Software:Skull & Crossbones

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Skull & Crossbones
Developer(s)Atari Games (arcade)
Tengen (C64, NES)
Publisher(s)Atari Games (arcade)
Domark
Tengen (NES)
Designer(s)Mike Hally
Programmer(s)Bob Flanagan
Artist(s)Sam Comstock
Bridget Erdmann
Deborah Short
Nick Stern
Susan G. McBride
Composer(s)Hal Canon
Don Diekneite
Brad Fuller
Byron Sheppard
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, NES, ZX Spectrum
Release
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player, two-player

Skull & Crossbones is a two-player video game developed by Atari Games and released in arcades in 1989.

Gameplay

One-Eye (right), fighting a pirate captain using a cutlass

The game's player characters are One-Eye (player one) and Red Dog (player two), pirates on an adventure to find a wizard who kidnapped their princess. In order to rescue their princess, they must collect weapons and booty. The booty is traded for weapons at the end of each level. The weapons the player receives and how much of each weapon is dependent on what types and how much of each type of booty the player collected. Collecting weapons and booty is absolutely necessary in this game, as the default punch attack is not very powerful and ultimately ineffective.

There are several different types of weapons and booty to collect in each level, though not all weapon types appear in every level. Of the three major weapon types that appear in most levels, the cutlass is the weakest and only has a slightly longer range than the punch. However, a cutlass is not wasted if it does not hit an enemy. The knife is the mid-level weapon and is similar to the knife weapon in Castlevania. The player throws this weapon in a straight line in front of them. The flintlock pistol is more powerful than both the cutlass and the knife, firing a musket ball straight in front of the player.

To complete each level, the player must defeat 15 enemies and a level boss. Skull & Crossbones has seven game levels. In some ports of the game, the first six levels may be played in any sequence: One-Eye's Ship, Spanish Castle, Pirate's Ship #1, Ninja Camp, Pirate's Ship #2, Beach Cave, and Pirate's Ship #3. Once these levels are complete, the players go to the final level, the Wizard's Lair.

In the arcade version the players are also given three opportunities to change the difficulty of the game, at the end of One-Eye's Ship level and after the first two Pirate's Ship levels, and have a chance to get an opportunity item in the Castle, Ninja Lair, and Beach Cave. However the levels are forcibly played in the written sequence above. In two-player mode, there are a few specific changes to how the game plays: except in the Pirate's Ship levels, players must duel at the end of each level to see which gets an invulnerability item.

Each credit adds 50 health points to whichever player the credit was added for. Each level has a time limit that can be raised by obtaining hourglasses from killed enemies, but running out of time only results in slowly losing life and can be counteracted by buying additional credits.

Each of the two player pirates behaves the same and face either left or right but can turn with the appropriate button. The sword button can be pressed to block and the joystick can be used in combination with the button to throw various attacks, thrusts and stabs. Red X's appear often denoting jumps and cranks, and white crosses can be dug up with the sword button to obtain various treasures. A parrot belonging to the pirate constantly flies with the players and recites roughly twelve different lines nonstop. The parrots only appear in the arcade version.

Each of the three pirate ship levels has a Pirate Captain boss at the end of the level and a woman referred to in the game as a wench, while the other three levels have an Executioner (a heavy hitter), Monk (a fast attacker), and Medusa (a turret) boss for their respective stages. The Medusa's attacks can be avoided altogether by facing away and using back-stabs; if the players have chosen the easiest difficulty, an onscreen hint advises them not to look at Medusa. In the Wizard's Lair, these bosses are encountered again in order and the player who grabbed the invulnerability item on their respective stages immediately regains the use of that item for a duration. The wizard boss at the end will appear on one side of the room and launch Wizard Balls that stun the player and when attacked will teleport to the other side and continue. After several hits the player will behead him and will be given a chance to pick up some last wealth items before the game is proclaimed to be over soon afterwards.

Reception

The One gave the Amiga version of Skull & Crossbones an overall score of 77%, noting it as "a slight deviation from the usual beat 'em up fare, and it gives the genre a couple of unusual twists." The One praises Skull & Crossbones' graphics and music, stating that the graphics "convey the action well enough and, together with a brace of catchy tunes, they help create the perfect pirate atmosphere" and express that the two-player mode adds "a lot more fun, since you've got the added element of fighting over who gets the extra energy and money." The One concludes that "[Skull & Crossbones] isn't the greatest or most polished beat 'em up in existence" but is 'good and entertaining'.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Watsham, Julian (May 1991). "Skull and Crossbones Review". The One (emap Images) (32): 74–75. https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-32/page/n79. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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