Gauntlet IV is a Sega Genesis exclusive and does a little more than just remixing the first game. It does that, but there are more game modes than a standard arcade experience. It would be nice if this game were more accessible, especially since the other games in the series were on a bunch of platforms.
This game has an interesting story. It was made by a company called M2 and was then picked up by Atari. It would be released in 1993 by Tengen, which was Atari’s publishing label. M2 was a Japanese company, and they were making a port of Gauntlet for one of the PCs. Once Atari got ahold of it, some other modes were added to the game, and it became a Sega Genesis exclusive.
This game wasn’t too different from the other versions of the game. There is a story that separates it, and a few game modes. At the end of the day, it is very similar to the first game, which really felt like a common theme for many Atari games.
TLDR: Better than the games on the NES, and has a fun story mode.
Narrative
The developers took the time to add a little story to this game. While it isn’t all that good, it is better than not having one. It is simple and sticks with the game’s arcade roots by feeling like it could be the story for an arcade game, even though this is a console exclusive. You can find the story in the game’s manual (Link).
So, there are four towers. Each of them represents an element and is the source of a spell that is protecting a castle. You need to defeat each tower to break the spell and enter the castle. I guess there is treasure in there or some such nonsense. That’s really it as far as the story goes.
I don’t mind the story. It is better than there not being one. While I normally like it when there is more to a game’s story, in this case it isn’t that big of a deal. The focus in the gameplay, with the story being there to explain why you have to do what you’re doing. You can always ignore it and just play the game.
Gameplay
The gameplay hasn’t changed much from the first game. There really wasn’t a reason to change it up. The same four characters are here, it is an arcade mode, and you’re doing pretty much the same thing. What is different is the addition of a story/quest mode.
There are a few game modes for you to choose from. Here they are:
- Arcade Mode – Your standard arcade experience
- Quest Mode – This is more of an action RPG with a story
- Deathmatch
This can be a four player game if you have the multi-tap. While this is really cool, I don’t know of anyone who owned one for the Genesis. This game was released in 1993, so there was still time before people moved on to another console. There was still time to go out and buy the add-on.
The controls are good. Things are kept simple, and the developers tried to use all three of the buttons on the Genesis controller. Here is the controller layout:
- A – Attack
- B – Fire Weapon
- C – Use potion
Gauntlet IV has more items for you to pick up. There are also more enemy types to fight. It has just about everything you might expect to see from a series as it slowly changes over time.
Overall, I like the gameplay in Gauntlet IV. It isn’t my favorite of the series, but it would’ve been a fun weekend rental back in the day. If my friends and I knew about the game, I think we would’ve rented it.
Visuals
Out of the three Gauntlet games that I’ve reviewed so far, this is the best looking. It helps that this is a Genesis game and the others were on the NES. The levels look better, the characters are more detailed, and the enemies look better.
The stages look good. They get more complex as they go on, and they’re more detailed than the previous games. A side effect of this is that the enemies and characters look better.
It is easy to identify the items you need, what things are, and where you need to go. While the game does throw some curveballs at the player, things are kept pretty simple from a visual standpoint. Everything in this game looks like a graphical upgrade over the NES games, which is what you should expect.
Overall, I like the way this game looks. It is better than the NES games, and I like that it is well detailed. The developers did an excellent job with this game, especially considering that it wasn’t supposed to be a Genesis game.
8/10. This is better than the NES Gauntlet games. Having a few extra game modes is nice, and I like that it can be a four player game. It even has a story to it, which is nice to see in a game like this. While it isn’t amazing, I’m glad that the developers did something more than just rehashing the first game.
Pros
- Great Graphics
- Good Controls
- More game modes
- Easy to learn
Cons
- Short Story
- No new characters
Conclusion
Gauntlet IV is one of the many games that I didn’t know about back in the 1990s. It wasn’t something that I came across when I was collecting games in the late 1990s or early 2000s. I came across this game in the 2010s, but didn’t give it much of a chance until the 2020s.
This was one of the games that I bought, made sure that it worked, and then put it on a shelf. I had mostly forgotten all about it until I started playing games for my YouTube channel. I don’t remember what my original goal was when I played this game a few years ago, but whatever it might’ve been, I forgot all about it.
This time, I wanted to take another look at these games as I try to play through the Gauntlet games. I also wanted to learn more about the series’ history and how the development of the games moved to Midway. At some point, I’ll get into all of that.
Atari really dropped the ball on this one. Unlike some of their other games, Gauntlet would get turned into something more than what it was. Midway put more effort into this game’s revival compared to Rampage and PaperBoy. It kind of feels like they got the rights to some of Atari’s games that had potential as arcade games that could translate well to the home console.
If you liked this post, check out some of my other posts about Gauntlet. Such as Gauntlet and Gauntlet II.