Skull & Crossbones

Your Sinclair

Overall 53%

Philip Kiernan 53%

Hit Squad £3.99 [redacted] Reviewer: Philip Kiernan Ar-harr! (Start again. Ed) 'Ello, 'ello, 'ello, what's all this then? Why, it's a skull and two beautifully shaped bones! (Knew I should have cleaned up my bedroom before now.) But think of all the fun we could have with three such simple objects, eh, readers? For starters, here's a trick anyone could master with the minimum of effort. Watching? Place the skull face up on a flat surface like so. Arrange the bones into a cross formation like this and then pull the two structures together. There you have it - a skull and crossbones! Another tweak - and it's become a literary device known as a link! Yes, Skull And Crossbones, the game, (drum roll) is back. I won't say by popular demand because, well, more about that later. But, yes, the little blighter is upon us again so let's take a gander, shall we? Well, the most striking thing about Skull And Crossbones is that it's a pirate game (me hearties). And in the undying tradition of pirate games, you get to play the part of, and I'll just articulate this part carefully, a pi-rate. He goes by the name of One Eye, and he's a wizard with a cutlass. Not too much of a wizard, obviously, because he's managed to stick himself in the eye along the way. A smidgeon careless, I'd say. Or was it? Knowing pirate folk (well, not personally) I wouldn't put it past the scoundrel to have done it deliberately, in order to look 'ard in the company of his pirate friends. (Actually, I wonder why pirates are obsessed with wearing eye-patches? It seems every last swashbuckling sea farer is Long-Johnning around with one. Where's the variety? You'd have thought that at least one would have dared to be different, and, say, been hard of hearing in one ear. Mind you, this would probably have been a handicap in fights, viz: 'Draw your sword, you scurvy dog!' 'Sorry? Aaarghh.' All that one-leggedness would have caused difficulties as well. Maybe it was all an initiation test, or something. It made quick getaways a bit out of the question, whichever way you look at it.) TALES FROM THE POOPDECK Skull And Crossbones is similarly unadventurous in dealing out deformities. Your freebooter is merely one-eyed, and has no sense of fear. Armed with naught but a sharp cutlass and bundles of attitude, he has to plod through eight landscapes, attack henchmen, nobble treasure and kill the Evil Sorceror. Yawn. Sorry, but the plot's all so tediously predictable. Actually, in its defence, the more treasure you collect, the tougher you become, which is a welcome twist sort of thing. Uh-oh. I've just noticed the gameplay. Despite having a wide range of interesting opponents to overcome, there's really little challenge in ploughing through them. Once you've got to grips with the fighting moves, the whole thing is dribblingly easy, especially as the villains arrive in single file. And the actual levels, though nicely laid out and brimming with colour, leave no opportunities for exploring - it's linear, guiding-rein progress all the way. Oh aye, then there's the two-player mode. Would a simultaneous two-player mode have been too much to ask, hmm? Apparently, because what we're given instead is the ancient second player takes over when the first player kicks the bucket lark. Dearie me. The biggest drawback of the lot is the dratted loading routine. When you move from level to level, you have to go through the rigmarole of feeding in the whole of side two over and over again. You can't help but ask yourself if it's in any way worth it all, and you can't help but answer yourself, no, it's not. There are lots of impressive graphical bits later on, like the animated distressed damsel and the spinning ninjas (Whatwhatwhat? Ed) but these are hardly enticement enough for you to bear with it. As it is, Skull And Crossbones will appear on St Peter's books as 'Oh, it was a nice idea, but, hey, they didn't quite get it right.' No recommendations unless you've got barrels of patience. Which is an awful pity, really. The pirate theme has so much potential, but to date has been badly served. Skull And Crossbones does nothing to redress the balance. In fact, I think I'll take a cutlass it right now. Ar-harr, take that, you swab! Arrr! (Clash of cutlass on cassette. Cutlass rebounds and impales reviewer.) Shiver me timbers, it got me. Arr, keep the map safe, Jim, and look after me parrot. (Dies.)

Fortunately, Tom was able to persuade the monster that it was a 2D sprite badly integrated with a 3D background, and it slipped off, plummetting to a messy death in the border.

In later life, One Eye worked as a tour guide. Sadly, his penchant for attacking his tour groups, robbing and throwing them over the battlements led to his eventual dismissal.

