Don't shoot the food - Guantlet

An open 'Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide' book which shows information about the Gauntlet games.

Arcades in the 80's

The golden age of arcades for most was in the 80's, what a feeling stepping foot into an arcade in that period.

You’d be greeted by a funky carpet, the different iconic sounds playing over one another would hit you, the imaginative cabinet art, neon lights, marquees lit up, the attract modes encouraging you to come and spend your coins.

Dungeons and dragons inspiration

Gauntlet was a popular game from that time, developed by Atari from the mind of Ed Logg and was released in 1985. It was originally titled Dungeons, which was inspired by the Dungeons and Dragons board game, but to avoid legal issues, Atari went for Gauntlet instead, and the rest is history.

The arcade was a four-player cabinet, which at the time wasn’t a common sight in arcades, you could choose from Thor the warrior, Merlin the wizard, Thyra the Valkyrie and Questor the elf (you can see the influence from Dungeons and Dragons).

Each character had its strengths and weaknesses; my go-to's would be Warrior or Wizard, it played like a shoot 'em up within a series of mazes, you had to find the exit to the level.

In every level, you’re character's health would always be counting down, so killing/avoiding enemies whilst looking for food and magic made Gauntlet a bit different to other arcades at the time, it was lots of fun.

Sound snippets to die for, litrally

You can't mention Gauntlet without bringing up its sound, it had some classic soundbites, from the chime when you inserted a coin to the sarcastic "Who shot the food" or the warning "Wizard is about to die", for more sounds from Gauntlet have a listen at Basements Arcade.

Guantlet games