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Jawbreaker II

Last updated: March 19, 2026

Overview

Jawbreaker II is an arcade-style maze game developed by Chuck Bueche (credited as “Chuckles”) for On-Line Systems in 19821. Unlike the original Jawbreaker, which was a direct Pac-Man clone that attracted legal attention from Atari, Jawbreaker II featured an original maze design and gameplay mechanics to avoid potential copyright infringement issues1. The sequel represented Sierra’s successful navigation of the challenging legal landscape surrounding early video game clones, establishing precedents that would influence the industry’s approach to inspired-by games.

The game maintained the dental theme established in the first Jawbreaker, where players control a set of false teeth navigating through mazes while avoiding enemy “jawbreakers”2. According to one reviewer, the game was “like a cross between Pacman and Turmoil”3, combining familiar dot-eating mechanics with more dynamic maze elements. The game’s manual invited players to “Evade the relentless Grinning Gobblers as they chase you through a maze of shifting walls and escape routes”4.

The game was released across multiple platforms including Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, VIC-20, and TI-99/4A, with John M. Phillips handling the TI-99/4A conversion4. Computer Gaming World’s John Anderson praised the game highly, stating “when I first saw the program, I could not bring myself to believe the game was not written by Atari. It is not only truly addictive, but also ‘paced’“5. As part of Sierra’s early arcade-style catalog, Jawbreaker II represented the company’s commitment to creating commercially viable alternatives to popular arcade games while avoiding the legal pitfalls that plagued their competitors.

Story Summary

Jawbreaker II maintains the whimsical candy store theme established in the original game. The premise casts players as a heroic set of dentures navigating a dangerous confectionery environment. Marketing materials proclaimed “A trip to the candy shop was never so exciting - nor so dangerous!”7, establishing the game’s playful tone.

Players are invited to “think of the maze as a candy store” where they must “eat all the candies to get a teeth brushing and advance to the next, harder, level”1. The dental hygiene metaphor extended throughout the game—collecting all the dots (candies) earned a “teeth brushing” before progressing to increasingly challenging mazes.

The antagonists are colorfully described as “Grinning Gobblers”4—animated faces that pursue the player through the maze. These enemies grew more aggressive and numerous as the game progressed, creating escalating tension. The game’s instruction manual emphasized the relentless nature of these pursuers, building narrative tension around what was mechanically a simple chase dynamic.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Jawbreaker II supports both joystick and keyboard controls, accommodating 1-2 players in hot seat multiplayer mode1. The two-player mode allowed friends to alternate turns, a common approach for arcade-style games of the era. Players can choose from 5 difficulty levels to customize their experience3, ranging from casual entertainment to intense challenge.

The game features a top-down perspective with fixed/flip-screen visual presentation1. Unlike scrolling games, each maze filled a single screen, with completion triggering a transition to the next maze configuration. This design kept the action focused and immediate while allowing for increasingly complex maze layouts.

Core Mechanics

The core objective requires players to collect all candies (dots) in each maze while avoiding the pursuing Grinning Gobblers. A new Jawbreaker (extra life) is earned for every 10,000 points scored3, providing milestone rewards for skilled play.

Unlike the original Jawbreaker’s static maze design copied from Pac-Man, Jawbreaker II features “a maze of shifting walls and escape routes,” providing a more dynamic gameplay experience4. The maze walls periodically change configuration, opening new passages and closing others. This mechanic forced players to adapt their routes on the fly, preventing memorization strategies that worked in more static maze games.

One reviewer from MobyGames described the game mechanics: “Unlike the first computer Jawbreaker, Jawbreaker II is not a Pac-Man clone. You must eat all the candies to get a teeth brushing and advance to the next, harder, level”1. This distinction was crucial both for gameplay innovation and legal protection.

Death and Scoring

The game incorporates a memorable death animation emphasizing the dental theme. According to one player description, “Your ‘death’ is memorable - in the game, you’re a set of false teeth and, when hit by a Jawbreaker, all of its teeth fall out!“2. This darkly humorous touch added personality to the standard “lose a life” mechanic common to arcade games.

