Gauntlet II

• Title — Gauntlet II • Developer — Atari Games • Publisher — Home computers Game Boy, NES Mindscape • Designer — Ed Logg • Programmer — Ed Logg Bob Flanagan • Artist — Sam Comstock Susan G. McBride Alan J. Murphy Will Noble • Composer — Hal Canon Brad Fuller Earl Vickers • Series — Gauntlet • Platforms — Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, NES, MS-DOS, Game Boy • Released — ArcadeAugust 1986 Amiga, Atari ST, C64 CPCOctober 1987 ZX SpectrumOctober 1987 MS-DOSAugust 1989 NES Game BoySeptember 1991 • Genre — Hack and slash, dungeon crawl • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Arcade System — Atari Gauntlet

• Illustration — Arcade screenshot Gauntlet II is essentially an expanded version of the original Gauntlet. Like in the original game, there are four character classes to play as, with the choices being Warrior, Valkyrie, Wizard and Elf. The main difference from the original game is that multiple players can now choose to play as the same character class. Because of this each player is now distinguished by the palette of their character, with red and blue being in all versions of the game, while yellow and green are featured in the 4-player version. New voice samples were added in Gauntlet II, identifying each player by their color and class (e.g. "Yellow Elf", "Red Wizard"). New level designs were added, including the possibility of encountering them in altered ways by having the play-field turned in steps of 90°. Other new features include the enemy "It", which upon contact made a player "It" and drew all enemies towards them. The only way to release this curse is by touching another player or entering the exit, turning any level containing "It" into a fantasy filled game of tag. Other notable additions include the ability to ricochet shots off walls by means of a special pick-up, acid puddles that caused large, predetermined amounts of damage and a large dragon which occupied multiple squares and required multiple hits to destroy. New level elements were also added, adding more variety to the original game. These included "all walls are invisible", "magic walls" which changed into monsters or items when hit, "stun tiles" which stunned the player, and fake exits. Another challenge in the game is the possibility to find a "secret room". This can be found by completing specific achievements within the level (e.g., "don't be fooled", means that you must find the real exit first). The secret room contains items such as food and magic potions (extra shot power, extra shot speed, extra magic power, extra speed, extra armor and extra fight power).

Shortly after the release of the original Gauntlet, until March 31, 1986, Atari Games held a contest where players submitted level designs, game ideas, and other suggestions for a potential Gauntlet sequel. The winners of the contest were announced in the April 1986 issue of Atari Games' newsletter, and the developers implemented some of those submissions in Gauntlet II. During the release of Gauntlet II, Atari Games held a second contest where players were tasked to find the secret rooms in the game itself. After fulfilling a certain task, the players were given a code, which they submitted to Atari Games via an entry form; the grand prize was a U.S. government saving bond valued at $5000, and the first 500 entries received a t-shirt. The contest was held until December 19.