| Jawbreaker | |
|---|---|
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| Publisher(s) | On-Line Systems Tigervision (2600) |
| Programmer(s) | Atari 8-bit, 2600 John Harris Apple II Olaf Lubeck[1] |
| Platform(s) | Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Atari 2600, Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1981: Atari 8-bit, Apple 1982: 2600 1983: C64 |
| Genre(s) | Maze |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Jawbreaker is a Pac-Man clone programmed by John Harris for Atari 8-bit computers and published by On-Line Systems. Released in 1981[2] 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 form a portion of Steven Levy's 1984 book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.[3]
Jawbreaker was ported to the Apple II in 1981 and Harris's different take on the game for the Atari 2600 was released the following year. Legal issues resulted in the 2600 port being the template for subsequent versions—for the Commodore 64 and TI-99/4A—and sold confusingly as both Jawbreaker and Jawbreaker II.
- ^ Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
- ^ "Jawbreaker". Atari Mania.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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