The Discussion Thread: The Greatest Games Event 2017 - FINISH YOUR LISTS

[The_Liquid_Laser]

#17 Gauntlet II

 

Why did it make the list?
The Gantlet series was my first experience with 4-player co-op.  Gauntlet was the first really big game with 4-player co-op, so if you have ever played any local 4-player game, it was probably inspired in some way by this series.  Both this game and its predecessor, Gauntlet, sucked away so many of my quarters, and I gladly kept coming back for more.  Both games are fantastic, but I have to choose Gauntlet II for my list, because it has more features and multiple people can play the same character unlike the original.

 

Original experience:
So many games on my list are either arcade co-op or fantasy themed.  Well this one is both.  This series was really the first time I played anything like Dungeons and Dragons, and I hadn’t even played D&D when Gauntlet came out.  This was also the first fantasy game I played other than Adventure (which was also on my list, but I admit that game was quite basic).

I also think the two Gauntlet games were probably the most popular, and most well-crafted games during this mid 80’s.  This is significant, because there were really no home consoles in the US during the mid-80’s.  The Gauntlet games had the spotlight at a time when people thought consoles were gone forever.  It was either go to the arcade and play Gauntlet and other premium games, or maybe be lucky enough to play PC games at home on the expensive PCs at the time, or possibly have no video games at all.

How does it hold up today?
Well, I still like it, but I realize that I am biased.  I try to get my family to play this game with me on an arcade port for the home, but they aren’t interested.  There are really plenty of good 4 player co-op games that are more modern, so I can understand why they are not interested.

Last edited by The_Liquid_Laser - on 18 December 2017