James Pond
Encyclopedia
James Pond, also known as James Pond: Underwater Agent, is a platform
video game that was developed by British video game developers Vectordean Ltd and Millennium Interactive
, and published by Millennium Interactive and Electronic Arts
for numerous home computer
s and consoles in 1990. The character was popular and even featured in some comic book
s of the time, and the game was successful enough to spawn two sequels and one spin-off game.
named "Doctor Maybe" (a pun on the name of Dr Julius No, the villain in the film Dr. No
) has overtaken the ruthless megacorporation Acme Oil Co, and is not only filling the oceans with radiation
and toxic waste
but even threatening all the world from his underwater lair. The protagonist
of the story and player character
of the game is an intelligent
, mutated
anthropomorphic fish
who is given the name "James Pond" (after the legendary spy
James Bond
) and hired by the British Secret Service to protect the seas and take out the bad guys in underwater areas. He is also suave enough to seduce numerous attractive mermaid
s, some of whom act as double agent
s as is common with James Bond's love interests. The game spoofs James Bond movies
with levels mimicking their titles, with level names like "License to Bubble" (after Licence to Kill
), "A View to a Spill" (after A View to a Kill
), "Leak and Let Die" (after Live and Let Die
) and "From Sellafield
with Love" (after From Russia with Love
).
and James Pond 3: Operation Starfish
. There was also a spin-off sports-themed game The Aquatic Games
and a cameo in Rolo to the Rescue
.
James Pond returned in James Pond in the Deathly Shallows
for the iPhone and the iPad on June 30th 2011.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game that was developed by British video game developers Vectordean Ltd and Millennium Interactive
Millennium Interactive
Millennium Interactive was a Cambridge-based computer games developer responsible for titles such as Rome: Pathway to Power, The Adventures of Robin Hood, James Pond, Defcon 5, Deadline and most notably, Creatures. Another notable title is Strike II, a 3-D air combat science fiction game.In July...
, and published by Millennium Interactive and Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
for numerous home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s and consoles in 1990. The character was popular and even featured in some comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s of the time, and the game was successful enough to spawn two sequels and one spin-off game.
Plot
A nefarious supervillainSupervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
named "Doctor Maybe" (a pun on the name of Dr Julius No, the villain in the film Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
) has overtaken the ruthless megacorporation Acme Oil Co, and is not only filling the oceans with radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
and toxic waste
Toxic waste
Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.Toxic waste...
but even threatening all the world from his underwater lair. The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the story and player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
of the game is an intelligent
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
, mutated
Mutant
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
anthropomorphic fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
who is given the name "James Pond" (after the legendary spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
) and hired by the British Secret Service to protect the seas and take out the bad guys in underwater areas. He is also suave enough to seduce numerous attractive mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
s, some of whom act as double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
s as is common with James Bond's love interests. The game spoofs James Bond movies
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
with levels mimicking their titles, with level names like "License to Bubble" (after Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...
), "A View to a Spill" (after A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
), "Leak and Let Die" (after Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (film)
Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
) and "From Sellafield
Sellafield
Sellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...
with Love" (after From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
).
Gameplay
James Pond has to solve puzzles to defeat the enemy and the gameplay revolves around finding objects to perform specific tasks, such as keys to rescue captured lobsters, or sponges to bung up the holes in leaking oil tankers. James must also fire bubbles at his enemies to trap them, before popping them to finish them off.Sequels
James Pond was followed by two sequels; James Pond 2: Codename RobocodJames Pond 2
James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod, also known as Super James Pond, is a platform video game and sequel to James Pond. The game was developed by the same British video game developers as the original game...
and James Pond 3: Operation Starfish
James Pond 3: Operation Starfish
James Pond 3: Operation Starfish is a 1993 video game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. The game was also released for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 platforms, the Super Nintendo and the Sega Game Gear. Operation Starfish is the third and last game in the James Pond series...
. There was also a spin-off sports-themed game The Aquatic Games
The Aquatic Games
The Aquatic Games is a sports video game by Millennium Software. It featured pseudo-Olympic sports starring the video game character James Pond.thumb|left|In-game screenshot...
and a cameo in Rolo to the Rescue
Rolo to the Rescue
thumb|left|In-game screenshotRolo to the Rescue is a video game produced by Electronic Arts for the Sega Genesis, released in 1992. The game is a two-dimensional action game with platforming elements, starring the elephant "Rolo"; several other characters can be used once rescued.General InfoRolo...
.
James Pond returned in James Pond in the Deathly Shallows
James Pond in the Deathly Shallows
James Pond and the Deathly Shallows is a 2011 video game released for the iPhone, iPod and iPad iOS service, developed and published by HPN Associates...
for the iPhone and the iPad on June 30th 2011.
Other James Ponds
The "James Pond" name has also independently been used in many other instances:- A strip in the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comic BusterBuster (comic)Buster was a long-running British comic which carried a mixture of humour and adventure strips, although the former increasingly replaced the latter...
, featured a frog secret agent called James Pond. - Another amphibian James Pond, played by Kermit the FrogKermit the FrogKermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...
, has appeared in Muppet calendars parodying James Bond movie posters. - The James Pond name was also used in a Bill Nye the Science GuyBill Nye the Science GuyBill Nye the Science Guy is an educational television program that originally aired from September 10, 1993 to June 20, 1998, hosted by Bill Nye and produced by Buena Vista Television. The show aired on PBS Kids and was also syndicated to local stations, making it the second first-run television...
sketch. - James Pond 077 is an alter egoAlter egoAn alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
of Puffy, the OpenBSDOpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
mascotMascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
. - James Pond - licence to fish, is a character used by the Environment Agency in the North West of England to promote the sale of fishing rod licences.http://www.licencetofish.org.uk
- James Pond - Licence to Thrill, is a Rubber Duck designed in the UK by Opal London as part of their Quackers range. http://shop.opal-london.com/james-pond-188-p.asp