Jawcrusher for Intellivision Review
Jawcrusher for the Intellivision was published by Intellivision Revolution in 2017. I picked up my copy over at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo last year. The inspiration for this game is from the original Pac-Man clone, “Jawbreaker” which released in 1982 for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. However later that same year Tigervision released a different version of Jawbreaker for the Atari 2600 console, which more closely resembles this game, Jawcrusher. After corresponding with Rev on Atariage and the games programmer Claus Baekkel, I was informed he gained some of his inspiration from the Commodore 64 version of Jawbreaker. Although technically this is a Pac-Man clone Jawcrusher differentiates itself enough from Pac-Man to make it it’s own fun version of the game. When you first power on Jawcrusher there is a really nice tribute for Keith Robinson which scrolls onto the screen. If you do not know who Keith is, he was one of the early developers who worked on the Intellivision and was one of the so-called “Blue Sky Rangers”, a name was given to a small group of programmers at Intellivision who were sort sequestered away separately from the rest of the company to work on the games. He passed away June, last year. The image displayed looks exactly like him.
After a few seconds, another screen pops up with a map of Scandinavia proudly declaring the software was programmed in that region.
A few moments later the game’s main title screen is displayed with “Jawcrusher” in yellow uppercase letters by Claus Baekkel copyright 2017 Intellivision Revolution. While waiting there are three smiling rotating jawcrusher faces moving back and forth floating behind the text on the screen. There is also an animation of the Jawcrusher teeth, bottom left.
There’s a cool tune playing in the background and if you wait long enough the screen will start scrolling to display the game’s credits. This was a really nice touch because everyone who contributed to the game was listed separately in these credits, including the games beta testers. At the bottom, it shows you can press zero on the keypad to enter the game options.
Here you can choose the number of lives you start out with, 3, 4, or 5. You can adjust to the bonus counter from 2500 – 7500. The higher this is. the easier. The game’s difficulty can either be easy or hard. You can choose to turn off the in-game music. Turning it off will not disable the rest of the game’s sound effects. And finally and most importantly you can choose the color of your toothbrush. Once you are satisfied with your selections, you select exit which will return you back to the menus and press any button (except zero) or use the disc to start the game. Jawcrusher is a single-player game.
The game levels paint in the top row and candy dots first, followed by the walls and game characters last. Your score displays top left in six yellow digits followed by the current stage displayed in green, the bonus counter is displayed in red and finally, your lives remaining are displayed on the top far right and are blue.
In Jawcrusher you play as two horizontal rows of teeth top and bottom, resembling dentures chomping up and down. Your goal is to rid the screen of all the candy dots and treats while avoiding the smiling rotating jawcrushers otherwise known as the faces. As the manual puts it, “They’ll break your jaw and knock your teeth out”, translated, you will lose a life. Random goodies will be placed on the screen and should be consumed before they transform into candy dots. There is never more than one face on any given row at a time.
Controls
Controlling the teeth involves pressing the proper direction on the Intellivision controller disc. The side buttons are not used during gameplay. The game can be paused by simultaneously pressing one and nine on the keypad. The game’s music can be toggled during gameplay by pressing “clear” on the Intellivision keypad, bottom left.
The games maze or candy “factory” is divided horizontally into four distinct rows separated by three walls which include sliding doors which are your only way to move vertically. Occasionally one of the walls will solidify into the form of an iron girder all the way across temporarily making it impossible to cross for a short period of time. You have the opportunity to attack the faces for a short period of time once you have consumed the diamond-shaped vitamin located in any of the games corner edges. Doing so will cause the border colors to temporarily flash. The floors will also briefly flash before losing this ability. The faces enter onto the screen randomly either from the left or right side of the screen. On stages 4, 8, and 12, a bonus map will appear. Completing the bonus in a timely fashion is important since you are awarded a spare life every time you successfully complete it with time remaining. Completing a stage is satisfying because you get to brush your teeth and have them all minty fresh again using the toothbrush color you selected in the game options. You are reminded how many lives you have remaining with a quick message displayed front and center, before moving on to the next stage. The bonus points remaining are added to your score before continuing. So keep in mind there is a time factor built into the game, the faster you complete a stage, the more bonus points you will be awarded.
The speed ramps up, the more stages you complete. The manual also states “one of the jawcrushers will even change floors and directions!”. The game ends when you run out of lives.
Scoring
The Candy Dots are worth 10 points each. The random bonus treats, 150 each. There are many different kinds of these treats. Some resembling Tomatoes, Carrots, Mushrooms, bananas, blueberries, cherries, candy canes, fish, etc. The diamond vitamins are worth 100 points each. Each jawcrusher or face consumed, is worth 500 points.
