Jaws (NES)

Jaws

Platform: NES Year: 1987 Developer: Westone Buy: Amazon

Jaws is a game loosely based on the famous movie of the same name. The player controls a boat that must upgrade frequently to kill the shark. To upgrade, they must go underwater. This is where RPG game elements come into play, because you move your boat around the overworld until the game says you hit something. While underwater, the player must kill stingrays and jellyfish that usually drop seashells. These seashells count as currency in this game. Oddly enough, this is the only NES game West One developed, as they only made Sega games, which probably explains why the game isn't all that good, because the programmers had to learn 6502 assembly language. Plus, the game was made entirely by three people: Ryuichi Nishizawa did the graphics, Michishito Ishizuka did all the programming, and Shinichi Sakamoto did the music and sound. According to Ryuichi, the game was made in under a month. This was presumably due to LJN's tight deadlines.

Screenshots

The title screen. Moving around the overworld. Shooting enemies underwater. Apparently, stingrays and jellyfish are so big you can hit them with your boat! Attempting to kill Jaws.

This page needs more screenshots.

Music

The music actually is pretty catchy, especially the bonus scene theme. The other music sounds suspenseful. The title music is a nice short rendition of the Jaws theme written by John Williams. While the game lacks credits, we have contacted the only known composer at Westone, Shinichi Sakamoto and he confirmed doing the soundtrack. According to Shinichi, he composed the music in 6502 assembly language (NES programming). Shinichi says the sound driver was done by the game's programmer, Michishito Ishizuka. Sakamoto says he was disappointed in his music for this game and the other Famicom game he composed.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Programmer	Length	Listen	Download
01	Jaws Theme	John Williams	Shinichi Sakamoto	Michishito Ishizuka	0:15		Download
02	Get Ready!	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	0:06		Download
03	Overworld	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	1:19		Download
04	You've Hit Something!	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	0:01		Download
05	Underwater	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	1:19		Download
06	Bonus Scene!	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	1:19		Download
07	Bonus Scene Results	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	0:02		Download
08	Upgrade	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	0:04		Download
09	Final Battle	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	1:01		Download
10	Game Over	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	0:05		Download
11	Ending	Shinichi Sakamoto	Unknown	Michishito Ishizuka	1:20		Download

Credits

• Ripper:
• Recorder: Doommaster1994
• Game Credits:
  • Not Credited Composer: John Williams
  • Not Credited Composer: Shinichi Sakamoto
  • Not Credited Sound Driver: Michishito Ishizuka

(Source: Verification from Shinichi Sakamoto; game lacks credits)

After you beat the game, you are treated to a plane flying off into the sunset with the words "THE END" appearing after. Shinichi Sakamoto says because of a subcontract, the developers could not put staff credits in their game. Ryuichi Nishizawa says otherwise. According to Ryuichi, they were ashamed of their work and that's the reason why there's no credits. Though he also admits that the game was rushed and was done in under a month.

Game Rip

Formats	Download	Size
	Download	5 KB

Ripping NES music is a very arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site.

Releases

USA Title: Jaws Platform: NES Released: 1987-11-?? Publisher: LJN Ltd. Links