The Astonishing Captain Skull

caution: this review may contain spoilers of captain skull's ghostly origins



The Astonishing Captain Skull is a game based off of the hit Japanese animation Am?jingu zugaikotsu o modoru! or "Go Go Amazing Skull!"I was surprised that catmitts would want to make a game based off such an obscure show, but even more pleasantly surprised when I found how closely, for the most part, this game stayed to the true canon. Certain parts of Skull's backstory, particularly his fear of tinfoil, are ignored. Perhaps this game was meant to take place before Skull acquired this fear, but I doubt this is the case as it was only after he collapsed in the Tinfoil mines of Chromodome that Skull met Quimby. I believe the most likely explanation is that this game takes place in an unknown future after the show's end where Skull has conquered his fear.



The framework for the plot is a basic sci-fi story. Guy gets distress call from planet, investigates, something goes wrong. Pretty standard fare! Except catmitts has thrown his own monkey wrench of humor (Dare I say it, Barkley-inspired?) into the mix, making for a story that is cartoony and yet surreal when placed in juxtaposition with the clay characters. Even though this game doesn't take more than an hour to complete, the characters are fairly fleshed out regardless. All of the characters are fun to speak with and have their own unique personalities. I particularly liked the character of the Tyrannosaurus scientist and the exchange an extended conversation with him brings. It is so scary I do not even want to talk about it -H.P. Lovecraft



Yeaaaah sooo we got some nice atmosphere boyo. All of the environments and characters in the game are handmade in catmitts' very own bedroom bedroom with toys and clay only a seven year old baby would still play with. The effect is quite charming. The sets all display a good amount of creativity and uniqueness uncommon in most freeware games. Soon after the game started, I found myself so wrapped up in exploring the environment that I actually forgot what I was supposed to do. The music is stolen from the gaping maw of freemusicarchive.organd fits the alien/bedroom environment quite nicely.



The gameplay is above average for an adventure game. All of the puzzles follow sound logic, so you need not worry about bizarre Gabriel Knight puzzles. Finding objects you need to progress is also never difficult; no pixel hunting here! The controls are also very streamlined and intuitive. I do have one complaint, however. It was not immediately apparent to me that it was even possible to use text from my notebook on people and objects, and even combine text with different text! I was under the impression it was simply for keeping reminders. It would have been nice if this mechanic was explained somewhere, as it led to me getting stuck at what is basically the very first puzzle and having to consult the walkthrough.



*pushes up glasses* In summation, Captain Skull is a short and enjoyable adventure game for veterans and beginners of the genre. I would recommend it to most anyone, be they man or wolf, and am confused as to why it did not get more attention. I do not support the bourgeois star system and have thus acquired a more meaningful verdict from Supreme Retro Emperor High Command.