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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