Gauntlet II

The gameplay is very similar to the original Gauntlet game, a top-down dungeon crawl for up to four players. The biggest difference from the original game is that players can choose identical classes instead of being limited to one specific class per joystick; each player is distinguished by their color. Instead of "warrior", "wizard" and "Valkyrie" (for example), in Gauntlet II there can be a "red wizard", a "blue elf" and a "green warrior". In addition to the new class system, new level designs were added, including the possibility of hitting them in a modified way by rotating the playing field in 90° increments. Other new features included the enemy "It", which turns a player into "It" on contact and draws all enemies towards him/her. The only way to solve this curse is to touch another player or enter the exit, making every level in which "It" appears an imaginative game of tag. Other notable additions include the possibility of bouncing shots off the walls with a special pick-up, acid puddles that cause large, predetermined amounts of damage, and a large dragon that occupies multiple fields and requires multiple hits to destroy it. Also, new level elements were added that added variety to the original game. These included "all walls are invisible", "magic walls" that turned into monsters or objects when hit, "stun stones" that stunned the player, and false exits. Another challenge in the game is the possibility of finding a "secret room". This can be found by completing certain achievements in the level (for example, "Don't be fooled", which means you have to find the real exit first). The secret room contains items like food and magic potions (extra shooting power, extra shooting speed, extra magic power, extra speed, extra armor and extra combat power). This episode was also the first to feature the so-called Gauntlet theme tune, which resembles a simplified baroque fugue.