"Jaguar Bomber" (Supervision)

Despite its slow controls and animation, it's actually a fun shoot-em-up game for the Supervision.

I mentioned this before: When I first was introduced to video games as a child, my father was always a fan of shoot 'em up/military-based games. I grew used to mashing buttons shooting as much as I could to clear anything that crosses my path, prior to owning a controller with rapid-fire. All this was on popular consoles like Nintendo. Since we are covering a game under this same genre for the Watara Supervision, only so much could be said.

The start screen graphic looks neat for 1992; The music on this game is truly forgettable—the kind where you're forced to listen to while playing, then you mosey onward and choose to blast Metallica to clear your ears. The graphics are your typical 8-bit sweetness that made handheld gaming memorable, but even with the Supervision TV Link, there wasn't much in terms of color. However, being that this implements continuous upward scrolling, the game occasionally struggles to keep up processing the graphics while you're busy moving back and forth shooting away the enemies. In contrast, this has got to be one of the slowest shooting games I've played. The only reason it is forgivable is because I personally played games for the Microsoft DOS system, and depending on the game or the computer's processor and RAM, it can make the gameplay a little tedious than usual. Some critics may find this debatable, so it's a bit of a toss-up, being that games like 1943 and Galaga are able to be played in a fast pace and in real time; In handheld talk, shooting games for the Nintendo Game Boy, like Solar Striker, play and run smoothly. That being said, it also affects the controls which could be a factor as the game intensifies. Nevertheless, I'm going on a limb and not knock off percentage points on the game's pace (don't get me wrong, it's still playable).

As usual, the game gets more difficult as you continue through the levels. You do get used to its flaws, but it does get a little frustrating. Let my video gameplay prove it:



While it is an okay game, it isn't much compared to the popular titles out there for the Game Boy or, heck, even the Sega Game Gear. Because of how awful the Supervision TV Link is and its battery life, beating this game never came in consideration. I'm sure at the end of the game it'd likely say, "Congratulations" then keeps your high score. I imagine there'll be a video gaming company that'll host a small competition promoting the event titled something like, "Rare but Don't Care™ National Competition," featuring low-key, rare games and using them to compete. I'm certain they'll feature Jaguar Bomber in that competition to see who can get the highest score or beat the game entirely. You read it here first, ladies and gentlemen, a national video gaming competition featuring titles that will include Jaguar Bomber—admittedly, a really cool game title.

Overall, it's alright but not a game you'll remember playing down the line. Unless you're a collector, especially collecting for these obscure handhelds, this game only gets you by for so long. Since the physical copies are getting harder to find, you may want to play via emulation.

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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