Most of you have probably played at least one version of Gauntlet on one platform or another but chances are you have never played Dungeon Explorer on Sega CD. Its a shame really because this game deserves some serious attention. You got the same basic concept here, where you are in a top/down view and there are monster generators and monsters scattered through game, you have different characters to choose from, there is an experience point system, you need to eat food, you collect potions and you have mazes to figure out. Now with all that said this game takes a deeper approach and actually puts a lot of meaning in each of its levels and a lot more meaning
to the RPG elements in this game then Gauntlet ever did.

 You start in a little forest with one tent (used for saving) and 1 store (used for buying weapons) and 1 bar (used for changing characters when you feel like it!). >From this little town you have access to 6 levels, just head south and you will enter another forest that branches off into 6 different sections.
There is a seventh level (north of the town) but in order to enter there you must have beaten the other 6 levels. To get to each level you will have to travel the path in the forest and go through some baddies and while you can choose which area you will start some are easier then others which you will soon notice. In the middle of the forest there is a nice circle of gold that you should collect that appears each and every time you quit a game and reload (do that a few times just to build up some heavy cash ;). When you visit the store you should only buy the absolute best weapon, shield, and
armor. If you buy each and every weapon/shield/armor you will spend quite a fortune. In about 30 minutes you could gain enough money to buy the very best by using the save/quit/re-load go collect the gold method.

 Experience points are gathered only to increase your life and not your stats (that's why you should get the best right away as you will be as powerful as you can be except for when you find an amulet or glove...more about that later). For each character you have 4 different stats, you have attack, defense, intelligence (don't ask me why you need this one), and agility (for speed).
The only other thing to worry about is experience points but I have a great solution for that one ;) If you have some kind of rapid fire controller you can just set your character close to a generator or for better results near multiple generators and set the fire on auto and just blast the baddies as they come out, your experience will rise quickly and as a result you will have far more health to last out the levels. Just keep an eye on your food level for when you run out you start losing health, all you have to do is return to town to gain full health and food back.

 Enough about tricks now and onto the characters! I chose the "ninja" for the duration of my game, his special ability is to become invisible and shoot in 2 directions at the same time and his normal shot is ninja stars. The "wizard" shoots magic balls, special ability is killing all enemies when near you. The "elf" shoots arrows, special ability is a shield. The "monk" shoots half moon shapes, special ability is surrounding himself with magic fire. The "beast" shoots axes, special ability is to run really fast. Finally the "knight" shoots knives, special ability is shooting the knives in a 3 way shot. Now you don't have infinite special ability, you must collect little power up balls (these flashing shinny things). You also collect different forms of gloves that give you + points to your stats (for the level your currently in only) and you collect keys of course to unlock certain doors. I would keep an eye out for a backpack as this item enables you to carry more things like food potions and health potions that you can use at will. Look out for those amulets as well as they will give you special power ups such as running fast. Now each level is actually some kind of fortress you must enter and each has its own theme (an ice theme for example). The object of the game