James Pond: Underwater Agent
System: Genesis
Release Date: April 1991
Developer: Millennium Interactive/Vectordean
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Action
The name is Pond, James Pond: Underwater Agent! Enjoy this Amiga port brought to you by EA, as you enter the fins of Agent Double Bubble Seven. There are 12 levels of catch and release mayhem in front of you, so get your swim bladder on straight and lets get to saving the seven seas.
The beginning of each level tasks you with a certain collect-a-thon task. It could be as simple as freeing lobsters from cages or as complex as finding combs to lure mermaids to your home. That one sounds a little weird, but it must be done to save them! You swim around the levels with the d-pad, but it’s not a leisurely dip you’re partaking on. You have a ton of rotten fishes and other sea life trying to keep you from your mission. Luckily, you’re not totally defenseless, as you can shoot bubbles with the A or B Buttons. Once the enemy is bubbled, you can run into them to pop them and release an item.
Collecting items replenishes your fishometer. This is drained by touching enemies, getting hit by their projectiles, or being out of the water. It can be instantly drained if you’re caught in the blast of a bullet. You have to be on your flippers all the time, because bullets are shot out of openings nearly constantly. Some holes in the wall take you into a bonus room. These can be good, where there are a lot of pickups and a golden starfish to completely replenish your health. There may be a neutral room with a treasure chest containing items you probably don’t really want. Then there are bad rooms filled with enemies that you need to escape from quickly.
As you move around the levels, you’ll find mushrooms that teleport you to another spot. These are often very helpful and can teleport you back to the goal instantaneously. Collecting the requisite number of items on the level opens up a pipe to the next mission, but sometimes there are multiple pipes that you can choose from that could warp you ahead or backward. I was thinking I was great as I skipped a level, but then entered the pipe that took me back to the one I skipped. If you go back to a mission you’ve already completed, you’ll be chased by an invincible enemy that is out to hurt you. At that point, it’s a mad dash to the pipes.
I had to tap out on the last level. I was able to grab a number of food gourds that were the goal. As the time ticks down, who I assume is Dr. Maybe and a number of clones, appear in your path. These are invincible, as well, so you have to be careful where you swim. You could also head back to your home pipe and put on a top hat, which makes you invincible while you’re wearing it. There are also sunglasses, which allow you to see invisible jellyfish, and dynamite that I assumed blew up walls, but I couldn’t get it to work on the one I needed, which kept me from finishing my final mission and taking retirement.
Graphics: 1.5
Backgrounds are boring and sprites and set pieces aren’t particularly good.
Sound: 1.0
Music is bad and the sounds are grating.
Gameplay: 2.5
Controls are alright, but I think it’s dumb that there are invincible and invisible enemies.
Difficulty: 2.5
The levels are all short and only one or two are complex, but getting locked out of the final level irritated me.
Fun Factor: 2.0
I had an average amount of fun, but it wasn’t special or anything.
Overall Rating: 1.9
James Pond: Underwater Agent earns a C. I can’t really say this is a good game, but it’s competent enough for a quick try.