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 70%

Instant Appeal 79%

Graphics 75%

Addictiveness 80%

Overall 72%

Linda Barker 72%

Domark £9.99 cass/£14.99 disk Reviewer: Linda Barker I'd make a really good pirate. I'm dead 'ard, you know. I Could grow some stubble (or failing that, slap on the shoe polish!) I've already got an eyepatch and some raggedy trousers, so I'd just need a sword and a parrot after that. Yes, indeedy - it certainly beats being a lusty wench and getting tied up by rough sailors! You probably know all about Skull And Crossbones already 'cos Andy megapreviewed it just a couple of issues back. But in case you were snoozing at the time, let me gently remind you. (And don't drop off again this time!) OOO-ARRGH, ME LUVVLIES! Right, matey, you are now a pirate! As either One Eye or Red Dog you get to slash 'n' thrust your way through 8 ship and land levels picking up food, digging for treasure and crossing swords with pesky pirates, nippy ninjas and sabre-weilding skeletons. These hoodlums are the personal army of the evil Sorcerer who pops up at the end of every other level (the land bits) in disguise - and he's a dab hand with the old dressing up box. For example, at the end of the 4th level (after getting rid of enough ninjas to fill a bottomless coracle) you come across a cross-legged Confucius look-alike. Don't be fooled, 'cos this peace-loving old gent turns into none other than Mr Master Ninja himself. Give old Conf a good going over with your ol' blade and whaddaya know? Mr Wiz? We meet again. DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS End-of-level baddies aside, most of your adversaries are a bit hopeless, especially in the first 6 levels. You'll get onto the poop deck and suddenly about 7 nasty looking pirates appear. Eek! Time for a swift getaway. But (and it's a big but) only one comes at you - so you get rid of him. And all these rotten scoundrels (instead of going for your throat like any self-respecting vagabond) simply line up, waiting to be stabbed in the stomach and go up in a puff of smoke. This makes the whole game a lot easier than it otherwise might have been and it's all a bit of a let-down. The best of the bunch are the ninjas. Dressed to kill (in black, of course) they come rolling silently behind you curled up into little balls. Then they uncurl and give you quite a bit of grief. How sweet! TIME FOR A SLASH! And now for another let-down - the graphics. The scenery is excellent and clear but the sprites, unfortunately, aren't. They blend into the background, as well as each other, so things get really confusing. There were points where everything was corkingly clear but then I'd move forwars a bit and it was more a case of "Eh oop, where am I?" Skull And Crossbones is addictive fun but it's a touch too easy - especially if you master the backslash early on. (Wah-hey! Bit of a tip there, Spec-chums!) it wasn't until the sixth level that I started to get into trouble, and I'm usually crap. If I got up on Saturday morning, went into twon and spent my hard-earned cash on this then I'd be a bit upset if I'd finished it by the time Beverley Hills 90210 came on. The question you have to ask yourself is whether or not a tenner is too much for a day's entertainment? And I think it is. If Skull And Crossbones was £3 I'd recommend it, but it's not.

And we see one of our pirates callously bashing up a half-dressed pensioner. What a star, eh?

Don't worry, love! Ole Red Eye's here to save you! (And give her a coat to wear hopefully. She does look at bit chilly, doesn't she?)

Here's loads of screenshots of the second level all put together. Follow the arrows around, walking over dem bones to unearth lots of lovely treasure, like money and grapes. (And yes, we know it looks a bit odd in the middle but that's just the way it is.)

What pathetic baddies, eh Spec-chums? In two seconds time they'll all be dead (cos that's the kind of nippy pirate I am!)

A BEGINNERS' GUIDE TO PIRACY Become a pirate in just x10x 8 easy steps - simply follow the YS cut-out-and-keep guide to piracy! 1) Get an old coathanger and saw off the hook bit. Hold it tight, pull your sleeve down to cover your hand, and voila - an ideal back-scratching device (and pretty good at scaring off very little children). 2) Get some pinking shears and cut your school trousers off so they're just below calf-length. Don't worry about cutting in a straight line - the more uneven, the better! (And remember kids, no shoes!) 3) Get a white shirt and ask a friend to hold one end while you keep hold of the other. Then both pull in opposite directions. If you haven't got a friend, then a dog will do just as well. 4) Tie a scarf (or maybe one of your dad's ties) round your neck. (Anything you wear should be covered in dirt first. It just makes things a little more authentic.) 5) Smear the lower half of your face with boot-polish - this looks amazingly like stubble! Cover the remainder of your features with dirt and rub lots of dirt and cooking oil in your hair. 6) Swords are quite hard to get hold of, but a reasonable imitation can be produced from cardboard and silver foil. 7) Run, screaming, down the road to the park. Remember to wave your sword about a lot. Get a boat out and there you go. You're a fully-fledged trainee pirate. Well done. 8) And, erm, that's it.

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Overall 57%

Richard Leadbetter 57%

Domark Spectrum £10.99 Ha-harrrr me laddie! Shiver me timbers, etc etc. If you didn't get the idea from that unoriginal and lacking intro, Skull and Crossbones is a scrolling beat 'em up based around pirates. The coin-op, like this conversion, borders on the average, so if I was you, I'd save the eleven quid for something better. Let's hope that future conversions are far superior.

