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A great arcade conversion, but not without its flaws

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 31 / 32
Date: June 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

To cover the most basic point first: This is a near-perfect conversion of the Gauntlet Legends arcade games (more so than the Playstation and Nintendo 64 versions, which made a few modifications to the gameplay, particularly in the item system). If you haven't played the arcade version, find it and play it before buying the home version. If you find the arcade game exciting and interesting, then you'll probably love the home version as well (and it's a lot cheaper than shoveling in all the quarters to build a character to level 99 in the arcade!) If you find the arcade game boring and repetitive, then the home version will do nothing to change your opinion.

That being said, here are the notable differences between the Dreamcast version and the arcade: First, and perhaps most importantly, Midway has generously included all four of the new characters from the arcade sequel, Gauntlet Dark Legacy. These characters (particularly the Jester) have a quite different feel from the original four, which extends replay value. However, the "alter ego" versions of these characters--the special, animal versions you can select in the arcade after reaching a certain level--aren't included here; for that, you'll have to wait for Dark Legacy to come out on Playstation 2. (The alter ego versions of the original four Legends characters are present, though you have to reach level 25 to unlock them.)

Unlike the arcade, your character's health doesn't continuously count down; this takes a bit of tension out of the game. On the other paw, if you're killed before completing a level, you can't simply "insert coin to continue"; you have to restart the level, and you lose any experience you gained during the level. So it still pays to be careful. (If you find yourself too low on health to complete the harder levels, try just playing through the very first level a few times first; it's filled with food that will raise your health in a hurry.)

Another important difference: Just like in the arcade, many of the home version's levels are quite complex to solve, and rely on finding several hidden features in the level. In the arcade, if you find yourself stumped, you can simply stand still, and before long a 'magic arrow' will appear to at least point you in the right direction to proceed. No such luck in the home version; you're on your own. This certainly makes the game more challenging, but can also be frustrating, especially for new players.

As with a number of other Midway games for the Dreamcast, the user interface outside of the game itself does leave much to be desired. For example, there's no auto-save option; if you forget to save your character's progress before you turn off the system, you lose it all. For multi-player games, each character has to be loaded and saved separately. When you load a character, rather than showing you the saved characters' initials or other identifying info, you're simply shown a series of meaningless filenames ("GAUNTLET.001", "GAUNTLET.002", etc.); if you have more than one character saved to a single VMU, it's up to you to remember which file contains each character. (And be _very_ careful when saving your character; you can easily overwrite one of your other characters if you accidentally pick the wrong filename for the save!)

Despite these problems, though, Gauntlet Legends is still an extremely worthwhile purchase for anyone who enjoys the arcade game.

Fun, but brief

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: July 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Gauntlet Legends is yet another game for the Dreamcast that proves a lot of fun for a while, but ends up growing boring after a while.

Don't get me wrong, because it's a highly entertaining game for a while, and a wonderful example of how to do a party game. I played it at a friend's house and even the people who were least into video games (who never played them except for this instance) had lots of fun.

Also, if you're expecting anything approaching an RPG, this really isn't the game for you. I personally have a background of mudding on hack-n-slash CircleMUDs, and so I found the game format very natural, but people who are looking for more storyline elements and character development are going to be disappointed, as in the end this game is about killing monsters and getting gold. There are some okay puzzle elements to the game, but the system is fairly limited.

One other tangential point to this game is that it has a _very_ good soundtrack. As the levels get higher, the music gets better. In particular, the music for the secret level Mausoleum (at the end of the Castle Treasury level) is stellar.

In short, this is game provides for a lot of fun, and can be fun for quite a while if you're looking for a mindless timewaster (which certainly has its place), but for actually wanting challenges and real goals, the game ends up falling off a bit too soon. If you have friends to play with you, I highly recommend buying it, but otherwise, I'd try it out first.

JCMICHAELS.COM Gauntlet Legends Review

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Arcade games, a genre of game that should be fun and action packed. Gauntlet Legends is just that, fun, action packed and plotless. Well, it does have a small plot but one that you really shouldn't concern yourself with. You can choose from a variety of characters to play as, each with its own special power to go through a maze shooting, destroying and surviving hundreds, sometimes thousands of enemies, collecting gold, food and power-ups. All this in order to collect rune stones and defeat the evil Skorne.

