Gauntlet Hands-On Impressions

TKO Software says that it was determined to make a perfect translation of the original Gauntlet for the cell, and, based upon its performance with this port, Midway has decided to give TKO the license to the whole Gauntlet catalog. This should give you a good idea of how close TKO has gotten to its goal with this one.

Gauntlet is a carbon copy of the arcade game down to the maps, enemy placement, and treasure rooms. All four characters--warrior, valkyrie, archer, and wizard--have the same feel and attributes as before.

Perhaps more impressive are the several voice effects packed into Gauntlet, including the classic "Wizard needs food badly!" The voices are crystal clear, and the sound effects are accurate as well.

In a novel distribution twist, Gauntlet will come with the first 25 levels, with additional sets of 25 levels to be available as episodic content up to the full 100. Gauntlet will also be the first game to be distributed the same day on both Vodafone and Verizon.

One lacking area is multiplayer, since TKO believes that Bluetooth isn't stable enough yet to handle this type of game--but TKO may rerelease the game based on upcoming revisions in the technology. There are also open plans to release the rest of the Gauntlet series, including the recent 3D update Gauntlet Legends.