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Jaws (video game)
Encyclopedia
Jaws is an NES
game based on the film franchise of the same name
, specifically Jaws: The Revenge
, the fourth and final film in the series. However, it does take elements from the first.
There was a separate computer adaptation of the original Jaws movie called Jaws: The Computer Game, released in 1989 by Screen 7 (Martech Software) for the Commodore Amiga and for the Commodore 64
as simply Jaws by Box Office Software.
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In the game, the player pilots a boat across the sea, randomly encountering groups of hostile sea creatures. When the boat snags something in the overhead map, the perspective changes to a side-view. The player's boat releases a diver who battles various undersea threats such as jellyfish
, rays
, and smaller shark
s. Occasionally, Jaws will appear on the map in the form of its familiar dorsal fin
breaking the water's surface. If players collide with Jaws' dorsal fin, they can momentarily control their boat in the side-view encounter in an attempt to attack Jaws with depth charges. Jaws will always collide with the boat and release the diver into the water. Jaws will also appear after a brief moment if the player snags something in the overhead map with Jaws nearby.
Items encountered include crab
s (increases movement speed of the diver), stars (bonus points), and conch
shells which are used as currency in this game. Equipment and upgrades are purchased by alternating between two ports on the map. The first port visit gives the player a receiver, which tracks the location of Jaws relative to the boat on the overhead map; the faster it beeps, the closer Jaws is to the player. Future visits to ports afterwards increases overall attack power against Jaws. Touching a hostile sea creature during the side view undersea encounters will kill players and penalize them with a power level drop by pme (if they had upgraded their attack power), the loss of the tracking device, the loss of half of the conch shells accumulated to that point, and complete health replenishment for Jaws.
Killing a specific number of smaller sharks will trigger a bonus game. In this bonus game, an airplane travels back and forth in a side-view perspective and drops cannonballs on jellyfish, which assume formations and movement patterns similar to the enemies in the Challenge Stage of Galaga
. Players can adjust the speed of the airplane, depending on what direction it is traveling. The player is rewarded the number of conch shells equivalent to the number of jellyfish killed divided by three, rounded down. Hitting all the jellyfish awards 10,000 bonus points. An extra life is awarded for every 30,000 points.
The player can also find a submarine
which appears at random places in the game map. The submarine is an upgrade with two weapons (torpedo
es and depth charge
s) and much less inertia than the diver. The submarine is fragile, however, and one collision with an enemy will destroy it and release the diver (although this will not kill the diver).
Once Jaws' health has been reduced in the side view encounter, the game changes to a "first person" view of the player's boat. Players are given three charges for their strobe device to force Jaws to breach the water's surface. Timing is essential in order to force Jaws to breach at the proper distance from the bow of the boat. Players can also jut the bow of their boat forward at any time. In order to fully defeat Jaws, the player must jab it with the boat's bow at the proper distance when it breaches from the strobe device. This can be quite difficult and require much patience. Jaws makes random movements backward, forward and side-to-side which makes for a hard final kill.
criticized the game in its review, saying "The graphics, animations and game play in Jaws are all third rate."
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
game based on the film franchise of the same name
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
, specifically Jaws: The Revenge
Jaws: The Revenge
Jaws: The Revenge, Also known as, 'Jaws 4: The Revenge', is a 1987 thriller film directed by Joseph Sargent. It is the third sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the final installment of the series....
, the fourth and final film in the series. However, it does take elements from the first.
There was a separate computer adaptation of the original Jaws movie called Jaws: The Computer Game, released in 1989 by Screen 7 (Martech Software) for the Commodore Amiga and for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
as simply Jaws by Box Office Software.
Gameplay
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
, rays
Rajiformes
Rajiformes is one of the four orders of batoids, flattened cartilaginous fishes related to sharks.Rajiforms are distinguished by the presence of greatly enlarged pectoral fins, which reach as far forward as the sides of the head, with a generally flattened body. The undulatory pectoral fin motion...
, and smaller shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
s. Occasionally, Jaws will appear on the map in the form of its familiar dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
breaking the water's surface. If players collide with Jaws' dorsal fin, they can momentarily control their boat in the side-view encounter in an attempt to attack Jaws with depth charges. Jaws will always collide with the boat and release the diver into the water. Jaws will also appear after a brief moment if the player snags something in the overhead map with Jaws nearby.
Items encountered include crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s (increases movement speed of the diver), stars (bonus points), and conch
Conch
A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
shells which are used as currency in this game. Equipment and upgrades are purchased by alternating between two ports on the map. The first port visit gives the player a receiver, which tracks the location of Jaws relative to the boat on the overhead map; the faster it beeps, the closer Jaws is to the player. Future visits to ports afterwards increases overall attack power against Jaws. Touching a hostile sea creature during the side view undersea encounters will kill players and penalize them with a power level drop by pme (if they had upgraded their attack power), the loss of the tracking device, the loss of half of the conch shells accumulated to that point, and complete health replenishment for Jaws.
Killing a specific number of smaller sharks will trigger a bonus game. In this bonus game, an airplane travels back and forth in a side-view perspective and drops cannonballs on jellyfish, which assume formations and movement patterns similar to the enemies in the Challenge Stage of Galaga
Galaga
is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981. It is the sequel to Galaxian, released in 1979. The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen...
. Players can adjust the speed of the airplane, depending on what direction it is traveling. The player is rewarded the number of conch shells equivalent to the number of jellyfish killed divided by three, rounded down. Hitting all the jellyfish awards 10,000 bonus points. An extra life is awarded for every 30,000 points.
The player can also find a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
which appears at random places in the game map. The submarine is an upgrade with two weapons (torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es and depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s) and much less inertia than the diver. The submarine is fragile, however, and one collision with an enemy will destroy it and release the diver (although this will not kill the diver).
Once Jaws' health has been reduced in the side view encounter, the game changes to a "first person" view of the player's boat. Players are given three charges for their strobe device to force Jaws to breach the water's surface. Timing is essential in order to force Jaws to breach at the proper distance from the bow of the boat. Players can also jut the bow of their boat forward at any time. In order to fully defeat Jaws, the player must jab it with the boat's bow at the proper distance when it breaches from the strobe device. This can be quite difficult and require much patience. Jaws makes random movements backward, forward and side-to-side which makes for a hard final kill.
Reception
Jaws received mixed to poor critical reactions. Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
criticized the game in its review, saying "The graphics, animations and game play in Jaws are all third rate."