Up to four player simultaneous makes this an ultimate party game. With the 12 characters, all-new levels for the Dreamcast version, cooperative combos and 20 in-game quests you will be playing this along time. There are even levels and characters to unlock. The graphics are awesome and game play mindless and fun, this is a winner.

Unfortunately the camera sometimes makes this a frustrating romp into hell. Also the sound gets repetitive and annoying. So this game is not without its flaws, but all can be forgiven for the fun that Gauntlet Legends gives you.

Updated version of a classic arcade game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

A previous reviewer stated that, as a gamer of many years, he believed this game to be "complete garbage". As a possible purchaser of this game, if your expectations is that Gauntlet is a complex RPG world, you will be disappointed. The original Gauntlet and this updated classic is, and always will be, an arcade game. Arcade games do not have customization, and relative to RPG-type games require very little in the way of strategy. But, if you like arcade games, this is one of the best. It delivers mind-numbing action slaughtering evil creatures hour after hour. The gamer has the added advantage of not having to spend spending fifty cents a pop or a drive to the mall to get in the action. This game represents another Dreamcast title as good or better than the arcade game it seeks to emulate. As an arcade gamer of many years I am pleased to see that this has finally come true with the release of the Dreamcast. This has been the mostly-failed dream since the Atari 2600 was released many years ago.

fun, exciting, but short lived?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 15
Date: April 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Gauntlet legends. Brilliant name, game, play, and graphics. It is a real fun with other people. By yourself it is less than satisfying. it can get tiresome and repetative but it is a great game. This is worth the money and i would recomend it to anyone

One of the few awesome American-made games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Most American-made games that are released for a console system are low budget, uninspired trash. Midway has been responsible for quite a few horrible games in the past, but this is not the case with Gauntlet Legends. For those unfamiliar with Gauntlet, it's a multiplayer romp through dungeons and caves with a medievil theme. The gameplay is rather simple, as you only really have a few attacks for each character. This makes extended one player sessions kind of tedious and boring, but it's the multiplayer mode which brings out the real fun in this game. In addition to containing everything from the arcade version, Midway has added a few new levels from the arcade update, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. You even have more characters to choose from, which is always a welcome feature. The music is nicely composed, and fits the mood of the game well. The only obvious flaw with Gauntlet Legends is the choppy frame rate when the action gets intense. There's also some noticable frame rate problems during the cinemas. Even though there's a couple of rough spots, Gauntlet Legends is absolutely one of the best action/role-playing games to come out in a long time.

The best game yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: June 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is my favorite game that has came out on dreamcast,the plot isn't the best but the fun is nonstop.They have plenty of characters to choose from and the multi player battles rule.The game is niether to easy or to hard,you will play this for hours before you ever want to stop!

Best Game for Dreamcast by FAR!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: June 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is THE game out there for the Dreamcast, accept no other immitations! If your just buying a DC you won't be disappointed with this choice. Convince your friends to get it also. If you all play seperate during the week, just load everyone's VMU on the weekend and play your own character at the level you reached, and really kick some butt.

Mindless entertainment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: July 21, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you're idea of fun is holding down the attack button and simply obliterating everything around you indescriminately, then you'll love gauntlet legends. Honestly, it quite simply is mindless. The graphics are great, and if you liked the original, you'll be nostalgic. However, there really isn't anything to challenge your gaming ability. Typically, bosses in this sort of game are tough and you need to learn strategies to beat them. I do not jest in the least when I say that I beat every single boss (including the final one) by holding down the attack button and standing in front of it. It's just that easy. There are 8 characters and 4 hidden ones. However, it's the same game over and over, no randomization, nothing really tailored to different characters. After winning the game, doing it again with another character is as much fun as painting your house, letting it dry, painting it again, letting it dry and then painting it again. Gets old pretty darn quick.

Gauntlet Legends

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 11
Date: July 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The game was cool!!!! it had monsters and i could kill them and i ran by caves and fire came up from the ground i played it with my friend, BUY IT!!!!

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