''Shark! Shark!'' is an

Intellivision The Intellivision (a portmanteau of intelligent television) is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. It distinguished itself from competitors with more realistic sports and strategic games. By 1981, Mattel Electronic ...

game originally designed by Don Daglow, and with additional design and programming by Ji-Wen Tsao, one of the first female game programmers in the history of video games. The player is a fish who must eat smaller fish in order to gain points and extra lives while avoiding enemies such as larger fish, sharks, jellyfish, lobsters and crabs. After eating a certain number of fish, the player's fish grows in size and is thus able to eat a larger selection of fish. However, while the larger fish becomes a bit faster, it is less agile than the small fish and has a harder time avoiding enemies. ''Shark! Shark!'' was originally considered by Mattel to be a cute game for kids and unlikely to make strong inroads into the gaming community. The game was unexpectedly popular, forcing Mattel to quickly manufacture another batch of cartridges. The original cartridge run was only 5,600 units.

Reviews

The Video Game Update ''Computer Entertainer'', also known as ''The Video Game Update'', was an American video game newsletter. Based out of Los Angeles, California and edited by Celeste Dolan, it was published monthly between 1982 and 1990. It regularly featured news ...

'' praised the graphics of ''Shark! Shark!'' and said the game would be appealing to children, while stating adults would also enjoy the challenge. R. Wayne Schmittberger of ''

Games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

'' also praised the graphics, stating the underwater effects were extraordinary.

Legacy

''Shark! Shark!'' was made available for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

through PlayStation Home in fall 2012 in a collection titled ''Intellivision Gen2''. In addition to players being a fish eating other fish trying try to take down the shark, their food and foes will both swim in a wide variety of new patterns. It was also released on

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

's ''

Game Room Game Room was a video game compilation developed by Krome Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room let players download classic video games and co ...

'' service for its

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

console and for Windows-based PCs in May 2010. A new version of ''Shark! Shark!'' was announced for release on the

Intellivision Amico The Intellivision Amico (currently referred to as simply Amico) is a planned home video game console developed and marketed by Amico Entertainment (known as Intellivision Entertainment prior to Atari SA's acquisition of the Intellivision brand i ...

video game console. It is one of the six games that were meant to be included with the console. After putting an indefinite halt on development of their Amico console, Intellivision announced that mobile versions of ''Shark! Shark!'' would be released as part of the company's ''Amico Home'' initiative. With this announcement, a version was made available for Android OS in late 2023, followed by an

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

release in December 2024. In 2023, BBG Entertainment GmbH acquired the ''Shark! Shark!'' trademark, along with the right to port the Intellivision Amico version of ''Shark! Shark!'' to

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

, and Windows and Mac computers. These ports were released on September 28 of the same year. Nick Thorpe of ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering Retrogaming, retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' ...

'' magazine reviewed the new version. In his review, Thorpe stated that the gameplay becomes monotonous over 12 rounds of single-player action, but a well-rounded, albeit limited, assortment of gameplay modes does help. Ultimately, the new version received a 71% score from ''Retro Gamer''.

References

Sources

* * * {{cite magazine, magazine=

, title=Retro Roundup, first=Nick, last=Thorpe, issue=252

External links

Shark! Prototype for the Mattel Aquarius Computer

Official ''Shark! Shark!'' website
1982 video games Action games Intellivision games Intellivision-only games Mattel video games North America-exclusive video games Single-player video games Video games about fish Video games about sharks Video games developed in the United States Video games set underwater