Gauntlet III: The Final Quest

Gauntlet III: The Final Quest was finished. It was reviewed. It just never properly came out on the Commodore 64.

The game itself was an isometric action game in the Gauntlet mould: dungeon exploration, monsters and treasure, maze-like levels to work through while hunting for the exit and picking up power-ups along the way. It was built at Software Creations for U.S. Gold, with graphics by Martin Holland and Haydn Dalton, and music by Tim and Geoff Follin. It reached the state any game reaches just before release — complete, playable, and well received by the press who saw it.

How it became a game that wasn’t

I was made redundant by Software Creations. The game was already written by then, which is what makes what followed so frustrating.

What defeated it was the last step of all. After I left, the company could not master the game onto tape from my source code, and U.S. Gold could not get it off the development system and onto cassette. The problem outlasted several attempts to find a way round it, including a later look at putting it out through the budget Kixx label. A game with progressive levels is awkward on tape at the best of times — every stage means another multiload — but the blocker here was simply getting the finished code onto the format the shops sold.

So it never had a full release. A small number of disk copies did escape, sent to people signed up to U.S. Gold’s software club, and those disks are the reason the game exists in the wild at all. They turn up occasionally now, and they go for silly money.

It is an odd thing to have on a CV: a finished game, reviewed and ready, undone by the transfer to tape rather than by anything in the code. The full account, along with a great many other C64 projects that never made it out, is documented at Games That Weren’t.

Strike! – 1987
A bowling game published by MAD / Mastertronic. Players compete in a ten-pin bowling tournament, aiming for strikes and spares while mastering the timing and accuracy needed to send the ball down the lane.

Raw Recruit – 1988
A multi-event sports game in which players take control of a new army recruit undergoing military training. Events include obstacle courses, shooting practice and fitness challenges, all designed to test speed and skill.

Scumball – 1988
A quirky multi-screen platform game where the player controls a bouncing ball-like character through a series of dangerous rooms filled with enemies, ladders and traps. The goal is to collect items and survive long enough to reach the next stage.

Sky Shark (US Version) – 1988
A vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up based on the arcade game by Taito. Players pilot a fighter plane through enemy territory, avoiding heavy fire while destroying tanks, ships and aircraft across increasingly difficult levels.

War Cars Construction Kit – 1988
Part action game and part creation tool, this title allows players to design their own arenas and then battle computer-controlled opponents using armed vehicles. It offered a surprising amount of freedom for a Commodore 64 game of the era.

Baby Blues – 1990
A fast-paced crosshair shooter in which the player must defend against waves of cartoon-style enemies. The game combines quick reflexes with colourful graphics and a light-hearted sense of humour.

Gunslinger – 1990
A Wild West themed shooting game where the player takes on the role of a lone gunslinger facing enemies in a series of quick-draw shootouts. Success depends on fast reactions and accurate aim.

Puzznic – 1990
A conversion of the popular arcade puzzle game. Players must slide matching blocks together to make them disappear, solving increasingly complex puzzles using logic and careful planning.

Gauntlet III: The Final Quest – 1991
An action game inspired by the Gauntlet series, featuring dungeon exploration, monsters and treasure. Players guide their hero through maze-like levels, battling enemies and searching for the exit while collecting power-ups along the way. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}