Play Gauntlet 2 Online

Gauntlet 2 came out for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, published by Atari Games. It was one of those early multiplayer dungeon crawlers that felt chaotic and frantic, especially with friends. The NES had plenty of fantasy games by then, but few that let you and three others dive into a maze together, fighting monsters and racing for treasure.

You control one of four heroes, a warrior, valkyrie, wizard, or elf, each with different strengths in combat. Your goal is to survive room after room of monsters, collecting keys, food, and treasure while hunting for the exit. The game plays screen by screen, with enemies spawning endlessly until you destroy their generators. One standout mechanic is the "It" curse; if you touch a certain monster, you become "It" and must tag another player to pass the curse or suffer constant damage. The pacing is relentless, and the difficulty spikes quickly, especially when magic pots and poison appear. It feels like a race against your own health bar as much as the monsters.