Another fine 8-bit conversion of the classic arcade game Gauntlet, by Gremlin Graphics and published by US Gold in 1987. The MSX version was created by the same team who did the ZX Spectrum version and therefore is quite similar. Which is not a bad thing as the Speccy conversion is quite excellent.

MSX Gauntlet is not quite as colourful as the Spectrum version overall but the generators do benefit from extra colour and look better. The game moves more quickly, though, and the scrolling is the same (ie. it re-draws the screen as it scrolls by using character blocks, rather than pixel-by-pixel), and this extra speed does make it more challenging. Gauntlet on the MSX came out on disk (and cassette), and disk loading makes waiting between sections much less hassle than loading from cassette.

Whether it’s better than the Spectrum version or not I’d say is a matter of taste. The slightly slower pace of the Spectrum version makes it easier to play and you therefore might get further than in the MSX version, which is quite difficult overall. It would’ve been nice if the game had continues, or at least some way of continuing when you die, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. While I enjoyed playing this version I probably struggled to get as far as I did in the other 8-bit conversions.

More: Gauntlet on Wikipedia