Thanks to the success of the Tron arcade game, based on the marginally-popular Disney film, it was hard to blame competitors who also wanted a slice of the sci-fi pie. And as a result, game manufacturer Gottleib acquired a license to develop a video game based upon the 1983 fantasy film, Krull, which was filled to the brim with special effects and impressive imagery. That same year, Krull made its debut in arcades across the country.  

Playing the game as leading man Prince Colwyn, the object was to rescue to lovely Princess Lyssa from her captor – the hideous and formidable Beast. Fulfilling this lofty goal, however, required the successful completion of five levels, each with its own unique task that was certain to test even the best reflexes.

The first stage required the hero to dodge numerous boulders, while running around and trying to collect five pieces of a glaive, a mysteriously powered throwing star. In the second stage, Colwyn had to frantically rescue various countrymen, while under attack from an army of laser-carrying Slayers, dispatched by the Beast. In the third stage, which bore a similar resemblance to the previous level, a series of obstacles presented a formidable maze that had to be successfully traversed while rescuing friendly soldiers, then carrying them to a six-sided fortress known as “The Hexagon.” Hiding within this structure was the Beast, and to get your hands on him, the fourth level required players to complete a challenge similar to a game of Breakout, where sections of the castle walls could be knocked out once they turned black. Once inside, it was time for the fifth and final stage, the showdown against the Beast, who just happened to be armed with an arsenal of deadly fireballs. Assuming you were able to rescue the damsel in distress and conquer, or at least chase away, the Beast, it was back to level one. Of course, level one was decidedly more difficult this time around.

Game developers were originally undaunted by the fact that Krull had never been a successful movie; after all, Tron was no box-office blockbuster either, but that didn’t stop it from being a hit in the arcades. Sadly, Krull wasn’t afforded the same luck, mirroring its film predecessor’s success (or lack thereof) a little too closely. As a result, Krull left arcades not long after it arrived - providing a valuable lesson to game developers when it comes to mimicking the competition.