Skrull (Amiga game)

You probably know the name itself "Skrull" because it is a notorious game in the shittest game ranking at www.lemonamiga.com.
This game seems inspired by "Barbarian", the legendary game Psygnosis released, however,
it received much lower score than "Barbarian". Have you ever thought why the hell was going?

As you see, "Skrull" has a really nice graphics (tiles and sprites) as the game which was released in 1989.
Compare this title with other console platformers (eg. Mega Drive games in 1989)
Actually I think it was one of pros of "Skrull". So we have to see other sides of this game.

The most important would be controls. It is because "Mouse only" was so unique.
And make sure to know that Skrull's Mouse control system was different from "Barbarian".
See below.

	Action	"Barbarian"	"Skrull"
When the main character directs to the right,	Walk to the right	Leftclick	Rightclick
	Stop walking / running	Leftclick or Leftclick	Rightclick
	Direct to the left	Leftclick	(Basically impossible ...When you leftclick , the main character might direct to the left without running to the left.)
	Walk to the left	(Impossible)	Leftclick
	Jump forward	Leftclick	Leftclick
	Jump backward	Leftclick	Rightclick
	Defend with a sword	(Impossible)	Leftclick
	Attack using a sword	Leftclick	Rightclick
	Run to the right	Leftclick	Rightclick
	Run to the left	(Impossible)	Leftclick
When the main character directs to the left,	Direct to the right	Leftclick	(Basically impossible ...When you rightclick , the main character might direct to the right without running to the right.)
	Walk to the right	(Impossible)	Rightclick
	Stop walking / running	Leftclick or Leftclick	Rightclick
	Walk to the left	Leftclick	Leftclick
	Jump forward	Leftclick	Leftclick
	Jump backward	Leftclick	Rightclick
	Defend with a sword	(Impossible)	Leftclick
	Attack using a sword	Leftclick	Rightclick
	Run to the right	(Impossible)	Rightclick
	Run to the left	Leftclick	Leftclick
Other controls	Pick up an item	Leftclick	Click(either left/right)
	Discard an item	Leftclick	Click(either left/right) , then click(either left/right) an item which you want to use.
	Select an item	Leftclick , then leftclick an item
	Enter	(There are no doors.)	Leftclick

...Analyzing above, we can see both of titles have "cons".
While we play "Barbarian", it's ok if we only think about leftclicking.
On the other hand, the main character cannot go to the opposite direction instantly unless he directs to the opposite direction.
"Skrull" solves this issue by controls using both leftclicking and rightclicking, however,
we will be confused when we control the main character by some actions which I described in different colored cells.
For example, when we make the main character directing to the right to jump forward,
we have to "LEFT"click. Actually the main character would jump forward (=to the RIGHT).
What do you think? (Lol)
Even if it is surely strange, does it become the reason why "Skrull" received such a low score...?
"Skrull" was surely pure evil ? I don't think so...

See below!
Here is another comparison with both of titles. The Keyboard controls.

	Action	"Barbarian"	"Skrull"
When the main character directs to the right,	Walk to the right	Right arrow key	Right arrow key
	Stop walking / running	S or F4	Space key
	Direct to the left	Left arrow key	(Impossible)
	Walk to the left	(Impossible)	Left arrow key
	Jump forward	J or F5	Up arrow key
	Jump backward	D or F8	3
	Defend with a sword	(Impossible)	1
	Attack using a sword	A or F7	2
	Run to the right	R or F6	Hold Ctrl key while walking to the right
	Run to the left	(Impossible)	(Impossible)
When the main character directs to the left,	Direct to the right	Right arrow key	(Impossible)
	Walk to the right	(Impossible)	Right arrow key
	Stop walking / running	S or F4	Space key
	Walk to the left	Left arrow key	Left arrow key
	Jump forward	J or F5	Up arrow key
	Jump backward	D or F8	3
	Defend with a sword	(Impossible)	1
	Attack using a sword	A or F7	2
	Run to the right	(Impossible)	(Impossible)
	Run to the left	R or F6	Hold Ctrl key while walking to the left
Other controls	Pick up an item	G or F1	4
	Discard an item	P or F3	Press 5, then press 1 or 2 or 3.
	Select an item	U or F2	Press 5, then press 1 or 2 or 3.
	Enter	(There are no doors.)	Down arrow key

What do you think? The Keyboard controls of "Barbarian" sucks, you say?
Yes, it would be totally unplayable, I think. "J" key , "S" key and "R" key are far positions from each other.
So are you going to use function keys? It's also confused to use function keys, isn't it?
Paradoxically, we can see that "Skrull" was developed without malicious intention.

He he... It's up to you whether you believe me or not.
You can buy a retail copy at ebay. I bought it for less than 5 pounds in 2011. I think it would be inexpensive even now.
ABD=Lv.1 . It would become Lv.2 if you want to control by Keyboard.
Good luck.

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