Game:

James Pond 3 (1993)

Duration: 16:58

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James Pond...interestingly, I've always kinda liked the series. I was introduced to James Pond 3 (for the Sega Genesis) and Super James Pond (for the SNES) as a kid and have liked the games ever since. Some would argue that there was nothing special about the series; I can understand that. It was very campy and enjoyed being campy because of the "time" the game was made in. I look at it now and it's like looking at some other 80s or 90s (or however far back you wanna go) stuff and just thinking how much stuff has changed...but it was all fun back then. Needless to say, I think the idea of a high-production value version of JP for PS3 or Wii U or something would die before it ever saw alpha-stage development in this day and age...simply put, some things don't need to be remade millions of times to retain any charm it might have had and JP is one of those things.

Featuring fair visuals and decent sounds, JP3 (which had the working title of James Pond 3: Splash Gordon) continues dealing with the vile fiend known as Dr. Maybe after...

*SPOILERS*

He was defeated in Robocod (or James Pond 2 or whatever different names it goes by). He learns of a delicious and plentiful stash of cheese that exists on the moon and decides to hoard it and sell to become filthy rich. Hiring a workforce of rats, Dr. Maybe begins mining the moon for cheese so he can conquer the global markets and fund his operations. In order to stop Dr. Maybe, James Pond, along with his sidekick, Finnius Frog, travel to the moon to foil Dr. Maybe's plans once more.

Many consider the general style of JP3 to be in the vein of Super Mario World...and it is. The game has a map that plots routes to different stages and you can find special stages by meeting certain conditions and creating new routes. Once you get to use Finnius at a certain point, you can utilize his higher jumping abilities to help you in your search to discover all the game has to offer. There are various power-ups (Jetpacks, fruit gun with different ammo, spring shoes, etc.) and lots of points to rack up because of all the stuff you'll constantly get. Pond also has some "magno-boots" that allow him to defy gravity and logic and walk upside down or in all directions in general. Just think of Sonic (the hedgehog, of course) running through a loop-de-loop (or shuttle loop) and that whole 360 degree run around an object and that's generally what you get in JP3. You can use the momentum you gain from running in circles quickly to shoot into the air at abnormal heights and speeds (but trajectory can be difficult to peg and lead to disaster).

Perhaps my memory is foggy and I haven't played far enough in this sample to demonstrate such, but it seems that this game is harder than I remember. Some of the enemy placements really seem obnoxious and James doesn't exactly "turn on a dime". I found myself crashing into enemies a lot and because of all the hills and various other terrain in the game, even when I try to move carefully, I still end up getting hit by respawning enemies and such. Thankfully, you don't die in one hit, so I can overlook it, but life doesn't seem all that common, at least not on the early levels (or I just can't find any).