Product description What's included?  (1) Gauntlet Legends video game cartridge for the N64 - Video game cartridge - Instruction booklet - Original box Specs: Platform: Nintendo 64 (N64) Region Code: NTSC U/C Cartridge Color: Standard gray/grey Original Box? Included Original Instruction Manual? Included Version/Variation: Standard Functional Condition: Used, but still works great! Cosmetic Condition: Acceptable Condition Notes: (Please see photos) - The instruction booklet has several white/faded spots on the spine and a small tear near the mid-bottom (please see photos) - The box is in good condition with the most noticeable damage being frayed and whitened corners and edges

- The back label of the cartridge is peeling down. Review You remember Gauntlet, don't you? Between bites of pizza or slurps of soda, you played as a warrior of light slapped into an endless series of randomly generated dungeon levels, where you fought a slew of evil denizens

Not too long ago, Gauntlet suffered the fate of many classic games: It was given a major facelift and reinvented for the '90s

Unfortunately, Gauntlet Legends wasn't a particularly good arcade game, and it isn't any better on the N64

Those of you unfamiliar with the arcade version of the remake will at least be familiar with the unchanged premise

You still act as one of four characters (warrior, valkyrie, wizard, or archer) who make a stand against a seemingly bottomless reservoir of baddies

All the while you'll collect treasure, play with magic, and dish out the hurt

However, there have been some additions to the formula: You'll now be able to buy stuff with that treasure; levels now have themes; and you'll have to go up against bosses at the end of certain stages

And now our little elven archer buddy is a she

Gauntlet Legends takes advantage of Nintendo's RAM pak, but don't expect it to look nearly as good as most other games that do

It seems as though there was a polygon shortage around the time of this game's development, as everything has a real flat look to it

Gauntlet Legends tried to take the birds-eye-view concept of the original and transfer it into a 3D environment, but this simply doesn't work, and you end up playing essentially the same old game with prettier looking backgrounds

Even though my character was now climbing volcanic mountains, exploring temples, and trekking through the East, I still would have preferred the basic, randomly generated 2D dungeon

Maybe there was just something special about the carbon-copy levels contained in the original that made Gauntlet so enjoyable

(Or maybe it was because I was twelve

Who knows?) The gameplay hasn't changed

You're still meandering about, opening doors, collecting treasure, and killing everything around you

And, just as in the arcade version, you don't even have to hit the attack button if you don't want to - it'll automatically strike enemies for you when you get close

This makes the game extremely one-hand friendly, and it takes the challenge of out playing

Although there's a new money system that lets you buy power-ups, I found that I was instead collecting power-ups and selling them just to buy my health back

And on the audio front, you'll be sick of the God-like voice that reads all the obvious game hints for you by the second level

In fact, there's really nothing great about the sound in the game

The music is mediocre at best, and the sound effects are repetitive

Gauntlet Legends boils down to another top-down fantasy button masher

There's nothing innovative here, and the game is neither enthralling nor interesting

There's no real motivation to complete the game, and the reward you receive once you do makes you regret the time you had invested in the game

Unfortunately, this game is another piece of evidence that indicates that some classics should be left well enough alone

--Ben Stahl --Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc

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