Scoring followed standard arcade conventions with points awarded for each candy collected. Bonus points and extra lives at score thresholds encouraged risk-taking and skilled play. The progressive difficulty meant that reaching higher levels yielded more points but demanded increasingly precise play.

Difficulty Progression

Computer Gaming World noted that the game was particularly well “paced—that is, you get tougher, the enemy gets tougher”5. This balanced difficulty curve kept the game challenging without becoming frustrating for less skilled players. The five selectable difficulty levels provided further customization, allowing both children and dedicated arcade enthusiasts to find appropriate challenge levels.

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

PublicationScoreNotes
Computer Gaming WorldFour starsJohn Anderson called it “truly addictive” with excellent graphics and sound5
Softline Magazine2nd PlaceSecond most popular Atari 8-bit program in 1983 reader poll, behind Star Raiders8
Arkie Awards (1982)Best Computer Action GameJudges called it “a must for ‘Pac Man’ fans”5
Softline MagazinePositiveDescribed as “a very clean, fast-action game”5

Critical Analysis

Computer Gaming World reviewer John Anderson delivered particularly enthusiastic praise: “As for the graphics and sound, when I first saw the program, I could not bring myself to believe the game was not written by Atari. It is not only truly addictive, but also ‘paced’—that is, you get tougher, the enemy gets tougher. Four stars to this one”5. This comparison to Atari’s in-house quality was high praise for a third-party developer.

The 3rd Annual Arkie Awards in 1982 awarded Jawbreaker II the “Best Computer Action Game” prize, with judges describing it as “a must for ‘Pac Man’ fans lucky enough to own an Atari 400 or 800 computer”5. This recognition validated Sierra’s approach of creating distinctive alternatives to arcade hits.

Softline Magazine readers voted Jawbreaker II the second most popular Atari 8-bit program in their 1983 poll, trailing only the legendary Star Raiders8. This achievement demonstrated the game’s commercial success and lasting appeal within the Atari community.

Modern Assessment

Modern retrospective reviews show more mixed reception, with some reviewers viewing the game as a historical curiosity rather than a timeless classic:

SourceScoreNotes
Atarimania5.6/10Described as “like a cross between Pacman and Turmoil”3
MyAbandonware4.67/5Strong user rating from retro gaming community9
MobyGames Critics40-70%Varied scores across platform versions10
GameSpot User7.5/10Sensei_Pong’s 2007 review11
Lemon646/10Users praised the visual design10

Lemon64 reviewers noted that “John Harris is a very smart game developer” and praised “the 3D smiley faces”10, recognizing the technical achievements within the constraints of early 8-bit hardware. Modern players recommend it as “good for the occasional, casual play” and “a variation on the Pacman style of play”9.

Critics at GameSpot were less enthusiastic, with user Azghouls commenting “Clones, clones, clones – you gotta love them…not” and recommending players “Just play the arcade version of Pac Man”11. This perspective reflected modern audiences’ diminished appreciation for clone-style games.

Development

Jawbreaker II emerged from the legal complications surrounding the original Jawbreaker’s close resemblance to Pac-Man. When Atari acquired the home console rights to Pac-Man, they began threatening lawsuits against clone developers2. This legal pressure forced Sierra to develop a more distinctive sequel that would be legally defensible while maintaining the original’s commercial appeal.

The legal standard that emerged from this era was the “ten-foot rule,” established in the Midway vs. Dirkschneider case: “If a reasonable person could not, at ten feet, tell the difference between two competitive products, then there was cause to believe an infringement was occurring”12. Jawbreaker II was designed to pass this test by introducing sufficient visual and mechanical differences from Pac-Man.

Ken Williams of Sierra expressed concern about the broader implications of these legal battles, stating: “If this opens the door to other programmers ripping off my software, what happened here was a bad thing”5. This comment revealed the dual-edged nature of clone protection—while Sierra benefited from being able to create Pac-Man-inspired games, they also worried about competitors copying their original titles.

Production Process

The development team included Chuck Bueche as the primary developer, with contributions from Dan Drew, Doug Whittaker, and John Harris1. Notably, according to John Harris’s account: “Jawbreaker II came later, written by someone else. The programmer had never seen the 2600 version of Jawbreaker”13. This deliberate separation ensured the sequel developed its own identity rather than merely iterating on the original.

