Jaws (NES): A Retrospective

Have you ever been that one guy who thought that a certain movie wasn't so bad, or thinks that a TV show isn't that unwatchable? Well, I'm the one guy who enjoyed LJN's Jaws for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Admittedly, much of it is nostalgia, and a good deal of it is also due to my being an avid fan of the film franchise (despite the fact that after Jaws 2, they're mostly unwatchable.)

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.

Hidden Rupees: Monopoly (NES)

While I'd hardly consider it a classic (I don't really think a title based off of a board game could ever qualify as a "classic"), Monopoly for the NES is a very good way to kill some time. It's just a good game. In fact, I'd venture to say it's one of the best board game based video games ever made (wow, what high praise).

Why do I say it's so good? Well, it's hardly innovative - it is based off of a board game from the 1930s, after all. It doesn't have the best graphics ever put on a gray cartridge, either. What it is, is the most important thing a video game game be: fun.

The game follows the official Monopoly rules very closely. I can't off hand think of any errors in this department. In fact, the game probably knows the rules a lot better than most people who pick up the dice and play it in board form. For example, there is no "passing" on an unwanted property: any unsold property must either be purchased or auctioned when someone lands on it, a rule which, in my experience, is known by very few Monopoly players. The only "problem" I can think of here is that some will be disappointed that the game doesn't give a way to use any of the house rules that many people have become so used to, such as putting all tax money into a pot to be collected by people landing on Free Parking.

You can start games with up to 8 players, which can either be human (even with only two controllers) or computer. The way CPU players is implemented into the game is very well done. Rather than just having an impersonal "CPU" as one often finds in games of this sort, there are 8 individuals built into the game that you can choose to play with, each with his or her own personality and playing style. For example, Ollie - depicted as an old grandfatherly like fellow - is really somewhat of a pushover who is prone to make some rather poor decisions. On the other hand, Arthur - who's picture is reminiscent of a rich business mogul or the like - is shrewd and stingy. It's very difficult to get a deal done with him - at least one that isn't completely in his favor.

As far as the actual game play is concerned, its easy and, like I said, fun. You are presented with an overhead view of the board which clearly shows where each player's piece is as well as (and this you'll really find yourself paying attention to) where houses and hotels have been put up. the B button rolls the dice, after which a cute animation comes up of the player's chosen game piece somehow moving to the appropriate space. From there, you can either buy a property, send it to auction, pay rent, or access your control menu to make trades, mortgage property (if you need to), or even just check out who has what properties. The control menu is a very nice feature and has almost anything you can imagine you may need in the course of the game.

In fact, there are so many ways in which this game shows you the information you'll want that I'll just have to settle for this one screen shot - I can't choose from all of them to show you any more.

Now, is there bad? Well, yes. Every game has its little annoyances. In this case, it's really a matter of things which require patience. Every time - yes every time - a player lands on a property and needs to pay, the game shows an animation of a cash register eating the appropriate amount of money. It does get old pretty quickly, especially in an 8 player game. It's also sometimes annoying when two of the computer players decide to work out a trade. Sometimes, its pretty unobtrusive but other times they get into a back and forth where one will knock down his offer, then the other brings it back up, then the first knocks it down again, and then the other brings it back up, and so on. Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's certainly annoying.

That said, the time involved may be the number one reason to play this game. It's Monopoly - but it doesn't last for hours and hours. I, personally, love this board game, but its just a game that can get soooo drawn out that I just want it to end, and I can rarely find people who are willing to play with me out of fear it will end up drawn out. Because the video game version does all the cash handling, this rarely happens. Games hardly ever last longer than an hour - if even that long - and there's even a few options to start the game with property already distributed or with a timer set to limit the game time even further if you want. So, if you're like a lot of people and have a love/hate relationship with Monopoly, the NES version can be a great thing.

All in all, it's really one of the games I find myself coming back to the most. The replay value is just infinite - every game is different. And finally, it is, like I said, fun! Give it a try sometime.