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Gauntlet was recently re-released in the arcades and the next-gen consoles. Midway didn't bother with a handheld version, until now. The Pocket Studios' developed Gauntlet Dark Legacy provides a decent adventure for gamers-on-go. With the exception of the awesome Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Midway's handheld games have left a lot to be desiring which may be why we haven't seen a a handheld version of Gauntlet until now. Gauntlet has seen better times and we wonder how long until the games goes 'Tomb Raider' and is forced to reinvent it. This portable version proves to be interesting because it's handheld. There are several good ideas but too many failed executions.
Gauntlet Dark Legacy is based on the recently released console games. Porting a 3D console title to the GBA isn't the easiest thing to do and the development team had to overcome several things. Midway might of been better off porting the old... eh, 'classic' versions instead of the newer games. The game uses a psuedo-3D engine as the camera. Think of Spyro 2 or the Lord Of The Rings: GBA.
Dark Legacy does capture the mood and feel of its 3D console partners. The game play as well as the presentation mirrors the newly released games. The game play is solid and fun. You don't get as many enemies on the screen you'd get by playing the game on the arcades or home, but on-the-go it's pretty solid. The pseudo-3D camera makes the game seem very authentic and adds a lot of flair to the game. It makes you feel as if you’re playing the bigger console brothers. Your characters include a wizard, an archer, a valkyrie and a warrior. Each character has different strengths in 4 categories. You need to take into consideration a character's strength, speed, armor and magic. The presentation makes the game play very solid. The A button lets you attack. Using the B button lets you wield your magic. Start is used to access the menu. You move your character with the cross-pad. The R button is used to block and the L button is used to strafe. You see the number of keys, potions, and gold in the game's HUD. Your health is also displayed.
The graphics engine used in Gauntlet is very nice. The textures are sharp but the use of color is average at best. The actual graphics aren't great but the perspective is very good. The pseudo-3D perspective allows you to see your character and multiple enemies. It will impress you how many different enemy models were included. There is an amazing 27 levels included here. More enemies on the screen and less levels would of impressed a lot of gamers, though. There are never a whole lot of enemies on the screen at once, but what was included does a good job.
Much like the game's visuals, its audio impresses. The announcer has some lines and does add to the game's environment. The sound effects are loud and crisp and the background music works with the game very good. There was a lot of work put into the sound and you'll appreciate it more if you use some headphones. Surprisingly, there is no sound effect for getting hit which will cause quite a few headaches to gamers. Some kind of yell or grunt would have added a lot. It's amazing that such a small thing can affect the game so much. Audio samples are crystal clear, though. Again you won't be able to appreciate them through the GBA's tiny speaker. Overall the sound is very strong.
Midway and Pocket Studios tried to bring Gauntlet to your GBA and make it as enjoyable as the new games in the series. While they accomplished some things, others are just not there. There is no multiplayer included so there is really no incentive to play after you beat the game. The game play is a bit slow and has many faults. If you absolutely love the series, you'll want this. Otherwise, stay clear and pick up some other titles. There are plenty of better titles, but Gauntlet isn't unplayable. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Dec 10, 2002
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