 The protagonist is also challenged in his or her quest by 20 types of creatures . By moving the joystick while pressing its button or by performing the equivalent keyboard commands , the player defends the protagonist with four styles of attacks : a low slash , a high chop , a kick , and a spinning neck chop . The life of the combatants are represented by gauges at the top corners of the screen . Successful attacks on a character reduce its gauge and the character is killed when its life is reduced to zero . A well @-@ timed neck chop ( or the bites of certain monsters ) <unk> the opponent , killing it instantly . <unk> disappear in a puff of smoke when killed , <unk> with a full life gauge in the same room some time later . Although the player character likewise reappears fully <unk> in the room after being killed , he or she can only do so for a limited number of times . This limit ( number of lives ) is represented in the form of <unk> at the top centre of the screen . The protagonist increases his or her number of lives by collecting skulls that are scattered throughout the game world . 
