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"James Pond was a brilliant and highly underrated C64 title."

Introduction
Back in the days of the Commodore 64 (no, I'm not old. This game was made in 1992 and I was only a little kid at the time) before games got all technical and all visual, games were all about Gameplay and the C64 had gameplay in abundance. This little (err, I mean large) baby was home to many fabulous platform titles that required patience and skill unlike most titles nowadays. You either played well or you were dead it was as simple as that.

Gameplay 9/10
James Pond: Robocod 2 is about spy fish that obviously utilises the fame of James Bond to support itself in a set of quirky yet often amusing series of platforming levels of increasing difficulty. You control James as you go through numerous colourful and vivid environments saving penguins, collecting odd items like Christmas trees for points and jumping continuously over platforms while avoiding a torrent of enemies.

James Pond is a standard platformer that ticks all boxes correctly. It provides gamers with interesting worlds from Sweet Land to Toy Land, Bath Land to Sports Land and none of them fall short of anything but platforming perfection.

The thing is that this game required patience and if you haven't got patience then you are going to struggle. You cannot simply run through the level as fast as you can. There are pits, spikes and plenty of enemies that will relieve you of any health you have managed to accumulate through your collection of stars with ease if you are not careful. James Pond requires precision, and if you persevere you are rewarded with a fun title that gives you exactly what it is meant to. You'll also get to drive cars, fly planes, scuba dive (why a fish would need to do that is beyond me) and ride in bathtubs under water, complete with shower cap. Now what other title allows you to take a bubble bath at the same time as playing a platforming game.

The only problem with the gameplay is that it hasn't aged very well and so today's generation of younger gamers will most probably not even look in this games direction.

Visuals 9/10
For its time I believe that this was one of the C64s loveliest looking titles. Visuals were impressive and boasted interesting backgrounds full of stuff like Dominos, Candy Canes, and Tennis Rackets and would you believe it, P-P-P-Penguin Bars. There is also fantastic enemy design with enemies such as the Dolly Mixture man that bore an uncanny resemblance to 'Berty Basset'.

Worlds never seem dull as every one of them is completely different from the last. This title is so pretty that it would most likely of attracted almost every kid that dared to look at it. I really did like Sweetie World.

Again, as with the gameplay, James Ponds visuals haven't aged very well. Shame really because back in 1992, I thought it looked pretty darn amazing considering the C64s capabilities.

Audio 8/10
Back then the loopy tracks were cute and definitely appealed to the younger audience as I can remember them very well all these years later as they appealed to me when I was little kid. They are classic unforgettable themes that stick with you. Yet I could probably see an adult player quickly becoming increasingly frustrated by the cutesy themes and most probably will turn the sound down. Music here is a bit hit miss and only really appeals to the younger generation of gamers- more specifically anyone under the age of ten.

Again, the music hasn't aged very well. Most tracks are tinny, but still memorable.

Replay Value ??/??
This is entirely down to love for the game. If you enjoyed this game then you will most likely go back to it a few more times. Maybe older gamers will return for that nostalgic feeling. I believe it will be adults who had played this game as children that will get the most out of this classic title, though.

If you are interested, there are many secrets/secret levels hidden throughout and are well worth the time searching for. Also you could try the 'Collect all the items run' for a real challange.

Conclusion
James Pond was a brilliant title that is severely underrated and probably not well known despite being released numerous times. It did manage to get a remake for the GBA, DS and the PS2, and those versions (or at least the GBA version) play almost as well as it did back then, but they lacked the same charm the original had when it first arrived. James Pond is a cute platformer all the family can enjoy. It provides challenge and above all it is fun to play, but because of its age, this title will probably only appeal to older gamers looking to reminisce.
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Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 06/08/09

Game Release: James Pond 2: Robocod (EU, 1992)