Big guns and a pervy boss!
I'd seen pictures of this underwater shoot 'em up but didn't know what to expect from what seemed a naff James Bond wannabe. Released in 1991 by Domark, our villain is the busty Madame Q who desires nothing less than to rule the world. She's gone and kidnapped lots of gorgeous girls who are to be experimented on and turned into monsters. Our task is to find her secret base, kill all the baddies, and free the hostages.
Grab something rubbery to wear because her base is deep underwater which reminds me of Scuba Dive on my old ZX Spectrum! But these dangerous waters are patrolled by armed guards and robotic sharks. Harpoon anything you see, destroy the automated defences and blast open the lair's entrance.
Grab something rubbery to wear because her base is deep underwater which reminds me of Scuba Dive on my old ZX Spectrum! But these dangerous waters are patrolled by armed guards and robotic sharks. Harpoon anything you see, destroy the automated defences and blast open the lair's entrance.
Yeah, I like how cheesy this is so let's check out the initial screens...
A cool loading screen but where's the intro disappeared to??
Still, at least a 2-player co-op is still included which is ace!
The opening scene is underwater heading to the evil lair...
A cool loading screen but where's the intro disappeared to??
Still, at least a 2-player co-op is still included which is ace!
The opening scene is underwater heading to the evil lair...
Inside are lots of baddies and some great weapons to pick up - the punk girls scream lol
Wear your best flippers for the girls!
Once inside her lair, the game changes to a scrolling platformer similar to Rolling Thunder (yikes, we all remember that dreadful conversion). This stage is better with henchmen and other strange characters chasing you. Weaponry remains the same and can be upgraded to a flamethrower, uzi, rocket, and more. Finally, battle a boss and rescue yourself a few gorgeous babes - who will be extremely grateful.
Once completed, it flips back to the underwater stage and we repeat for similar missions. The difficulty increases as we infiltrate deeper into the base - it's now that I need to activate a trainer because the later levels are crammed with an insane amount of baddies!! Also, the end-of-level bosses are tough and made worse by tons of other bad guys turning up to help. Argh, my screen is littered with too many brawling sprites!!
Once completed, it flips back to the underwater stage and we repeat for similar missions. The difficulty increases as we infiltrate deeper into the base - it's now that I need to activate a trainer because the later levels are crammed with an insane amount of baddies!! Also, the end-of-level bosses are tough and made worse by tons of other bad guys turning up to help. Argh, my screen is littered with too many brawling sprites!!
Gimme a flamethrower, a zillion extra lives and I'm happy...
Yikes, our evil villain looks freaky like something from Twisted Sister!
Rescuing the sexy girls produces lots of kisses and hugs for our hero!!
Later on, we're in dirty waters with toxic waste barrels.
This leads to a scary rock monster and naked firewomen. Nice!
Yikes, our evil villain looks freaky like something from Twisted Sister!
Rescuing the sexy girls produces lots of kisses and hugs for our hero!!
Later on, we're in dirty waters with toxic waste barrels.
This leads to a scary rock monster and naked firewomen. Nice!
Graphics & Sounds
The visuals use many different styles with gorgeous backgrounds and each level looks stunning. The sprites are superbly drawn and nothing beats the girls falling to their feet for lots of comical kissing!! The scrolling is smooth but feels a little lethargic on later levels when there is much action but, I'm being very picky.
There isn't a chiptune bopping away in the background but the effects are good. Actually, no, they are crude but the grunts are deranged - I loved the haunting female's scream of death. Sonically superb!!
Check out these screenshots that demonstrate this game's stunning artwork...
The end boss battles are rubbish if I'm honest. You are forced to cheat which is a bit daft!
This is basically because there are far too many enemies. It's impossible!
Finally, we get to meet the flame-haired temptress. Gorgeous pixel art!
But it isn't long before she morphs into something hideously ugly. Like a dog turd with hair!
The end boss battles are rubbish if I'm honest. You are forced to cheat which is a bit daft!
This is basically because there are far too many enemies. It's impossible!
Finally, we get to meet the flame-haired temptress. Gorgeous pixel art!
But it isn't long before she morphs into something hideously ugly. Like a dog turd with hair!
The CryptO'pinion?
I'm a little unsure what to make of Thunder Jaws. It's predictable fun and the addition of a two-player co-op is exceptional. However, the later levels are impossible without cheating and I got a whiff of a lame port when things slowed down. Having said that, it's not the disaster Rolling Thunder was and I enjoyed pretending to be James Bond, rescuing sexy girls, and saving the world from a busty flame-haired tyrant.
I enjoyed Thunder Jaws - it's not perfect but I played through to the end and loved every second!!
You can download the floppy or hard disk but only if you look good in a wetsuit! Note, that faster computers will certainly benefit from smoother framerates when running on a hard drive - thanks to 8BitChip.
Here is the end screen... it's probably best I don't remark :)
