LJN's take on the iconic maneater is based on the fourth film of the series, Jaws: The Revenge. The seemingly arbitrary plot of the game will make sense to anyone who's actually seen the fourth and final installment. To make a long story short, the Brody family is being terrorized by a shark that is purposefully seeking revenge for their role in killing other Great White Sharks in Jaws 1-3. That's right, that's actually what the movie's about.
Basically, the game features four main styles of gameplay. Things start off with an overhead view where you control a ship traversing the tropical waters until you are hit by Jaws or some other unknown sea-dwelling entity. At that point, the game switches to a side to side perspective where you control a diver shooting jellyfish, rays, small sharks, and on occasion, Jaws. Other gameplay aspects include a bonus stage and the final showdown with the shark.
Most of the gameplay takes place in the underwater mode where you gain items from killing various sea life (take that PETA!) Items include stars, crabs and conch shells.
The stars give you bonus points (which are useless), the crabs increase the speed of the diver while underwater (a nice upgrade, but not essential to completing the game), and the shells serve as a form of currency in the game. With the jellyfish rising from the depths at random, I typically don't risk descending to gather falling objects (unless they are shells.)
The shells are used when the ship travels to the two ports located on the map. There, you can purchase upgrades, such as a device that tracks Jaws' heartbeat (just like the scientists do in the God-awful fourth Jaws movie) and one that increases your power of attack, which is essential as it takes forever to deplete Jaws' energy in the final confrontation.
In addition to this basic gameplay, killing a smaller shark in the side-scrolling rounds will initiate a bonus round where you kill jellyfish from inside a plane, dropping bombs below in Galaga-like fashion. You receive one shell per every three kills.
A major caveat is that every time you die (which happens relatively easily and often) you lose a portion of your shells - as well as a power upgrade and the tracking device. To make matters worse, some of Jaws' health will also replenish.
One key to beating this game is finding a randomly appearing submarine, which usually appears in the top right of the map. The advantage is that this gives you more powerful weaponry, including straight shots and underwater depth charges. It is also easier to control, and if you get hit you're only ejected from the sub, but you do not die.
To beat the game, you deplete Jaws' health to the point where a new first person perspective appears. Like the horrific film, you have the ability to purge the shark from the water by initiating a charge, then once the shark is close enough when purged, you can ram the boat into it, killing it.
The problem is, you only get three shots at this before you revert back to the normal game mode. The shark also moves very quickly and erratically - so erratically that it breaks laws of natures by enabling the shark to swim backwards, something that actual sharks are unable to do.
So now that we have an idea of what the game entails and the number of flaws that even I've pointed out, how can I say this isn't that bad of a game? Well, as a youngster, it was great to play a game based on one of my favorites. It also features a variety of gameplay to break up the monotony of the underwater stage.
Also, aside from the final screen, its a relatively beatable game, something that a can't be said of a good number of NES titles. Not to sound like a noob or anything, but there is a great deal of satisfaction in beating any Nintendo title. The controls are also fairly decent and there's an odd pleasure one gets by killing relatively defenseless sea life.
While its not saying much, it is also the best LJN game available for the console. Again, I am completely cognizant of the fact that this is similar to being the best player on the Detroit Lions or New Jersey Nets, but there are positives to make note of when comparing it other LJN titles.
Most of the publisher's games bear absolutely no resemblance to the franchises they're based on; Back to the Future and Beetlejuice come to mind, particularly. Jaws follows the plot of Jaws: The Revenge very well, including environments and plot devices from the ill-fated film.
Overall, the game does suffer from some repetitious gameplay, the sound is average (the Jaws theme itself only appears in the title screen and the final showdown), and the graphics are pretty substandard compared with other titles in this era of the NES. But still, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Jaws on the NES.
The shells are used when the ship travels to the two ports located on the map. There, you can purchase upgrades, such as a device that tracks Jaws' heartbeat (just like the scientists do in the God-awful fourth Jaws movie) and one that increases your power of attack, which is essential as it takes forever to deplete Jaws' energy in the final confrontation.
In addition to this basic gameplay, killing a smaller shark in the side-scrolling rounds will initiate a bonus round where you kill jellyfish from inside a plane, dropping bombs below in Galaga-like fashion. You receive one shell per every three kills.
A major caveat is that every time you die (which happens relatively easily and often) you lose a portion of your shells - as well as a power upgrade and the tracking device. To make matters worse, some of Jaws' health will also replenish.
One key to beating this game is finding a randomly appearing submarine, which usually appears in the top right of the map. The advantage is that this gives you more powerful weaponry, including straight shots and underwater depth charges. It is also easier to control, and if you get hit you're only ejected from the sub, but you do not die.
To beat the game, you deplete Jaws' health to the point where a new first person perspective appears. Like the horrific film, you have the ability to purge the shark from the water by initiating a charge, then once the shark is close enough when purged, you can ram the boat into it, killing it.
The problem is, you only get three shots at this before you revert back to the normal game mode. The shark also moves very quickly and erratically - so erratically that it breaks laws of natures by enabling the shark to swim backwards, something that actual sharks are unable to do.
So now that we have an idea of what the game entails and the number of flaws that even I've pointed out, how can I say this isn't that bad of a game? Well, as a youngster, it was great to play a game based on one of my favorites. It also features a variety of gameplay to break up the monotony of the underwater stage.
Also, aside from the final screen, its a relatively beatable game, something that a can't be said of a good number of NES titles. Not to sound like a noob or anything, but there is a great deal of satisfaction in beating any Nintendo title. The controls are also fairly decent and there's an odd pleasure one gets by killing relatively defenseless sea life.
While its not saying much, it is also the best LJN game available for the console. Again, I am completely cognizant of the fact that this is similar to being the best player on the Detroit Lions or New Jersey Nets, but there are positives to make note of when comparing it other LJN titles.
Most of the publisher's games bear absolutely no resemblance to the franchises they're based on; Back to the Future and Beetlejuice come to mind, particularly. Jaws follows the plot of Jaws: The Revenge very well, including environments and plot devices from the ill-fated film.
Overall, the game does suffer from some repetitious gameplay, the sound is average (the Jaws theme itself only appears in the title screen and the final showdown), and the graphics are pretty substandard compared with other titles in this era of the NES. But still, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Jaws on the NES.
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