“Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear / And it shows them pearly white…

Ya know when that shark bites, with his teeth, babe / Scarlet billows start to spread…”

–Bobby Darin, “Mack the Knife,” 1959

He asked for it.

You may be familiar with the games for social change movement, which attempts to bring the power of video games to bear on social problems, such as hunger and war (for more, see a previous post here). Well, the mercial game from Majesco Entertainment, Jaws Unleashed, takes the stakes to a whole new level.

The plot is a familar cliche: big bad corporations are doing evil, and therefore must be punished. In this case, Environplus e to Amity Island and is wreaking environmental havoc. This spurs Mother Earth into a fit of rage, and she releases her vengeance upon mankind in the form of Jaws.

As the game maker puts it, “the increased population around the Island and recent industrial activity has also attracted YOU–one of Earth’s most fearsome creatures–a Great White Shark.” Your task, in fitting misanthropic fashion, is to cleanse the island of the human interlopers, once and for all.

The review of the game on G4TV’s XPlay says that “when an evil corporation strolls into town and starts dumping chemicals into the sea, Jaws is unable to contain the raging Ralph Nader inside him.” You can see the rather disturbing video from the game in a review here.

It looks like Jaws is a really just an environmentalist wrapped in rows and rows of razor sharp teeth. Who knew?!