Gauntlet II, once again designed by Ed Logg, is so similar to the original that it feels more like an expansion to the original game than a true sequel. In fact, it was sold as a conversion kit for the original arcade cabinets. It looks and sounds largely the same, but it adds a lot of gimmicks, mostly involving the environment.
Players are now free to choose the same class if they want, with their characters distinguished by their color. Players can push certain blocks around, there are more environmental traps like pools of acid that shift about, teleporters, and force fields that drain health. One of the most entertaining additions is the addition of a Tag mode in which a character can become "it," causing every monster to seek them out until the player can tag a partner and make them "it" (becoming "it" in single player mode makes no difference since the monsters all want to kill you regardless). It's possible to pick up items allowing extra abilities to the player, such as ricocheting shots off walls.
There are a handful of new monsters to fight, the most noteworthy being a giant fire-breathing dragon that takes an enormous amount of punishment before going down.
Although it has a lot of the same flaws as the original, the additional gameplay elements lend it a little more longevity and liveliness as the game can keep the surprises coming for a while.
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