Software:Shark! Shark!

From HandWiki
Shark! Shark!
Shark Shark cover.jpg
Developer(s)Mattel
Publisher(s)Mattel
Designer(s)Don Daglow
Programmer(s)Ji-Wen Tsao
Composer(s)Andy Sells
Platform(s)Intellivision
Release
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player

Shark! Shark! is an Intellivision 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 fishes in order to gain points and extra lives while avoiding enemies such as larger fishes, 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, he 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.[citation needed] The game was unexpectedly popular, forcing Mattel to quickly manufacture another batch of cartridges.[citation needed] The original cartridge run was only 5,600 units.[citation needed]

Reviews

The Video Game Update' praised the graphics of Shark! Shark! and said the game would be appealing to children, while stating adults would also enjoy the challenge. [2] R. Wayne Schmittberger of Games also praised the graphics, stating the undewater effects were extraordinary.[3]


Legacy

  • Shark! Shark! was made available for the PlayStation 3 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's Game Room service for its Xbox 360 console and for Windows-based PCs in May 2010.
  • An updated version of Shark! Shark! of the same name has been announced for release on the Intellivision Amico video game console. It is one of the six games that were meant to be included with the console.[4] After the demise of the Intellivision Amico project, BBG Entertainment published a PC version of Shark! Shark! on Steam.[5]

References

Sources

  • "Critically Speaking... Intellivision-Compatible". The Video Game Update 1 (11). February 1983. 
  • Schmittberger, R. Wayne (August 1983). "Games & Books". Games 7 (42). 

External links