''Gauntlet Legends'' is an

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

released in 1998 by

Atari Games Atari Games Corporation, known as Midway Games West Inc. after 1999, was an American producer of Arcade game, arcade Video game, games. It was formed in 1985 when the coin-operated Arcade game, arcade game division of Atari, Inc. was transfered ...

and

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...

. It is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

themed

hack and slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...

styled

dungeon crawl A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find. Video games an ...

game, a sequel to 1985's popular '' Gauntlet'' and 1986's ''

Gauntlet II ''Gauntlet II'' is a 1986 arcade game produced by Atari Games that serves as the immediate sequel to the original '' Gauntlet'', which was released the previous year. Like its predecessor, ''Gauntlet II'' is a fantasy-themed top down dungeon ...

'' and marks the final game in the series to be produced by Atari Games. Its unusual features for an arcade game included

passwords A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...

and characters that could be saved, enabling players to play over the course of a long period. The game was given an expansion called ''

Gauntlet Dark Legacy ''Gauntlet Dark Legacy'' is an arcade video game released in 1999. It is the sixth title in the '' Gauntlet'' series, and is an expansion of the previous title in the series, '' Gauntlet Legends''. The expansion adds five new levels, and four new ...

'', which featured new characters to play and new levels.

Gameplay

In ages past, a corrupt mage named Garm used a set of Runestones to summon a demon named Skorne. However, Skorne crushed Garm and imprisoned his soul in the Underworld. Skorne, fearing the power of the Runestones, scattered them throughout the four realms, so that they could never be used against him. The player(s) must defeat the end bosses of each of the four kingdoms to obtain the four keys which allow access to the desecrated temple and be able to banish Skorne to the Underworld. While traveling through each realm, they must also collect the Thirteen Runestones from where they have been scattered. The complete set of Runestones allows them to pursue Skorne to the Underworld in order to finally destroy him. The players must find three rune stones on each kingdom in order to defeat Skorne in the Underworld (in the arcades only), and of course one from the battle grounds (home versions only). The initial arcade version had a contest by which the first 500 players to complete the game and send in the supplied validation code would win a free ''Gauntlet Legends'' shirt. This game will not end unless the player runs out of health. A new aspect of the ''Gauntlet'' series is established in ''Legends'': the ability to

level up Level Up may refer to: Film and TV *Level Up (2016 film), a British thriller film * ''Level Up'' (American TV series), a Cartoon Network live action series ** ''Level Up'' (2011 film), the movie pilot for the Cartoon Network series * ''Level Up' ...

the player's character(s) as the game is played, increasing their abilities through

experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

earned by slaying enemies and acquiring treasure, similar to the character progression methods in many

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

s. The four primary attributes are: *Strength - Determines damage dealt by physical attacks. *Speed - Determines character movement and attack rates. *Armor - Determines amount of damage character takes from enemy attacks. *Magic - Determines the range and effectiveness of magic potion attacks Attributes increase with each level attained; increases can also be purchased from the Items menu with gold acquired in gameplay. The stock fantasy characters from the original ''Gauntlet'' return for ''Legends''; as before, each has greater starting ability in a single attribute than their fellows. *Warrior/Minotaur - Strength *Wizard/Jackal/Sumner - Magic *Archer/Tigress - Speed *Valkyrie/Falconess - Armor Character progression is saved through a password system; a player can progress all four characters to a maximum level of 99, and each of their attributes to a maximum of 999.

Ports

The first

home console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than ...

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of ''Gauntlet Legends'' was released for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

on August 31, 1999 in North America. This port saw a European release by the end of the year, and it was the exclusive platform for the Japanese release in the following year. It can support up to four players by using the

Expansion Pak Nintendo 64 accessories are first-party Nintendo hardwareand third-party hardware, licensed and unlicensed. Nintendo's first-party accessories are mainly transformative system expansions: the 64DD Internet multimedia platform, with a floppy drive ...

, or up to three when using the standard Jumper Pak. It requires a

Controller Pak Nintendo 64 accessories are first-party Nintendo hardwareand third-party hardware, licensed and unlicensed. Nintendo's first-party accessories are mainly transformative system expansions: the 64DD Internet multimedia platform, with a floppy drive ...

to save game progress, and it is compatible with the

Rumble Pak The is a removable device from Nintendo which provides force feedback while playing video games. Games that support the Rumble Pak cause it to vibrate in select situations, such as when firing a weapon or receiving damage, to immerse the player i ...

. The

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

port was released in 2000 for North America and Europe. Unlike the other versions, this release only supports one or two players, as it omitted

multitap :''Multi-tap also refers to a text-entry system for mobile phones.'' A multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play, similar t ...

support. The

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

port was also released in 2000 for North America and Europe. It incorporated much of the features from ''

''.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Gauntlet Legends'' on their March 1, 1999 issue as being the sixth most-successful dedicated arcade game of the month. Greg Orlando reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'', rating it three stars out of five: "Four controllers and one ''Legends'' make for party-game excitement of the highest order". ''Gauntlet Legends'' has received average reviews on all ports and releases. According to

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

, ''Gauntlet Legends'' received a 73.55% for the Dreamcast version, a 71.13% for the N64 version, and a 60.44% for the PlayStation version; for the same version,

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

only gave it a score of 59 out of 100.

References

External links

* * * {{Gauntlet 1998 video games Arcade video games Atari arcade games Cooperative video games Hack and slash role-playing games Dreamcast games Midway video games Nintendo 64 games PlayStation (console) games Video games about valkyries Video games scored by Barry Leitch Video games featuring female protagonists Video games developed in the United States Multiplayer and single-player video games