We got to see a two of my favorite events:
- Powerball - the idea of this game was to insert balls into one of several cylinders before being killed by a gladiator (they were two players, three gladiators, and 5 cylinders). The hits in Powerball were pretty crazy: the tended to either be a vicious body slam or a shoulders and above hit. Check out the link to see Jazz rock in the woman's event.
- Assault - This was like the ultimate Nerf game. The player dodged tennis balls fired from a giant air cannon, and had to use various "nerf-like" weapons to try to hit a target. It always looked really fun to play, and you almost never saw a player hit the target.
While doing a little research for this article, I did stumble upon a game called Gauntlet, that I only very vaguely remembered seeing. I think this may prove to be a key clue to the origin of the game Gauntlet (or more like Super-Gauntlet) that we used to play in our college apartment that contained a long, narrow hallway. Instead of the one-on-one version we used to play, it was one player versus 5 gladiators. If you check out the video here you'll notice that some of the pads look strangely like a vacuum cleaner once used in the seldom played version called Super-Gauntlet.
Just one more clip that perfectly captures the cheese factor. If you never watched the show, I think its spirit is best summed up here:
6 comments:
I was always under the impression that this was the origin of our gauntlet. Though, I did note that in the clip, the challenger did not pick up and move one of the gladiators out of the way. But I do have the feeling that, had he done so, it would have been legal. Sorry, Ben.
It's also interesting how the American Gladiators version separates the referee duties from the contestants actually playing the game...
Two things -
- That is a snapshot of the classic entertainment for the 80s. The hair, the cheese, the ambiguity of which sex the gladiators were. What a great show.
- I think we should set up both Powerball and Assault at the B&B Party this year. Think of the stories you can tell after. Remember that time we put Ben in the basket? It would be good times...
!!!
(Jeremy Runs and starts building a high power rapid fire pneumatic tennis ball cannon with preloaded speed loader tennis ball magazines)
An excellent post about a fine television show, but why do I get the sneaking suspicion that some of the comments may have been at my expense? Perhaps some people are just jealous that they weren't the ultimate (undefeated) Gauntlet champion. Hey, I didn't make the rules - as player/referee, I just enforced them so I would always win. (Then promptly retired from the sport, having nothing left to prove.)
Nice try, Darkman, but we know its you.
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