[h1] Smile, you son of a...[/h1]
I I had zero idea that LRG was working on a re-release of the much maligned Jaws for the NES, until I saw Jeremy Parish talk about the design principals they used when “enhancing” the original.
How could anyone ever salvage a game like this? Notoriously, Jaws can be beaten in roughly 15 minutes. What could you possibly do to make something with so little?
The answer: Lean even further into the RPG elements of the original game, add quests, and periodically hit reset on your playthrough to indicate a major passage of time.
[h2] You yell “Jaws for the NES” and we've got ourselves a panic on the fourth of July [/h2]
Jaws Retro Edition includes both the original release and this new enhanced edition. In the original version, you captain your boat, with random encounters dropping you into the ocean depths to kill jellyfish, manta rays, and smaller sharks. You’ll also encounter the game's namesake, a great white shark, with a massive health pool. Your attacks do next to nothing damage wise to the shark at first.
As you kill smaller enemies, they will randomly drop shells, which act as your currency for one of two docks you can go to. Trading in your shells gives you a damage power boost, which in turn, can inflict more damage on the great white. Then, have one final encounter where you need to time stabbing the bow of the ship into the shark's belly, and it's game over.
It can be an incredibly quick game if you can jam on the fire button on your controller. As long as you're at around power level 3, you can kill that shark almost immediately.
Yet, that core concept of having your final boss always stalking you, able to kill you almost instantly if you aren't powerful enough, is actually a fascinating concept for a game. In fact, it could be argued that games like Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, with its semi-persistent super power enemy stalking you at any given moment, shares a bit of DNA with this 15 minute game.
[h2] This port, swallow you whole [/h2]
The Enhanced Edition uses those baseline mechanics, but in a way that is far similar to other RPGs at the time. The game is broken into 4 chapters, with subsequent chapters being years later. This allows for each chapter to reset your characters power level.
Right away, you'll notice some big changes. Yes, the random encounters still occur, but this time, every enemy killed accrues you money. Your character now is not simply killed in a single hit, meaning that when shells drop, they can either give your character a money boost, or they can heal some of the damage they've taken.
Until the final chapter, only one of the ports will be open. When you arrive, you're greeted by a few options. You can use your money to boost your character's damage, but you now also can boost the amount of damage they can receive, as well as their overall movement speed.
There will also be other characters to speak with. They'll give you quests which unlock certain upgrades. Maybe one will ask you to find a specific jellyfish in the ocean. In exchange, they'll supply you with power boost, the ability to track the location of the shark, and even an auto fire option (a saving grace for fingers everywhere.)
As chapters advance, you'll encounter more difficult variants of enemies, including ones that can only be described as mini-bosses. The shark will also get some new moves, allowing it to Tokyo drift its way back to you, if it misses an attack.
This thing is nowhere near the docile enemy in that original game. Near the end, the shark can appear in your random encounters. You'll be dodging your way through starfish who are hellbent on killing you and crabs who can put you in a bubble to stop you from attacking, when suddenly, that apex predator will show up.
This feels like what the original game was trying to evoke. A sense that at any given moment, this killer could find its way to you and tear you apart. Even if you've upgraded your health, by the final moments of the game, you can only take a couple of shots before dying and being thrown back to the nearest dock, sans some of your upgrades.
The entire experience changes from a 15 minute game to a 3 hour game that also has different completion time goals.
[h2] What we are dealing with is a carbon engine, a game porting machine [/h2]
Mind you, this version is not perfect. The game still uses the limited sprites from the original, only recoloring them to indicate that some are more difficult than others. While a common trope for NES games, used to save space, it feels like there could have been some more new enemy types, beyond the couple that were added (which themselves were based on sprites from the original.)
I also think the presentation is deeply lacking. I mentioned that Jeremy Parish post on Bluesky, but inside the game, there's no interviews with the couple of people who developed this new version, no design notes, nothing. You get the original game box art, the original manual, a music player, and that's it. I know that LJN, the developer of the original game, likely didn't keep a ton of design notes, but is this really all LimitedRun was able to pull?
If so, that's disappointing in its own right.
[h2] I used to hate Jaws. Can't imagine why [/h2]
Jaws Retro Edition is a genuinely interesting release. Unfortunately, there are some people who saw that AVGN episode on this game year's prior and won't give this release another thought. Even more likely had no clue this game existed at all.
And sadly, like the Jurassic Park game collection, this version will almost certainly be unavailable at some point down the line (at least through legal means.)
It's really a shame because this release is such an interesting chance to compare and contrast video game design mentality. The original was, likely, speedily rushed out the door to fulfil a contract. The Enhanced version had a little more time to cook and, to borrow a phrase, turned chicken ♥♥♥♥ into chicken soup.
Some people will see the $15 price tag and assume this is just a re-release of a rom with a fancy package. And while that is present, that Enhanced version offers so much more than the original.
If you have any interest in the way that games are designed now versus back in the days of the NES, you owe it to yourself to take a look at this.
Original game goes into the cage. Cage goes into the water. Re-release is in the water. Our re-release.
