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06 February 2009
An arcade classic well ported onto the home console...
1 of 1 found this helpful Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is at heart a mindless hack n' slash. Sure, there's leveling up, but games like Pokemon even surpass it in character depth and customization. If one looks at reviews around the internet by professional gaming websites, the scores may seem relatively low compared to most other "successful" games out there. All that being said however, Gauntlet is a great time killer of a purchase. Essentially, you're going through about 60 levels or so hacking, slashing, opening gates, and collecting various items. For every 5 commonly themed levels, one will then encounter a boss tied to the same theme as the "realm" of the 5 levels just completed. These realms are your orthodox medieval/Greek/mythology based theme designs, with stereotypical enemies one would assume would dwell these worlds. Nonetheless, the variety is fun and at times unique (the Dream World is pure wackiness). Graphically speaking, don't expect anything special whatsoever. A relatively solid framerate comes at the cost of a low polygon count of levels, enemies, and characters all around. Regardless, these graphics remain loyal to the look and feel of the arcade version. Sound is one of the game's absolute strongest points. The music is at times AWESOME and far too epic to be in such a simple game as this (This is not a jab against the gameplay. I'm saying, some of this stuff belongs in epics like Elder Scrolls). The character voices and enemy grunts are nothing too special, but golly that Sumner's Voice that dialogues the course of the gameplay is beyond cool. Echoing and deep, the player longs to hear his words of praise and/or caution. Now, onto the crucial part: Gameplay. The gameplay in Gauntlet can be argued as mundane and repetitive, and to be honest there really is no variety in the way one plays the game. There's a standard attack, a charged attack, and a turbo/special attack regulated by a stamina meter of sorts. Sure, there's different classes of characters to choose from, but essentially the way levels are completed is the formula of kill, collect, open, repeat. If that isn't your cup of tea, I would not recommend this game for you. If however, you find glee in tackling on the challenge of these levels (and they do get a little tougher), there's HOURS of gameplay to be found. Add some friends into the mix, and there goes weeks of campaigning to completely rid the Sumner's Tower of evil. It's also true that with a friend or two (or three), this game is a LOT more fun and social. Also, there is a story to this game, although it's forgettable and can probably be summarized within a good sentence or two. If story's a big thing for you in games, then I'm sorry to say that this game disappoints. This comes down to replayability. If the gameplay tickles your gamer bone, there's months of potential gameplay to be found here. There are 8 starting classes, and quite a good number more of unlockable "mythological" versions of these classes (Ex. The warrior class has a complementary unlockable class called the Minotaur). Leveling all these classes up will take a LOOOOOONG time, so go crazy. When all's said and done, I gave Gauntlet a 4/5. I personally love the gameplay, although it's a bit shallow and rough around the edges.
12 October 2006
A sealed deal, the essence of a good sale...
1 of 3 found this helpful Two classic GBA games in one cartridge, the Castlevania Double Pack is a STEAL for fans of Castlevania and/or action/adventure games in general. Of the two, Aria of Sorrow plays most fluidly and the expansiveness of both games leaves a lot of gameplay value in this cartridge. Graphically, both games have their ups, although Harmony of Dissonance appears a little muddier in sprite animations. Again, this is due to the fact that Aria of Sorrow was released later than Harmony. Overall, I'd recommend purchasing this game.