The fourth installment in the Gauntlet series, Dark Legacy brings this hack-n-slash arcade franchise to your home system. Dark Legacy is a multi player action-adventure, which allows from one to four  gamers to play co-operatively and interact simultaneously (a process for which Atari applied for and was later granted a U.S. patent – USRE35314).

The evil wizard Garm and his legions have infested the Eight Magical Realms. You must collect the thirteen rune stones and destroy the minions of darkness. Play as one of eight medieval characters, each with unique combo moves and turbo attacks as well as eight different split personalities, plus there are over two-dozen additional secret characters to unlock. 60 levels are spread through 8 worlds that contain over 50 types of enemies and evil bosses, in addition to an endless numbers of potions, power-ups, and secrets to discover.

Dark Legacy starts off a tad bit slow, but as you gain experience you become considerably stronger and faster making it very addictive with excellent gameability. The controls were easy to master and the game flowed quite smoothly considering the amount of action taking place at any given time. Unfortunately the graphics and audio were not as hype as I had expected, and this game is at times identical to Gauntlet Legends (1999), which makes me glad I don’t own both. Overall, Dark Legacy delivers the button-smashing action and long-term playability that has made Gauntlet a fan favorite since 1985.

Rating 8 out of 10

Review by gamefiles@minigame.tv