Gauntlet 4 (aka Gauntlet IV) was developed by M2 and published by Tengen in 1993, exclusively for the Megadrive/Genesis. In some respects the development of this game is just as interesting as the game itself.

Gauntlet 4 began life as a homebrew remake of Gauntlet, among a small group of friends in Japan, for the Sharp X68000 home computer. Atari Games, the developer of the original Gauntlet, eventually caught wind of the project and commissioned the group (now named M2) to produce a sequel instead.

Gauntlet 4 supports any compatible multitap adapter, allowing cooperative play for up to four players, which is great.

Although Gauntlet 4 does include a port of the original Gauntlet arcade game, it also has three other play modes that really set it apart and make it something special.

Quest Mode, which is the real star of the show in Gauntlet 4, expands Gauntlet into an RPG, of sorts, with new interconnected levels, boss battles, complex puzzles, a hub system leading to four different towers, and many other new elements that make the game more challenging, more detailed, and more fun.

You begin in the main hall, called the “Magical Room“, which has some merchants selling stuff, and also entrances to the towers (Water, Wind, Fire and Earth). Upon entering a tower the aim is to make your way through the maze in order to find one of four crystals. Collecting all four crystals will then give you access to the castle, where you can unravel the game’s big mystery.

You can go up and down floors in the towers by stepping on black stair tiles, and you can also return to the main hall at any time by stepping on the exit tile near where you entered the tower initially.

Collecting gold is vital in Quest Mode, and with it you can buy upgraded weapons and accessories from the merchants in the main hall. For fifty gold you can also buy Heal Drinks, which are essential for survival, but you can only carry one at a time.

There are a variety of new floor tiles in the game that affect the characters when stood on. There are no-shot tiles (you cannot shoot while stood on); slip tiles (that make you slip around); slow tiles (that make you walk at half speed); no-magic tiles (you can’t use magic while stood on), stream tiles (that blow you around when stood on), and damage tiles (that hurt you when stood on).

Pressing start in Quest Mode allows you to ‘camp’ and select usable items, as well as inspect your stats and note down a continue password. Here is also where you can select the aforementioned Heal Drinks, and ready them for use.

Battle Mode is a deathmatch play mode for up to four players, although two are required at minimum. You can choose how many rounds to play and must then fight it out inside special arenas. Your weapons bounce off walls (damaging you if they rebound back into you), and being struck by a weapon will also knock you backwards. This is especially worth noting as being knocked into an exit tile will lose you a round by virtue of a “ring out”.

Record Mode, the final play mode, is a variant of Arcade Mode, but with extra statistics shown between levels, and passwords that are used to continue a game where you left off.

I’ve seen write-ups of Gauntlet 4 that describe it as “a conversion of the arcade game, with extra play modes“, which is a lazy description and really doesn’t do the game justice. Quest Mode alone elevates Gauntlet 4 far beyond a simple conversion, and the Battle and Record modes are also superb additions.

Gauntlet 4 is an exceptional, fan-built version of Gauntlet that I think puts it into the “must-have” category of Megadrive/Genesis games, and which only appeared on Sega‘s 16-bit console. It’s arguably the best version of Gauntlet available – on any system.

More: Gauntlet IV on Wikipedia