ATARI 26OO

GAUNTLET GAUNTLE A.M.D.G.

GAUNTLET is a modification of the Atari 2600 game Dark Chambers (1988), originally programmed by Adam Clayton. TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. SHARE THE ADVENTURE 1

2. GAME PLAY 2

3. USING THE CONTROLLER 9

4. CONSOLE CONTROLS 9

5. SCORING 11

6. HELPFUL HINTS 12 1. SHARE THE ADVENTURE

In 1985, Atari Games released GAUNTLET, bringing multiplayer dungeon exploration to arcades across the nation. Designed by Ed Logg, whose credits included Asteroids and Centipede, Gauntlet quickly went on to become one of the most successful arcade games of all time and was ported to a number of home computers and game systems.

However, no version for the Atari 2600 VCS was ever produced. Instead Atari released a similar title, Dark Chambers, based on the game that inspired Gauntlet, John Palevich’s Dandy (1983). To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Gauntlet’s release, this port for the Atari 2600 has been developed based on Adam Clayton’s Dark Chambers engine.

1 Play alone or with a friend as any of four unique characters: warrior, valkyrie, wizard, or elf. Explore 80 unique levels while shooting monsters and generators, collecting food and treasure, and dashing toward the exit. Collect potions for magic attacks and for power upgrades, and use keys to open locked doors. 2. GAME PLAY

When you place your cartridge in your Atari 2600 and turn it on, you will see a title screen that shows the number of players, the character classes for each player, and the high score. Player 2 will not appear in one-player games.

Player 1 Player 2

High Score

2 CHARACTER CLASSES

You can choose any of four characters to play GAUNTLET. Each of the different characters starts with a special ability and can also acquire other special abilities during the game.

Extra Thor the Warrior Shot Power

Thyra the Extra Armor Valkyrie

Extra Magic Merlin the Wizard Power

Extra Questor the Elf Shot Speed

OBJECTIVE

Fight your way to the exit, while collecting treasures and other items along the way. Shoot enemies for points, but avoid contact with them, which drains your health. Collect food to replenish your health, keys to open doors, and

3 potions to clear enemies. You can also pick up special upgrade potions that enhance your fighting and defensive abilities.

The stats for player 1 and player 2 are color coded at the bottom of the screen. Upgrades and special abilities are shown on the left. The health bar shows the amount of life the character has remaining. If it drops to zero, the player dies, ending the game if it is one player. In two player games, the player will be resurrected if the other player makes it to the next level.

Keys, potions, and the player’s score are shown on the right.

Extra Extra Health Keys Score Shot Shot Speed Powe Potions r Extra Armor 4 ENEMIES

To advance you will need to defeat various enemies, who take from 1 to 3 shots to destroy. Grunt Demon Grunts and Demons do less damage per hit then ghosts, but they can attack repeatedly. They spawn from generators.

Ghost Bones Level 1 Ghosts run into you and disappear, but they drain a great deal of health in the process. They spawn from Sorceror bones. Sorcerors also spawn from generators and attack repeatedly. They have the ability to disappear and reappear, so be careful when going after them.

Bones Level 2 Level 1 bones and generators can be destroyed by a single shot.; level 2 will first degrade to Generators level 1 before being Level 1 Level 2 destroyed.

5 Doors Death Death cannot be killed except by magic. He will drain your health as long as he touches you, so either use potions to destroy him or avoid him Key entirely. Death appears at the start of levels and does Doors are impassible to not spawn from generators. players but not enemies. Use keys to open them. OBJECTS

Objects are scattered throughout the dungeons and can often be found hidden under generators. Food Food

Treasure Food Cider Treasure increases your score by 100 points. Food and cider replenish your health. As the dungeon level increases, you will find less and less food. 6 Note that some cider is poisoned and drains your health if you touch it. Poisoned cider looks slightly different from normal cider. Amulet The amulet confers limited invisibility on the players, preventing enemies from tracking your movements. However, enemies can still Exit attack if they run into you, Exits take you to the next so keep your distance. In 2- level of the dungeon. player games, both players turn invisible no matter who picks up the amulet. The effect is temporary and lasts until a player opens a door.

Magic Potions Magic potions allow you to clear the screen of enemies, including death. With the extra magic power upgrade, potions also destroy nearby generators. Each player can carry up to 15 potions at a time.

7 Upgrade Potions

These special potions will upgrade your character’s abilities. However, you will not be able to pick up an upgrade potion if your character started with that special ability or has already upgraded.

Increases shot Extra Shot Power damage to enemies

Decreases damage Extra Armor from enemies

Increases speed of Extra Shot Speed shots

Potions destroy Extra Magic Power visible generators

8 3. USING THE CONTROLLERS

Use the Joystick controllers with this ATARI Game Program cartridge. For player 1, plug the controller cable firmly into the LEFT CONTROLLER jack at the back of your 2600 Video Computer System console. For player 2, plug a second controller cable firmly into the RIGHT CONTROLLER jack.

Move your joystick in the same direction you want to move your character. Press the red fire button once or hold it down to shoot in the direction you are facing. Note that you will not be able to move while the fire button is being pressed.

To use a potion, press fire twice quickly.

Once your game is over, pressing the fire button will restart play at the level at which your previous game ended. Moving the joystick, on the other hand, will change the game selection.

9 4. CONSOLE CONTROLS

GAME SELECT SWITCH

Use the GAME SELECT switch to choose the number of players and the characters you want to play. The image for Player 1 appears on the left. The image for Player 2 will appear on the right for two player games.

Warrior Warrior Valkyrie Warrior Wizard Warrior Elf Valkyrie Valkyrie Warrior Valkyrie Wizard Valkyrie Elf Wizard Wizard Warrior Wizard Valkyrie Wizard Elf Elf Elf Warrior Elf Valkyrie Elf Wizard

GAME RESET

Use the RESET switch to start a new game once your selection is made. Pressing RESET in the middle of a game will restart the current game at the same level.

10 5. SCORING

20 points shot Ghost 10 points magic

10 points shot Grunt 10 points magic

10 points shot Demon 10 points magic

10 points shot Sorceror 10 points magic

0 points shot Death 1000+ points magic

Bones 100 points

Generator 100 points

Treasure 100 points

11 6. HELPFUL HINTS

 Hold the button down for steady fire.  When in open spaces, get as close as you safely can to enemies and generators so that your weapon does not have to travel too far and so you can shoot again quickly.  Shooting enemies in line with generators will allow you to destroy the generators as soon as there is a break in spawnng.  Whenever possible, use potions from a secure place rather than waiting until you are surrounded.  If you do not have a potion, you can take out difficult generators by leading all the monsters far away and then slipping past them and shooting the generator.  In two player games, put characters with shot power and shield upgrades in front like the Warrior and Valkyrie, and support them with characters with long- range attacks such as the Wizard and Elf.

12 GAUNTLET