Skull & Crossbones is a pirate-themed beat 'em up developed by Atari Games and released as an arcade video game in 1989. Developer Tengen ported the game to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum. The game is playable in single and co-op modes, where the objective of both players is to rescue their kidnapped princess from the antagonist, a wizard. Player one controls One-Eye, and player two controls Red Dog. Gameplay consists of players fighting through waves of enemies and level bosses, such as Medusa and Ship Captains, collecting weapons and booty to become increasingly powerful. Collectable items are centred around the pirate theme, such as the cutlass or flintlock pistol. Reception of Skulls & Crossbones was mixed to positive, with magazines like The One praising the pirate atmosphere and innovative twist on the beat 'em up genre. Gameplay 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,