There’s something in the water
Few companies have a legacy like LJN. If you are like me and grew up in the golden era of the NES, this company’s name is synonymous with a lack of quality. They made a ton of licensed games during this era, most of them truly awful. Yet, we all played them and have some nostalgia for them. Recently, we have been seeing a resurgence of these games getting modern versions and today’s example is none other than Jaws. This “classic” title is embedded in my brain. I played the crap out of this game and revisiting it in the year of our lord 2026…I still don’t know why. Regardless, Limited Run Games has brought it back complete with an enhanced version.
As I mentioned, there are two versions of the game included in this collection. The original NES game is here, untouched and complete. There is also an enhanced version that has some modern features and changes to the game in order to make it more accessible for today’s audience. There is only so much one can do to polish this turd, but their efforts are commendable.
MSRP: $14.99
Platforms: PlayStation (reviewed), Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $9.99
The game itself is broken down into two game types. The first is an overworld where players move back and forth between docks collecting upgrades. Every now and then it enters the action mode where the boat gets stopped and turns into a single screen shooter where players shoot down sea life and collect currency to buy upgrades. Every now and then Jaws makes an appearance, but until you level up, attacking him is pointless as it does little to no damage. That’s it, that is the formula.
The enhanced version attempts to build on that with new people to talk to, side quests to tackle, and different victory conditions allowing players to play longer and fight harder enemies. It is a neat addition, but again the core concepts are pretty much the same.
As for extras, the usual suspects are here with save states, a rewind feature, and plenty of screen filters to somehow make it look as crappy as we remember. I know some people love scanlines, and I find it novel for about five minutes, but I still prefer crisp pixels. There is also a music player that allows us to listen to the modest soundtrack. These tunes are not great, but man they hit that nostalgia note. I remember all of them. Finally, we have a museum with some neat additions, but again there isn’t much here, but I can’t imagine this game has a lot behind it. LJN games were mostly quick and dirty projects. They literally released tons of these each year, all around the same quality.
Jaws was a bad game, but we all played it back in the day. Revisiting it is neat, but anyone without nostalgia will wonder why it has returned. I had fun revisiting it, but for $15 there isn’t much here. The game is short, shallow, and even the extras won’t occupy your attention for long. This is only for the most die-hard fans, and truly only as a collection piece. Otherwise, I don’t see this one garnering much attention.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
