Jawbreaker

The Good
After Pac-Man was released in 1980, it wasn't long until other companies decided to cash in on its huge success. That same year, John Harris created Jawbreaker for On-Line Systems, a small company that started making other arcade games.

But unlike other Pac-Man clones at the time, John wanted people to think they were navigating a candy store, and the graphics make this obvious. You control a set of jaws who must go around eating dots and avoiding the "jawbreakers", enemies that will cost you one of your three lives upon contact. Eating one of four candies scattered throughout the playfield will cause the jawbreakers to turn blue, allowing you to eat them.

The jawbreakers are color-coded and this makes the game stand out against the monochrome maze that you navigate through. What I like about them is how they look like faces that rotate as they head their way toward you. If they managed to get you, you don't just lose a life. Oh no, you just get to watch a superb animation of your teeth breaking.

Although there are no cut-scenes in between levels, you are treated to another superb animation, where a toothbrush appears on the side, brushes your teeth for a second, then goes back to where it came from. I like how your jaw is just big enough to fit it in. Having said that, Jawbreaker was designed as a score-attack game, in that you are trying to beat your previous score. You don't get provided with a high score table, so you are expected to know what your last one is.

I like the music that plays before you start a game. I have no idea what it is called, but it has that candy store theme that blends in well with the game. The other piece of music plays when your teeth get brushed.

The controls are simple, and reflect what controls in most games of its time You don't need to press the fire button for anything; you just move the joystick in all directions.

The Bad
I think the mazes should have been in color to make them stand out more; and as I mentioned, there are no cut-scenes in-between levels. These features would make the game even more impressive.

The Bottom Line
Jawbreaker is quite a good game where you do the same thing as in Pac-Man. The only difference is the graphics and sound. There are good animations and it is easy to control the set of jaws. This game could have been so much better if the mazes were in color and there were a few cut-scenes in between levels. But other than this, Jawbreaker are among the best arcade games that On-Line Systems has produced.