Game Boy :: Genesis :: NES :: Sega CD :: SNES :: TurboGrafx-16 :: Complete System Listings

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy review

Game: Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
Platform: GameCube
Genre: Fighting Action (Brawler)
Developer: Midway

Reader review by mrshotgun

March 21, 2007

Let me begin this review with a heart-rending performance of that most famous of arcade theme songs: Gauntlet.

NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO. NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO. NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO. NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO. NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO. NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO. NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO. NEE-NOO-NEE-NOO.

Thank you. And now, for an encore, I will perform the predominantly heard noise in Gauntlet: Dark Legacy.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

That's just one of the severe problems that plagues this otherwise lovable port: every character's footsteps are accompanied by a comically loud THUMP, which drowns out every other noise in the game. The first thing you should do upon getting Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is mute your television, stereo, what have you. Because the constant, annoying THUMPing is only the tip of the iceburg. Apparently, one of Sumner's distant relatives was a Banshee, and his family must have some kind of susceptibility to bronchitis. That would explain his voice.

And then there's the graphics. Let me emphasize this point, as it's an important one: Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is essentially a port of the excellent 32-bit era game "Gauntlet Legends." And the graphics reflect as such. This would have been fine, except the game does not bill itself as such. It attempts to sell itself as a whole new game, with mostly all-new levels (including a brand-spanking new hub). But the graphics are an entire console generation out of date.

After the horrendously blurry, grainy opening FMV, you get to watch plastic-stiff characters run around with many a loud "THUMP THUMP THUMP." Even the new character models you unlock for reaching milestone experience levels, which are admittedly very cool, do little to improve the graphics. Speak of character models, the model for the Sorceress is ridiculous. Imagine a botox-addicted beauty queen with a double-D bra size, a stick up her butt, high-heels that look like platform shoes, and a miniskirt that would make a hooker blush. That about sums up the Sorceress.

But past the THUMPing, the 32-bit graphics, and the sexist representation of the Sorceress, the game improves significantly. It's basically Gauntlet Legends on steroids. The biggest addition is eight new character classes. Okay, sure, so four of these are just clones of the original four, and the other four are clones of the other clones. But if you can't see how being a giant bomb-throwing Jester is better than an elf with giant mammary glands, than I can't help you.

Taking control of one of sixteen characters (eight of them unlockable), one to four players battle through an unnecessarily large number of levels. All that stands in their way is an unnecessarily large number of enemies. Players must use an unnecesarily large amount of force to gather unnecessarily large numbers of crystals, which unlock more levels, where the unnecessarily complicated process starts all over again.

The odd thing about Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is, despite its last-gen graphics, uninspired gameplay, and THUMPing, I really like it. I really, really do. There are enough levels for you to THUMP through that, even though you're essentially doing the same thing the whole time, it still stays fun. The ridiculous number of characters to choose from, not to mention that they can (finally) be saved to one profile, gives Dark Legacy a huge amount of replay value. I love this game. And not in a love-it-because-it's-terrible kind of way. No, in a love-it-in-spite-of-its-terribleness kind of way.

Gameplay: 7 out of 10
Story: 3 out of 5
Controls: 7 out of 10
Graphics: 2 out of 5
Sound and Music: 1 out of 5
Extras: 4 out of 5
Game Length, Difficulty and Replay Value: 8 out of 10
Overall Score: 6.4 out of 10

I'll close by mentioning three of the game's biggest faults. First, THUMP THUMP THUMP. Second, the "improved item system" that the case makes so much about is awful. When the item menu isn't bugging out so that you can't even see it, you have to sort through miniscule icons and text to find what you want. Also, those super-handy item timers from Legends are gone, for reasons best known to some crazy guy at the Midway development department. Lastly, the melee classes are worthless compared to the ranged classes, solely because they don't attack as quickly.

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. It's terrible, but I love it anyway.

Rating: 6/10

More Reviews by mrshotgun
	Secret of Mana (SNES) Most people do not realize it, but the now-hallowed Mana series did not begin with the seminal title which this review describes. It far started as Seiken Dent...
	Beyond Good & Evil (PlayStation 2) In recent years, storytelling in our video games has grown somewhat stagnant. Some of the best selling titles of the previous generation of consoles were the p...
	Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES) As has been so aptly put, genius comes only rarely and unexpectedly, like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky. It's rare that a game comes along which is so...

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Gauntlet: Dark Legacy review, you're encouraged to leave feedback and talk about it with members of the site's community. You don't even need an HonestGamers account to get involved in the discussion. Please remember to keep your comments respectful and on-topic or they may be deleted by a moderator. Thank you for your understanding!

comments powered by Disqus

© 1998-2013 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.