot the food', which sparked fights between complete strangers in the arcade.
Well, it's been awhile since I played forever, but it really is about as simple as don't shoot the food! If you take your time and don't get in a rush, kill as much at range as you possibly can, avoid being swarmed by ghosts that will eliminate more health by running into you than most of the mobs can do with many hits, and whenever possible use the edges of the screen to your advantage (in other words, monster generators can only generate monsters when they're on the screen, so do whatever you can to minimize the number of generators on the screen at one time). You can also use the edges of the screen to finish a generator while being out of range to hit the food bottle that might be nestled right behind it. It's just a matter of playing smart and conservative early on, ensuring you don't accidentally shoot the magic potions that will make you much stronger as long as you can hold onto them (so learning the way to take out the thief safely is important, too). Of course, playing for hours on end gives you an edge, also, because eventually you sort of innately know the mission layouts, where the food spawns, where the generators are, which doors you need to open, all that. But the MOST important thing is to maximize food consumption and minimize damage taken early on. Eventually when you get enough potions of the normal or magic variety, you'll be many times stronger than when you start out, making it much easier to build health because you kill so much more effectively. Oh, and it's important to start out with just one person, because trying to share the food between two, much less three or four, players, makes it almost impossible to play on one quarter each, although I've done it with one other person, it just takes quite a bit longer to get to the point where you're both well stocked on health. Oh, and you're fighting the clock, too, so of course do your best to finish each level as quickly as possible, doing your best to get all the food and potions you can, and whatever keys that are easily accessible.
I've only been to the arcade a few times, and never have I played this game there. By the time I got it, it was on my own PC. So no need for money AND coop goodness. Good times.
I don't watch, I interact!
Boy, isn't that the truth? Gauntlet rates as one of my favorite games of all time. The comic shop I used to work at had one. The owner got pissed when I beat his high score right before I stopped working there. From what I understand, it took him a solid month afterward to get it back.
Xbox LIVE: oldman GWJ
"I might have gotten away with it if it wasn't for a damningly tenacious clinger." - Crouton on a childhood excrement escapade
Ah, yes....the classic "leave school early and go to the nearby 7-11 with 2 or 3 friends" game. I forgot about all the punches in arm/face over shot food I'd received, and I'd probably do it all again.
I seem to be one of the rare few who enjoy the updated versions as well, especially Dark Legacy for PS2.
"There's too much blood in my caffeine system..."
BHA - Cuanos/Crowlie/Kasparov
I'm lucky enough to have an original Gauntlet cabinet in my Garage! It is shaping up to be a great 4 player Mame cabinet..
Ahh.. the memories