Dungeon Smash is a brand new Xbox Live Indie game, from Haiku Interactive in Edinburgh.The game is a re-imagining of the classic arcade title, Gauntlet, where players must explore multiple levels of an infested dungeon, fighting off enemies, finding provisions and seeking the kidnapped princess.
The game promises some real old-school arcade action, using twin control sticks to allow the player to move in one direction and fight/fire in another.Dungeon Smash launches on July 1st and will cost a mere 240 Microsoft points (or around £2 in old money).
Jock Findlay, the man behind the dungeon, told us:Initially the game started as a quick remake of Gauntlet with twin-stick controls but without any story. It was a game I was making for my 14-year old self. The initial story idea came from the artist Stuart Beel who I contracted to do “5 pictures of Princesses being rescued and portraits of the player-characters” but he came back with a lot more. Reading Jesse Schell’s book on game design challenged me to fill out this story and make something more than just a Gauntlet clone.
Haiku Interactive has some experience with Xbox Live indie games. Â The company has previously released several other independent games including AvaGlide – which is PilotWings meets your Xbox avatar, Crate Expectations – where crates are not just places for medkits or ammo, but can be used to spoil an opponents whole day and Space Police On Super Highway 9 – where players dole out space justice, to space scum on space highways…As every classic arcade gamer knows, Gauntlet broke new ground for co-operative multiplayer gaming, years before the advent of home consoles, split-screen action or this Internet thing.
With a focus on action, exploration and a classic rescue plot line, Dungeon Smash looks like it will deliver an action-based dungeon crawler with real charm and excitement for Xbox owners in search of something different.We’ll let you know as soon as it comes out.
“Reading Jesse Schell’s book on game design challenged me to fill out this story and make something more than just a Gauntlet clone.” Never leave home without it…and looking forward to some smashing.