Run The Gauntlet

Gauntlet for the Sega Master System is a port of the 1985 arcade classic. Developed by the mighty Atari it was one of the first dungeon crawlers and a huge hit in the arcades with its four player setup, addictive game play and a reputation for drinking money in similar quantities to Ian Masons gin intake!

The game is played from a top down perspective as you guide your chosen character through the dungeons of evil. On your quest you will encounter ghosts, demons, sorcerers and thieves as well as food and magic. That’s right food and magic! the twist is that as soon as the game begins your life starts to deplete. This make for a desperate race to the finish and some intense gaming madness. It also causes many arguments over who should eat the food and who should be sucked off by the drainy ghost?

In summary the point of the game is very simple…

There is no point! You must either die or allow your life to run down to end the game!

It really does go on forever and ever! The NES version had the decency to end after 100 rounds but the Master System version is a true epic of a game!

It has 512 rounds!

That’s right! 512 rounds of demon bashing goodness. To put that into perspective Thunder Blade and R-Type (both arcade ports) have a mere 12 and 8 rounds!

Now that is truly mega! I doubt there are many who have actually got to the end. Will a Master System even stay on for that long?

Sounds like a challenge…