Strategy
The most obvious strategy is to not get yourself trapped into a space with no escape, but this is easier said than done. As with most Pac-Man style of games, save the energizer/diamond vitamin for as long as you can and try to time their consumption with when you will be able to easily get one or two faces. Be aware in the later levels the jawcrushers can move vertically and change directions. Every opportunity you have to clear out the candy dot on the edge of a row, do so, because that is where the faces enter and exit. On the bonus map, time your movement near the doors so you can clear two rows simultaneously by moving up and down quickly.
Graphics
I really like the graphics in the game although there is not a lot to it. The faces are animated along with your character as you move around the maze. The colors are complementary and the candy dots are not wafers which is always a plus. I also appreciate the extra work and detail that went into creating the Keith Robinson tribute as well as the credits. When you lose a life there is a nice animation of your teeth falling out. There is a great “game over” graphic. When you pause the game there is a neat little animation of the teeth sleeping. The game does limit you to four rows instead of five which are present on most ports I’ve seen. This is due to the fact as explained to me by the games programmer, Claus, the Intellivision has eight sprites. Each face takes two and the teeth take two. So he designed the game with four floors, which means there can be a maximum of three faces on the screen at the same time, leaving one row that’s safe to move around on.
Sound
The game has a background music track that can be toggled on or off in the options. It plays alongside the games sound effects. I like the music and so far it has not distracted me from gameplay. You have the sound of consuming the candy dots. A sound for consuming a jawcrusher. A sound for your teeth being brushed. A sound for losing your teeth. A sound for bonus candy being randomly placed on the screen. A sound for consuming the bonus candy. A sound for pausing and unpausing the game. There’s a nice tune played when the game ends and on the title screen.
Difficulty
From the game options screen, you can switch between an “easy” game or “hard” game. In the “easy” mode you start out with only one face on the map. They move slower and you have a longer duration of time to attack once a diamond vitamin is consumed otherwise known as blue time in Pac-Man. In “hard” mode you start out will all three faces on the screen at the same time. They move around much faster. You have less time to consume them and your bonus point timer runs down quicker. This is my preferred way to play.
World Record
I was unable to locate any official World Records for Jawcrusher as of this recording.
Packaging
The manual has a nice image resembling a screenshot from the game. It has the game map along with the jawcrusher faces and teeth. At the bottom, it states “For Color TV viewing only”. Wow, they just locked out an entire segment there.
The box has a really nice artistic 3D rendition of the game showing the teeth eating candy treats with the jawcrusher faces in tow. It’s kind of funny the teeth look like those old wind up teeth toys that made the teeth chatter, and the teeth have tiny legs and feet connected. The box also shows a candy cane holding a toothbrush.
The overlays are a nice bonus and also depict a screenshot from the game.
Ports
This is one of many ports of Jawbreaker to many systems including the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, TI99 4/A, and Apple II to name a few.
Easter Eggs
I posed the question to Rev on Atariage, if there are any Easter eggs, who then referred it to the games programmer Claus. The short answer is that there are not technically any Easter eggs in the game, however, Rev did request a snow level as he has done with most of his other games in the past, such as Jr. Pac-man. Claus stated he was quite busy at the time but did manage the make the floors white on the bonus levels which occur in stages 4, 8, and 12.
The following is not really an Easter egg, more of an observation. In easy mode, once you complete the second bonus stage and begin stage 9, only one face comes out to play. I consider this an homage to Pac-Man where you get more blue time following the intermissions.
Podcasts / Other Video Review coverage:
In my research, I didn’t find any podcast coverage specifically of Jawcrusher but I did find a few which covered Jawbreaker.
The Atari Game by Game podcast covered Jawbreaker in episode 38:
In the Player Missile podcast episode five, Rob discusses Jawbreaker:
http://www.playermissile.com/podcast/Player_Missile_005_Feb1981Jawbreaker.mp3
Vendor:
You can still pick up a complete boxed copy of this game over at the intellivision revolution website for $55 plus shipping.
http://intellivisionrevolution.com/store
Alternately you can purchase the ROM for $10 over at :
Conclusion
I have to say, I been having a great time playing Jawcrusher for the Intellivision. It’s a really fun game that feels like it could have came out back when the Intellivision first launched. I am partial to the Pac-man family of games, clones, and hacks. Like, Lock ‘n’ chase, this is a fun one with a lot of options to keep it interesting. It has decent graphics, speed ramp-ups, a nice soundtrack, and sound effects. I appreciate the fact that although this game started out as a Pac-man clone, it evolved nicely into its own type of game. I am excited that there are so many talented people, artists, and programmers still working on games for the Intellivision. Highly recommended.
Atariage thread:
Youtube Original Post Date: 03/02/2018
