Shark Attack

How to play Shark Attack online

• Swim: arrow keys, in eight directions (hold two keys for a diagonal)
• Close the cage door: hold Space while your diver is inside the cage (only in the games with diver-controlled doors); let go and the door opens again
• Choose a game (1–16): F11 (the console’s Select switch)
• Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
• Diver speed: F4 and F9 (the two difficulty switches). B is fast; A makes the diver swim slowly against a heavy current

Gameplay

The story is set on the sea floor, where a Spanish galleon spilled its diamonds in a storm centuries ago. The screen is a maze of kelp with a shark cage in the centre and a cave in each corner. Every diamond is worth one point. Stay in the middle of the channels: if your diver brushes the kelp, he gets tangled and slows down.

You have no weapon. The sharks ignore the maze walls and swim straight across the screen, eating a diamond on each pass and stealing one from the cage whenever they bump into it. The only safe place is the cage with its door shut. The four corner caves work as teleporters: swim into one and you come out of a random cave. Disturb Nessie, though, and she follows you everywhere, even into the cage, until you lead her back into a cave. You start with three divers and earn another every 100 points.

Game variations

The 16 games mix three choices. You can play alone or with two players taking turns; in a two-player game your turn ends as soon as a shark eats one of your divers. In Gobble games you swim over diamonds to pick them up, and they only become part of your score when you get back to the cage; lose the diver first and the whole haul is gone. In Pick’m Up games you ferry one diamond at a time to the cage. Finally, the cage door can stay open, open and shut at random, move around the sides of the cage, or be worked by you with the fire button.

Tips

• Start on the diver-controlled door games. Being able to shut yourself in makes it much easier to learn how the sharks move.
• Make short trips in Gobble games. Three banked diamonds are worth more than ten you are still carrying when a shark arrives.
• Grab diamonds in the sharks’ lanes first. Those will be eaten soonest anyway.
• Don’t hide from Nessie in the cage. It does not stop her. Head for a corner cave instead.

From Lochjaw to Shark Attack

Apollo, a small Texas publisher, released the game as Lochjaw in June 1982. MCA, the owner of Universal and the Jaws films, objected to the name, and Apollo decided that changing the title was simpler than a legal fight. Later cartridges were sold as Shark Attack, with only minor changes to the game itself. Because the Lochjaw run was so short, that label is now a collector’s item, while Shark Attack turns up far more often. Reviewers at the time were divided: some found it too close to Pac-Man and the diver too sluggish, while others liked it.