Ken Williams provided design direction by drawing “a quick sketch that limited the game’s design”13. This high-level guidance established the parameters within which the technical team could innovate while maintaining the brand identity established by the original Jawbreaker.

Harris explained the technical challenges of the Atari 2600 version: “The 2600 version of ‘Jawbreaker’ had to be written considerably differently from the original computer version, due to the 2600’s limitation of only two player objects per line”13. These hardware constraints forced creative solutions that sometimes resulted in distinct gameplay experiences across platforms.

Technical Implementation

The game was programmed in machine language for optimal performance on early 1980s hardware1. Hand-optimized assembly code was essential for achieving smooth animation and responsive controls on systems with limited processing power.

File sizes varied significantly across platforms, reflecting both the different hardware architectures and port quality:

  • Atari 8-bit: 5 KB
  • Commodore 64: 9 KB
  • Apple II: 73 KB1

The TI-99/4A version was released as a “Solid State Software Command Module” with part number PHM 3194, requiring 48K memory14. This cartridge format was distinctive to the TI platform and provided faster loading than disk-based versions.

The musical score featured chiptune renditions, notably including a version of “The Candy Man” that reinforced the confectionery theme8. Doug Whittaker contributed to the music and sound design1.

Legacy

Industry Recognition

Jawbreaker II received significant recognition in the nascent video game industry. Beyond the Arkie Award, the game and its predecessor were featured in Steven Levy’s influential 1984 book “Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution”8, cementing their place in early gaming history. This exposure in a mainstream technology book helped establish Sierra’s reputation beyond the gaming community.

The Softline reader poll placing Jawbreaker II second only to Star Raiders demonstrated the game’s commercial success8. This achievement was particularly impressive given Star Raiders’ status as a notable space combat simulator that essentially created a new genre.

The Jawbreaker series represented Sierra’s successful navigation of early video game copyright challenges, establishing precedents for how clone games could be legally differentiated from their inspirations12. The shift from direct imitation in Jawbreaker to distinctive design in Jawbreaker II modeled an approach other developers would follow.

One retrospective review noted: “Jawbreaker are among the best arcade games that On-Line Systems has produced”1, recognizing the series’ quality within Sierra’s early catalog. The games demonstrated that small studios could compete with arcade giants by offering distinct takes on proven gameplay formulas.

Continued Interest

In 2014, the game saw renewed interest when an MSX port received second place in MSXdev’1415, showing its enduring appeal to retro gaming communities. This modern homebrew activity demonstrated that classic game designs could still attract development effort decades after their original release.

The game continues to be documented and preserved across gaming databases and abandonware archives1617. Emulation communities ensure the game remains playable on modern systems, preserving this piece of early Sierra history for future generations.

A later version, Jawbreaker IV, was also released, continuing the series1, though it achieved less prominence than Jawbreaker II.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • GOG Dreamlist - Community Dreamlist for potential re-release
  • Available through various retro gaming collections

Download / Preservation

See Also

References

Footnotes

  1. MobyGames - Developer credits, platform information, file sizes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15

  2. Lemon64 - Death animation description, legal context ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Atarimania - Difficulty levels, gameplay comparison ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. 4APedia - Platform conversions, manual description ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Computer Gaming World via Wikipedia - John Anderson review, Arkie Awards, Ken Williams quote ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  6. MobyGames Search - Complete platform availability ↩

  7. Sierra Chest - Marketing description ↩

  8. Retro365 Blog - Softline poll, Hackers book mention, music information ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  9. MyAbandonware - User rating and modern assessment ↩ ↩2

  10. MobyGames/Lemon64 - Critic scores, user reviews ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. GameSpot User Reviews - Sensei_Pong and Azghouls reviews ↩ ↩2

  12. Filfre.net - Ten-foot rule legal precedent ↩ ↩2

  13. Dadgum.com - John Harris Interview - Development account, Ken Williams sketch ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. eBay Listings - TI-99/4A cartridge specifications ↩

  15. MSX.org - MSXdev’14 recognition ↩

  16. Giant Bomb - Game database entry ↩

  17. Internet Archive - Preservation archive ↩

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