James Pond 3: Operation Starfish
| Developer: Vectordean | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Millennium | Sound: |
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| Year: 1994 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Platformer | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Dr. Maybe is … up to no good on the moon … or something. Time to call Splash Gordon James Pond!
Like everyone else, I was a bit disappointed because I’d hoped for more of the same as in the second game: colourful, childlike environments and the power to stretch that belly and cling to ceilings.
Right away, you notice a slightly more “console-like” style aimed at teenagers (hello, Mario and Sonic), with a sprinkling of synthesised orchestral music – like in Super Nintendo RPGs – and those infamous slanted platforms to climb up and hurtle down, only to land in a spike pit. Delightful. Incidentally, this was originally a Sega Genesis game, which explains a lot.
If the developers were trying to mimic Sonic, the result actually reminds me more of Commander Keen (PC-DOS, 1990).
New features include support for a two-button controller (helpful for running, by the way), a world map for navigating between levels (or revisiting them, if you must), and new abilities – James can now punch, run, and hang upside down from ceilings thanks to his magnetic shoes. You’ll also come across plenty of wacky equipment (bombs, spring shoes, a cake gun, X-ray goggles…) and a new playable character: Finnius the frog, who already made an appearance in The Aquatic Games (and perhaps in a Jules Verne novel?).
Oh, and I almost forgot – you finally get a save function! Essential if you hope to finish the hundred or so levels packed with secrets. But no background scenery? For that reason, I’d recommend the Sega Genesis version.
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