Thor the Warrior, Questor the Elf, Thyra the Valkyrie, and—of course—Merlin the Wizard all return for Gauntlet II, the second installment of the wildly popular fantasy-based arcade hit. Like its predecessor, Gauntlet II is a single player game featuring simultaneous pseudo-cooperative multiplayer formats, as well. Mindscape released this true sequel in the late eighties.
Like the original Gauntlet, each hero in Gauntlet II has its own strengths and weaknesses, and they have not changed much. Thor is still the brute with all the clout in hand-to-hand combat.
Thor the Warrior, Questor the Elf, Thyra the Valkyrie, and—of course—Merlin the Wizard all return for Gauntlet II, the second installment of the wildly popular fantasy-based arcade hit. Like its predecessor, Gauntlet II is a single player game featuring simultaneous pseudo-cooperative multiplayer formats, as well. Mindscape released this true sequel in the late eighties.
Like the original Gauntlet, each hero in Gauntlet II has its own strengths and weaknesses, and they have not changed much. Thor is still the brute with all the clout in hand-to-hand combat. Questor is still the speedy little elf that can run to the exit before the others blink. Merlin has the largest variety of powerful spells at his disposal, and Thyra takes a lot of hits before she is injured, often
due to her ranged attack. The main difference in characters is the ability to have, for example, numerous Questors. In the previous installment, if four players were involved in a single game, each one navigated a different class of hero. In Gauntlet II, there can be numerous heroes of the same class, with ownership being determined simply by color.
There were also new level designs, with the one hundredth level having been the winner in a public design competition. New items (such as the ricochet arrow) and monsters were added to beef up play somewhat. In addition to grunts, demons and ghosts, the enemy “It” was added to the fracas. Whenever a hero would connect with “It,” the level became similar to a game of reverse tag with all of the monsters flocking toward the hero that was struck. A player could lose his or her “It” status by touching another player or by exiting the level. This would be a fine example of “pseudo-cooperative.” In most instances, the goal is the same: to get everyone out of the level alive to improve the chance of success in the next level. However, sometimes it boils down to every man for himself.
This top down hack and slash is as much the classic as the first Gauntlet. It features great color, cute little characters, simultaneous fun (even if the levels get somewhat monotonous) and the great tune that everyone knows as Gauntlet’s. While it is not much different from the original, the new innovations definitely make it worth a download for several hours of mindless multi-player fun.
