Vangauntlet - game idea for forced scrolling Gauntlet clone

A game idea I've been kicking around is a hybrid of Gauntlet and (NES) Section Z, with a bit of (TRS-80) Sea Dragon ... basically a Gauntlet clone but with a difference. The game uses forced scrolling, like Section Z. Some levels scroll very slowly, so you must endure attacks with no option to quickly rush to the exit. Some levels scroll very fast, so you can barely do much more than dodge.

Most levels scroll at medium rates, which puts pressure on you to navigate the maze and push through or around enemies to keep up. This radically alters the feeling of the action. Also, you buy power ups with treasure, so you really need to learn how to harvest treasure from each level efficiently. (You can replay levels, but each play halves the amount of treasure available.)

Some other ideas to mix things up:

There can be any number of enemies on screen, but only 6 of them move at a time. This introduces a "speed up" factor I really like. Also, the speed of enemies depends on their strength:

GREEN = 3 hit points, slow speed
YELLOW = 2 hit points, medium speed
RED = 1 hit point, fast speed

So, it can make a lot of sense to try and dodge around strong enemies to try and get the generator first. Or to just try and bypass as many enemies as you can and concentrate on grabbing treasure.

#C64 #GameDevelopment #GameDesign