By Nolan Holmes
As Gauntlet Legends for the N64 started down the final path toward completion, Atari agreed to do a series of interviews and designer diary entries for videogames.com. Not only do these cover the current consumer titles, they also look at the evolution of Gauntlet, from the original coin-op in 1985 through the latest coin-op version - Gauntlet Legends - and onto the N64 and the PlayStation.
The original Gauntlet coin-op was released in October '85 and sold 8000 units. At the time, the industry was at the tail end of one of its notorious downturns. No other Atari title had sold this many units since the May '83 release of Star Wars, which had hit 12,000 units in a healthier market. Even Marble Madness, released in December '84 sold only 3300 units on a new system platform.
Gauntlet II was released in August '86 and sold mostly as kits into the original - close to 3300 four-player kits. This game added more than 100 new mazes, some random maze features, and several new features and hidden strategies in the mazes. The team added secret rooms, a new boss (Dragon), various new potions, and it let up to four players select the same character.
Gauntlet Legends