Garrison

The Good
Atari's famous dungeon crawler Gauntlet appeared on almost platform available at the time, but there was one problem. Even though U.S. Gold managed to publish multiple versions that looks and plays like the original arcade versions but with some limitations. They found it too difficult to make an Amiga version of the game. This is where Digital Dreams stepped in with this very good attempt at making a clone of the original game.

And it is excellent. Unlike the Atari version, Garrison actually has some sort of plot. Princess Angelique has fallen ill, and it is up to five heroes to recover a healing herb from a dark magician's 128-story tower. The game's heroes – Warrior, Elf, Wizard, Valkyrie, Dwarf - look identical to Gauntlet's , each with different abilities and weapons.

The title screen consists of an excellent heavy metal soundtrack, along with some useful information about the various enemies and items. The game is more enjoyable when two players are involved in the fight, since Garrison is a rather difficult game with lots of enemies. Furthermore, the developers didn't slip in a cheat code so you won't be able to gain infinite health or keys.

The graphics are okay, especially for an Amiga 500 game. The game is presented in a top-down view, and the enemies are drawn nicely. Animations and the scrolling is smooth. The heroes have an improved appearance if you have at least 1mb installed in your Amiga. (512k only gets you the same appearance, but they retain the same traits.)

The sound is very good, blending in with the same quality used in other games designed for the A500. I quite like the “puck” sound effect when you are attacked. The sound of your character when he is hit by flying projectiles is also great. I couldn't find the controls that allow you to drink healing potions, but it was easy to learn how to walk around and fire your weapon.

The Bad
I didn't like the constant heartbeat that you hear as the time counts down. At least it sounds a lot quieter than the Commodore 64 version.

The Bottom Line
This is an excellent Gauntlet clone that is best played with two players, due to the high difficulty of the game. There is a plot involving a princess, and the graphics and sound is great. There is actually one data disk that can be used with the original game. With the data disk, the levels are modified and the title screen looks similar to Gauntlet II. This is the only Gauntlet clone on the Amiga, so I'll say this: if you have played Atari's arcade game and want to play it at home, then Garrison is for you.