James Pond

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James Pond
Pond.PNG
Mega Drive cover art
Developer(s) Vectordean Ltd
Millennium Interactive
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Millennium Interactive
Designer(s) Chris Sorrell
Programmer(s) Chris Sorrell
Artist(s) Chris Sorrell
Composer(s) Richard Joseph
SeriesJames Pond  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Platform(s) Amiga, Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes, Mega Drive/Genesis
Release 1990
Genre(s) Platform game
Mode(s) Single player

James Pond: Underwater Agent is a platform video game that was developed by British video game developers Vectordean Ltd and Millennium Interactive, and published by Millennium Interactive and Electronic Arts for numerous home computers and consoles in 1990. [1] The character was featured in some comic books of the time, and the game spawned three sequels and one spin-off game.

Platform game video game genre

Platform games, or platformers, are a video game genre and subgenre of action game. In a platformer the player controlled character must jump and climb between suspended platforms while avoiding obstacles. Environments often feature uneven terrain of varying height that must be traversed. The player often has some control over the height and distance of jumps to avoid letting their character fall to their death or miss necessary jumps. The most common unifying element of games of this genre is the jump button, but now there are other alternatives like swiping a touchscreen. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay as well, such as swinging from objects such as vines or grappling hooks, as in Ristar or Bionic Commando, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines, as in Alpha Waves. These mechanics, even in the context of other genres, are commonly called platforming, a verbification of platform. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as 3D games in The Legend of Zelda series, fall outside of the genre.

Video game electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor

A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a two- or three-dimensional video display device such as a TV screen, virtual reality headset or computer monitor. Since the 1980s, video games have become an increasingly important part of the entertainment industry, and whether they are also a form of art is a matter of dispute.

Electronic Arts American interactive entertainment company

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. It is the second-largest gaming company in the Americas and Europe by revenue and market capitalization after Activision Blizzard and ahead of Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft as of March 2018.

Contents

Plot

A nefarious supervillain named "Doctor Maybe" (a play on Dr. No ) has overtaken the ruthless megacorporation Acme Oil Company, and is not only filling the oceans with radiation and toxic waste but even threatening all the world from his underwater lair. The protagonist of the story and player character of the game is an intelligent, mutated anthropomorphic mudskipper who is given the name "James Pond" (after the legendary spy James Bond) and hired by the British Secret Service to protect the seas and take out the bad guys in underwater areas. He is also suave enough to seduce numerous attractive mermaids, some of whom act as double agents as is common with James Bond's love interests. The game spoofs James Bond movies with levels mimicking their titles, with level names like "License to Bubble" (after Licence to Kill ), "A View to a Spill" (after A View to a Kill ), "Leak and Let Die" (after Live and Let Die ) and "From Three Mile Island with Love" (after From Russia with Love ).

Supervillain Variant of the villain character type possessing "supernatural or superhuman powers"

A supervillain or criminal mastermind is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.

<i>Dr. No</i> (novel) 1958 novel by Ian Fleming

Dr. No is the sixth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the novel in early 1957 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 31 March 1958. The novel centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of two fellow MI6 operatives. He establishes that they had been investigating Doctor No, a Chinese operator of a guano mine on the fictional Caribbean island of Crab Key. Bond travels to the island and meets Honeychile Rider and later Doctor No.

Megacorporation a corporation (normally fictional) that is a massive conglomerate (usually private), holding monopolistic or near-monopolistic control over multiple markets (thus exhibiting both a horizontal and a vertical monopoly).

Megacorporation, mega-corporation, or megacorp, a term popularized by William Gibson, derives from the combination of the prefix mega- with the word corporation. It has become widespread in cyberpunk literature. It refers to a corporation that is a massive conglomerate, holding monopolistic or near-monopolistic control over multiple markets. Megacorps are so powerful that they can ignore the law, possess their own heavily armed private armies, be the operator of a privatized police force, hold "sovereign" territory, and even act as outright governments. They often exercise a large degree of control over their employees, taking the idea of "corporate culture" to an extreme. Such organizations as a staple of science fiction long predate cyberpunk, appearing in the works of writers such as Philip K. Dick, Thea von Harbou, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert Asprin, and Andre Norton. The explicit use of the term in the Traveller science fiction roleplaying game from 1977 predates Gibson's use of it.

Gameplay

In-game screenshot (Amiga) James Pond in-game screenshot (Amiga).png
In-game screenshot (Amiga)

James Pond has to solve puzzles to defeat the enemy and the gameplay revolves around finding objects to perform specific tasks, such as keys to rescue captured lobsters, or sponges to bung up the holes in leaking oil tankers. James must also fire bubbles at his enemies to trap them, before popping them to finish them off.

Reception

James Pond received mixed but mostly positive reviews. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment [2] gave the game seven out of ten, calling it "an entertaining and challenging undersea caper that should please just about anyone". Electronic Gaming Monthly [3] gave it a four, four, three, and six, out of ten, calling it "not exciting or fun", but "a nice kids [sic] game".

VideoGames & Computer Entertainment was an American magazine dedicated to covering video games on computers, home consoles and arcades. It was published by LFP, Inc. from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s. Offering game reviews, previews, game strategies and cheat codes as well as coverage of the general industry, VG&CE was also one of the first magazines to cover both home console and computer games. The magazine gave out annual awards in a variety of categories, divided between the best of home video games and computer video games. The magazine was known for its artwork by Alan Hunter and other freelance artists.

<i>Electronic Gaming Monthly</i> American video game magazine

Electronic Gaming Monthly is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content, and product reviews.

Sequels

James Pond was followed by two sequels; James Pond 2: Codename Robocod and James Pond 3: Operation Starfish . There was also a spin-off sports-themed game The Aquatic Games and a cameo in Rolo to the Rescue . James Pond returned in James Pond in the Deathly Shallows for the iPhone and the iPad on June 30, 2011. [4] In September 2013, Gameware Europe, who acquired the James Pond license in 2003, launched a Kickstarter for a new game in the series, James Pond - Pond is Back!, featuring the game's original designer, Chris Sorrell. [5] The Kickstarter was cancelled on October 7, 2013 as the funding target looked unlikely to be achieved. [6]

<i>James Pond 2</i> video game

James Pond 2: Robocod, also known as Super James Pond, is a platform video game and sequel to James Pond. It was developed by the same British teams as the original. The title music by Richard Joseph is a marimba-heavy rendition of the RoboCop film theme.

<i>The Aquatic Games</i> 1992 video game

The Aquatic Games is a sports video game by Millennium Software. It featured pseudo-Olympic sports starring the video game character James Pond, better known for his series of side-view platform games.

<i>Rolo to the Rescue</i> 1993 video game

Rolo to the Rescue is a video game developed by British studio Vectordean and published by Electronic Arts for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, released in 1992. The game is a two-dimensional action game with platforming elements, starring Rolo the elephant. Several other animal characters are playable once Rolo rescues them.

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References

  1. ↑ "James Pond series". Mobygames.
  2. ↑ Video Games & Computer Entertainment Issue 28 May 1991, page 43
  3. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_22#page/n17/mode/2up/
  4. ↑ "He's back: James Pond in the Deathly Shallows set for a June 30th iPhone splashdown", Pocket Gamer.
  5. ↑ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gameware/james-pond-pond-is-back
  6. ↑ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gameware/james-pond-pond-is-back/posts/621411
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