Gauntlet (NES)/Items

Gauntlet's concept is deceptively simple: progress through 100 floors, killing enemies and grabbing treasures as you go.

The levels contain a variety of tiles and items:

Exits

These white squares usually read "EXIT". Sometimes the exits are hidden or require a key to access. Some exits are fake; nothing will happen if you step on them.

Walls

Some walls, such is crumbled wall sections, can be destroyed by shots. Some sturdy-looking walls can also be destroyed with one shot and may contain items or even enemies. Other walls can also disappear when you step on a flashing magic tile.

Doors and Keys

Doors can be any shape and size, and any door tiles touching will all unlock at once with a single key. You can only carry a maximum of 10 keys throughout the course of the game.

Potions

Potions can be collected or shot. Shooting them is less effective as your character's skill bonus is not applied to their use. These share the same storage space as keys, so always leave a few slots free for any keys you might need.

Treasure

Treasure chests are overflowing with loot. Some chests will run away from you, while others will hurt you when you touch them, and then chase you down like Death. Because of this it's best to shoot chests before you grab them to see if they explode. Treasure increases your score by one point (eventually boosting your HP).

Bags of Jewels

These are worth three times the value of a treasure chest.

Food

Food can have various appearances, but always increases your health by 100. If you shoot it it is destroyed.

Movable Walls

These walls can be pushed in any direction, including diagonally.

Stun Tiles

These tiles blend in with the surroundings, and when stepped on paralyze you for a few seconds. Enemies instinctively know where these are and won't walk over them.

Magic Tiles

These pulse or flash, and when stepped on will open up some area of the level (often a place you can't see or haven't even reached yet). These are usually hidden under destructible blocks, so it's always good to destroy those to see if there are magic tiles underneath.

Temporary Invisibility

Enemies cannot find you. This item is represented by a white box with three lines.

Upgrade Items

Destructible wall blocks sometimes contain potions that boost your abilities. The icon on the bottle shows what it will upgrade. On some home ports these upgrades are visible on the pause screen. Unlike other powerups these are permanent.

Extra armor	Represented by a shield. Reduces the damage you take by 1/5.
Extra magic	Marked with a bottle. Increases damage your magic does by 1/5.
Extra shot power	Marked with a cannonball. Increases the damage your shots do by 1/5.
Extra speed	Marked with an arrow. Increases your speed by 1/5.
Extra fight power	Marked with a knife or sword. Increases melee damage by 1/5.

Use-once items

Unlike the items above, these do not appear on the pause screen.

Temporary Repulsion Amulet

Enemies run away from you. It is represented by an orange box with three lines.

Temporary Reflective Shots

Your shots bounce off walls. If the shot does not hit anything it will disappear after a few bounces.

Ten Super Shots

Your shots destroy everything, including doors. It is represented by an orange box with an arrow.

Temporary invulnerability

You have perfect armor for awhile, but your hp goes down twice as fast. It is represented by a black box.