Fire up your thunder hammer and strap on your cod piece; “Gauntlet” is back.

The arcade and 8-bit classic has been revamped for the Nintendo-64, and the result is a game that is a near perfect blend of action and strategy.

The story behind the latest “Gauntlet” adventure is about what you’d expect.

Garm, younger brother of the mage Sumner, looked to usurp his brother as Master of the Realm. To do this, Garm opened a portal to the underworld and summoned the demon Skorne. Wouldn’t you know it, things started to go wrong.

Skorne broke free from Garm’s grasp, took control of all the magic in the realm and unleashed his legions of undead into the mortal world. Now it is up to you to restore Sumner’s power by recovering the Rune Stones from each of the Gauntlet realms.

The first step is to choose your character. When you begin, there are four different types of heroes: warrior, valkyrie, wizard and archer. If you acquire enough coins during the game you will also gain access to a number of secret characters.

From there you are dropped, literally, into Sumner’s tower. Around you are the entries into the five realms, but at the beginning only the Mountain world is open.

While in the tower you can shoot the breeze with Sumner, who will give you hints on playing the game. You can also purchase items from him.

As you travel through the worlds you can collect gold, which can be exchanged for special weapons, or improved attributes for your character. In addition, unused potions, weapons, etc. that you pick up along the way can be sold to Sumner for more money.

You won’t be able to sell an item for quite as much as it costs to buy it, so shop carefully. There’s a whole lot of capitalism going on in “Gauntlet Legends.”

The game play is very smooth, and quite similar to the original “Gauntlet.” Quick reflexes are necessary to fend off the scores of enemies attacking your hero. The enemies pour out of nearby portals, so you must destroy each portal to keep them from regenerating.

Each character has specific hand-to-hand attacks, magic and turbo attacks for battling foes. Turbo attacks require time between maneuvers to recharge, and you have a limited number of magic attacks. It’s crucial to know when and where to use both.

It is also important to know how to use the special attacks you might find in treasure chests along the way. Many of these only last for a limited amount of time, so it is a good idea to turn them off if you’re not going to be using them. Likewise, any left-over attacks can be sold for more attribute points, etc.

While many of the levels are vast, they are far from maze-like. Keys are needed to open certain doors, and often-times hidden switches must be hit to open passageways. The makers of the game did a good job of making this challenging, without turning it into a puzzle game.

Ultimately, it is the action of “Gauntlet Legends” that puts it above similar games, like “Castlevania.” There is just enough variety to keep battling Skorne’s enemies from becoming monotonous, and just enough strategy involved to keep you thinking.

4 Stars