Crash

Presentation 70%

Graphics 68%

Sound 65%

Playability 69%

Addictivity 71%

Overall 73%

Mark Caswell 70%

Nick Roberts 76%

Tengen/Domark £9.99/£14.99 Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum, me hearties! Once pirates were the scourge of the Spanish Maine so it was only a matter of time before their adventures popped up in a hacking-away coin-op, which now makes its appearance on the Speccy. We're talking serious swashbuckling here as you, with or without the aid at a pal, become either One Eye or Red Dog and search through eight levels for treasure, stolen by an evil sorcerer. Armed with trusty (and probably rusty) cutlasses, they fight the continuous stream of attacking pirates to regain their booty. Hah har! The action is spread over eight levels, set aboard galleons, in Spanish castles, in caves and all sorts of locations where Errol Flynn would feel at home. The brightly coloured backdrops scroll from one combat location to another and once you're there you fight until all your attackers are disposed of. Along the way are lots of bonus items to collect, chests full of treasure, golden goblets, pieces of eight and 'X marks the spot' where buried treasure lies. The more treasure collected, the stronger you become. And strength is needed because the opposition put up a stiff fight. A swift poke with your sword usually sends your attackers to the great pirate banquet in the sky - that is as long as they don't retaliate and knock a few points on your energy bar. Food and drink is scattered around and consuming these pushes your energy meter up to an acceptable level, keeping your three lives intact for a while. At the end of each level, one of the evil sorcerer's huge henchmen tries to hack you to bits, and having overcome him you still have to fight your treacherous crew for it! The sorcerer himself awaits your presence for a final battle at the end of level eight. Eye strain is the first concern for anyone playing Skull and Crossbones; the small monochrome sprites are almost lost in the garishly coloured backdrops. Right, the gameplay: what we're looking at here is really a standard beat-'em-up, much in the style of Golden Axe but with a pirate theme. It can be a case of 'seen it all before' if you're a beat-'em-up addict. All you have to do is walk along, wave your sword at the enemy forces and grab the loot. There isn't a great variety of combat moves; our pirate pals can only swipe with their swords. Skull and Crossbones is a much better than Tengen's last game, Stun Runner, and although I've not seen the arcade game that Skull and Crossbones is taken from, it's a pretty entertainment romp! MARK 70%

Ol' One Eye battles it out (and when he's killed the pirate he'll probably indulge in rumpo with the lassie relaxing on deck).

Sinclair User

Graphics 70%

Sound 78%

Playability 70%

Lastability 74%

Overall 67%

Garth Sumpter

Steve Keen 67%

Label: Domark Memory: 48K/128K Price: £9.99 Tape, £14.99 Disk Reviewer: Steve Keen Ahoy me hearties! Shiver me timbers, hoist the main sail and break out the rum ha har! Well what would you expect of a game with this title, it leaves no margin for error. A pirate game is what you want and that's what you get. YOU are One Eye the rootin'est tootin'est, sorry wrong stlye! the most dastardly damnable cur to sail the seven seas although most of the action takes place on what you are led to believe is land. Various wenches have been kidnapped and trussed up in strategic places (oo-er!). The task ahead is to find out their location whilst battling the oppressive sea dogs that bark at your heels and hinder your progress. Nothing new here. Dice up the bad guys with your cutlass, dodge the bottle throwing imp who takes refuge in a barrel and get to the end of level big boys and cut them down to size. Some of the sword fighting is quite fun. You can block, parry and thrust to your hearts content and there's some satisfaction in lunging forward for your attack and springing back unharmed, but the variety of gameplay is very limited. When you have slogged your way across the first level you are returned to the beginning to do it all again with the only change being a few more bottles to avoid. There are also some strange characters lurking about. What a ninja school is doing in the middle of a pirate game is beyond me! To say did not enjoy Skull and Crossbone would be lying, but not to mention the terrible tune would be criminal. This one sent fellow S.U. members running for cover and Garth still can't watch pirate films without covering his ears and humming some Madonna. The spirit of One Eye will no doubt live on, but he'll turn in his grave when he hears the piper calling his tune.

And at the end of the show, there's nothing like getting yourself up the pointy end of the ship so that you can take a bow. (Ouch!)

Avast ya swabs! One Eye has a conflict in the Pirate's schoolground when he finds that young Jim has stolen his kipper sarnies!

Here's One Eye tripping the light fantastic on the dancefloor of the Jolly Jack-a-go-go. If that bouncer hits him, he'll be reeling!

In the finest tradition of Errol Flynn (ask your dad!), the fights that One Eye has will take him even to the highest ramparts. Oooo Arr matey!

PIRATE FAX Indochinese pirates still infest the South China Seas today. The most famous pirate in history, Blackbeard, was originally an English soldier Edward Teach. Renown for his extreme savagery he was an embarrassment to the British forces until he was killed by them during an attempt to capture his ship.