Gauntlet (Micro Power video game)
{{Short description|1984 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Gauntlet
| image = Gauntlet (1984, Micro Power) cassette front cover (Acorn Electron).png
| caption=Electron cassette cover
| programmer = Chris Terran
| publisher = Micro Power
| engine =
| released = 1984: BBC, Electron
1985: CPC
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC
}}
Gauntlet is a clone of Defender written by Chris Terran published in the UK by Micro Power.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/ElectronUserVolume2/Electron-User-02-08/page/n37/mode/1up | title=Arcade cracker | magazine=Electron User | first1=Keith | last1=Young | date=May 1985 | volume=2 | issue=8 | access-date=31 March 2024 | pages=38 }} Described as "a very competent implementation of one of the most popular arcade games",{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser043-Feb86/page/n166/mode/1up | title=Classic Gauntlet | magazine=Acorn User | last1=Acton | first1=David | date=February 1986 | access-date=31 March 2024 | pages=165 }} it was initially released for the Acorn Electron, and later made available for the BBC Micro,{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser048-Jul86/page/n132/mode/1up | title=A Jolly Collection | magazine=Acorn User | last1=Emblem | first1=Bernard | date=July 1986 | access-date=31 March 2024 | pages=131 }} with an Amstrad CPC version arriving in 1985.{{cite web|url=http://www.thelegacy.de/Museum/game.php3?titel_id=10817&game_id=14976|title=TheLegacy::Gauntlet|accessdate=2010-09-25|publisher=The Legacy nostalgic game museum|archive-date=2011-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622005021/http://www.thelegacy.de/Museum/game.php3?titel_id=10817&game_id=14976|url-status=dead}}
Gameplay
Image:Gauntlet (1984, Micro Power) in-game screenshot (Acorn Electron).png
The player controls an X15 spacecraft, protecting canisters from the hostile Reeg forces.{{cite journal |year=1984|title = Acorn Electron cassette inlay |journal=Gauntlet}} In the game, Reeg landers search the landscape for canisters. If a lander grabs a canister and makes it to the top of the screen, it turns into a mutant. The player must shoot the enemy ship to release a grabbed canister, but if it falls too far, then it's destroyed on impact. There are also other ships such as cruisers, which when hit, unleash buzzer ships.
The player has smart bombs available which destroy all on-screen enemies. On the higher levels there are additional enemy ships such as mine layers which are capable of launching killer ships, unless the player can destroy them quickly. If the player allows destruction of all canisters, then a hoard of mutants attack and the landscape completely disappears.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://archive.today/20130124022840/http://uk.gamespot.com/bbc/action/gauntlet/tech_info.html Gamespot entry for Gauntlet (Micro Power)]
- [http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/mags/eu/ills/2_02n/n-p64.jpg Advertisement for the game in the November 1984 issue of Electron User] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717131206/http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/mags/eu/ills/2_02n/n-p64.jpg |date=2011-07-17 }}
- [http://www.triumphoverchallenges.com/working-at-micro-power-program-power-leeds/ Working at Micro Power / Program Power] – mentions how Chris Terran came to write Gauntlet
- [http://retromuseums.com/micro-program-power-gallery/ Gauntlet covers, and a gallery of Micro Power and Program Power Covers]
{{Micro Power}}
Category:BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games
Category:Horizontally scrolling shooters
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
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