Home /
Arcade

Gauntlet (PlayChoice-10)

Arcade

Arcade

PlayChoice-10 is an arcade machine which can consist of as many as 10 different games previously available only on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) home console. The games for this system are in the modular form of circuit boards which are plugged into one of the ten open slots on the Play...

Download

0/5 Votes: 0

Report

Developer
Atari Games

Released on
1985

Size
1–4 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Shooter

Publisher
Nintendo of America

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

Cooperative
Yes

Wikipedia
View article →

Report this app

Images

Description

PlayChoice-10 is an arcade machine which can consist of as many as 10 different games previously available only on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) home console. The games for this system are in the modular form of circuit boards which are plugged into one of the ten open slots on the PlayChoice-10’s motherboard.

It’s time again for the four warriors to gear up and head out on a new quest. Their mission this time is to retrieve the Sacred Orb of Rendar that was stolen by the nefarious Morak. He has hidden the Orb along with many other treasures in his Five Worlds maze. He of course has his many minions guarding his ill gotten riches.

One or two players get to play as either the warrior Thor, the valkyrie Thyra, the wizard Merlin, or as the elf Questor. Each character has their own unique weapon and abilities. They can also use a limited amount of screen clearing bombs that can be collected in the maze. Also collectible in the maze are food items which restore some of their depleted health and treasure chests, wherein collecting enough treasure chests will give the player a permanent boost to their total amount of hit points.

Gauntlet (PlayChoice-10)

Overview & History

Released in 1985 by Atari Games and later adapted for Nintendo’s PlayChoice-10 arcade system in 1986, Gauntlet revolutionized multiplayer dungeon crawling. While standard arcade units featured a custom four-player cabinet, the PlayChoice-10 version integrated this legendary hack-and-slash classic into Nintendo’s hardware ecosystem, allowing players to experience the frantic rush of fantasy combat using arcade-to-NES translated mechanics. The game drops players into an endless, labyrinthine dungeon designed by the wicked sorcerer Morak, tasking them with finding the exit amidst relentless waves of ghouls, ghosts, demons, and grunts.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Gauntlet is defined by its iconic health-as-currency system: players start with a pool of life energy that continuously ticks down, forcing aggressive progression, though health can be replenished by consuming scattered food items. You can choose from four distinct heroes: Thor the Warrior (devastating melee, high armor), Thyra the Valkyrie (balanced defense and attack), Questor the Elf (supreme speed and ranged prowess, but fragile), and Merlin the Wizard (devastating magic spells, weakest physical defense). Unlike standard beat-'em-ups, your characters rely heavily on ranged projectile attacks—throwing axes, magic bolts, and arrows—to obliterate monster generators known as spawners before they flood the screen. Strategic teamwork is vital, as wandering too far from your party or destroying food accidentally will severely penalize your survival chances.