Jack Bros.

Jack Bros.
North American box art.
Developer(s)	Atlus
Publisher(s)	Atlus
Release Date(s)
Virtual Boy	NA: October 1995 JP: September 29, 1995
Virtual Boy	NA: October 1995 JP: September 29, 1995
Platform(s)
Genre(s)	Adventure
Rating(s)
ESRB	04

Jack Bros. is a Virtual Boy video game released in 1995. It was developed and published by Atlus, and was only released in Japan and North America. Initially, the name of the game was called Devil Busters, though Atlus presumably changed it due to religious conflicts with Nintendo. The game is a spin-off of the Megami Tensei series and stars its two mascots (the Jack Brothers). They both have the title Jack in their name - Jack Frost and Pyro Jack. A third character was incorporated into the game called Jack Skeleton.

Japanese box

Gameplay

Each of the three characters has his own special abilities and statistics. Jack Frost is the best at rapid fire attacks, Pyro Jack doesn't exceed in anything, though is very balanced, while Jack Skeleton has the most attack power. The game uses the insignificant password system first implemented in games during the NES-era to "save" the players' progress. Once you get to a certain portion of the game, it'll give you a long and complicated password that you'll have to jut down for your next play session unless you want to start over. The main goal of the game is to complete each level until the very last.

Plot

The game is set on Halloween, where the narration explains that fairies take advantage of the special night to visit the real world. Unfortunately, the character has lost track of time and must now rush to make it back before midnight or face never being able to return again. The player is helped by a Pixie who explains elements of each level as they arrive and warns about approaching bosses. Each of the three initial playable characters have a unique ending sequence.

Trivia

• This is the first game in the Megami Tensei series to be released outside of Japan.
• While the player is only given the three brothers to choose from at the beginning, after beating the game once on hard mode, players will be given the code to unlock Pixie as a playable character.
• In the Japanese version of the game, a sound test can be accessed with the following button combination with the left D-Pad, on the title screen: Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Down. This feature was dummied out in the North American version of the game.

External links

• Jack Bros. at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Jack Bros. at GameFAQs