Jaws - NES

Jaws for the NES is a 1987 action game published by LJN and loosely based on the Jaws film franchise — primarily Jaws: The Revenge, the fourth and most ridiculed film in the series. Players control a boat sailing between two ports across a simple overworld map, periodically pulled into random underwater encounter stages where jellyfish, stingrays, and sharks must be harpooned for conch shells — the in-game currency required to dock at each port. Between stops, players gradually upgrade their harpoon gun, acquire a submarine, and eventually earn a tracker for locating the great white itself. The endgame is a direct boat-versus-shark confrontation: align the bow correctly and thrust forward as Jaws surfaces, or miss the window and repeat the power-up cycle all over again.

The development chain behind this cartridge is more interesting than most people know. LJN published it, but the actual work was done by Atlus — who then subcontracted development to Westone, the studio behind the Wonder Boy series. The result is that Jaws on NES was quietly developed by Ryuichi Nishizawa (creator of Wonder Boy, artist on this game) and Shinichi Sakamoto (composer of Wonder Boy, who also crafted an 8-bit arrangement of John Williams' iconic Jaws theme for this title). A game bearing LJN's infamous rainbow logo that was actually made by the Wonder Boy team.

Jaws carries LJN's reputation for mediocre licensed games — and it is a simple, brief experience by any measure — but reviewers who approach it honestly tend to find it more playable than expected. Indie Gamer Chick called it "a half-dollar in the rough — you're pleased as punch to find it lying around." A 2026 enhanced re-release by Limited Run Games (Jaws: Retro Edition) added save states, achievements, and a new multi-chapter mode drawing from all four films — confirming that this odd little game has a lasting place in retro gaming history. Published in North America in November 1987.

Language: English
Rating: N/A (pre-ESRB release)
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Genre: Action / Adventure
Players: 1 player
Developer: Westone (uncredited) / Atlus
Publisher: LJN
Release Year: 1987 (North American release: November 1987)

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