''Jawbreaker'' is a ''Pac-Man'' clone programmed by John Harris for the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

and published by On-Line Systems. Released in 1981 before an official version of ''Pac-Man'' was available, it was widely lauded by reviewers, and became a major seller. The story of its creation and Harris's Atari 8-bit implementation of ''

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...

'' form a portion of

Steven Levy Steven Levy (born 1951) is an American journalist and Editor at Large for ''Wired'' who has written extensively for publications on computers, technology, cryptography, the internet, cybersecurity, and privacy. He is the author of the 1984 book ...

's 1984 book, '' Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution''. ''Jawbreaker'' was ported to the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

in 1981 and Harris's different take on the game for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

was released the following year. Legal issues resulted in the 2600 port being the template for subsequent versions—for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

and

TI-99/4A The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments in 1979 and 1981, respectively. Based on the Texas Instruments TMS9900 microprocessor originally used in minicomputers, the TI-99/4 was the first 16-bit home computer. ...

—and sold confusingly as both ''Jawbreaker'' and ''Jawbreaker II''.

Failed licensing and litigation

In 1982, the initial Atari 800 version of ''Jawbreaker'' was so faithful to ''Pac-Man'' that the game (carelessly leaked by Harris himself) was assumed to be from

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

(licensee for ''Pac-Mans home rights) itself. When one of these early copies found its way to Atari, they reached out to On-Line's Ken Williams. Attempts at a deal fell apart due to culture clashes between Atari and On-Line, particularly Williams and Harris. Williams instructed Harris to alter the artwork for the game to have a dental theme.'' Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution'',

Atari unsuccessfully sought an injunction against the sale of ''Jawbreaker'' and ''Gobbler'', another On-Line computer game, which Atari claimed unduly resembled ''Pac-Man'', and cited early leaked copies. Williams denied Atari's claim but was uncertain of the outcome, stating "If this opens the door to other programmers ripping off my software, what happened here was a bad thing".

Ports

Because of technical limitations, Atari 2600 ''Jawbreaker'' is not a ''Pac-Man'' clone and is different than the Atari 8-bit game. A rough sketch of the 2600 game was used as the basis for new computer versions from programmers other than Harris. The new game was, confusingly, sold as both ''Jawbreaker'' and ''Jawbreaker II'' and was not as successful as the original.

Reception

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

reviewed the game for ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'', and stated that "As for the graphics and sound, when I first saw the program, I could not bring myself to believe the game was not written by Atari. It is not only truly addictive, but also "paced"—that is, you get tougher, the enemy gets tougher, Four stars to this one." ''Jawbreaker'' was well received by critics and it was given the award for "Best Computer Action Game" in 1982 at the 3rd annual

Arkie Awards An electronic game is a game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as pro ...

. Arkie Award judges described the game as "a must for 'Pac Man' fans lucky enough to own an Atari 400 or 800 computer," and specifically praised the game's music (a

chiptune Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The t ...

version of "

The Candy Man "The Candy Man" (or alternatively, "The Candy Man Can") is a song that originally appeared in the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. It was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the film. Although the ori ...

"). In 1983, '' Softline'' readers named ''Jawbreaker'' second on its Top Thirty list of Atari 8-bit programs by popularity, behind only ''

Star Raiders ''Star Raiders'' is a first-person space combat simulator for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was written by Doug Neubauer, an Atari employee, and released as a cartridge by Atari in March 1980. The game is considered the platform's kille ...

''. The magazine called the game "a very clean, fast-action game with little sophistication", citing its "clean, fast, and cheerful" graphics and consistent gameplay across platforms, including the Atari 2600.

David H. Ahl David H. Ahl (born May 17, 1939) is an American author who is the founder of ''Creative Computing (magazine), Creative Computing'' magazine. He is also the author of many how-to books, including ''BASIC Computer Games'', the first computer book t ...

of ''

Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format th ...

Video & Arcade Games'' said of ''Jawbreaker'' and ''

Snack Attack ''Snack Attack'' is a maze action video game developed by Dan Illowsky for the Apple II family of computers. It was published by Datamost in 1981. Gameplay The player controls the Snacker, a small, white, fish-like character, and moves through ...

'', "for PacMan fans, either is recommended".

References

External links

''Jawbreaker''
for the Atari 8-bit family at Atari Mania

for the Atari 2600 at AtariAge
''Jawbreaker''
for the Commodore 64 at Lemon 64 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jawbreaker (Video Game) 1981 video games Apple II games Atari 2600 games Atari 8-bit family games Commodore 64 games Pac-Man clones Sierra Entertainment games Video games about food and drink Video games developed in the United States