History VideoGame / JamesPond

* {{Camp}}: Part of [[SoBadItsGood the appeal]] of James Pond is him being a FunnyAnimal fish who's a ''secret agent'', trying the save the environment in the first game. The sequels have even more ridiculous plots, such as SavingChristmas in ''James Pond 2'', which is actually very unclear about what you're saving ''besides'' Christmas[[note]] The introduction cutscene in the game (at least the Amiga, Sega Genesis, and Japanese SNES (the PAL and American SNES cut it out entirely for a basic title screen) claims that James Pond will save the penguins, which does at follow the first game's somewhat environmental theme, but the manual claims the penguins Pond touches in the levels are stuffed penguins with bombs inside, and the Play-It, Ltd., remake removes them entirely for elves strapped to dynamite to rescue).[[/note]], and the third game's plot is the trope right below (Oh, and the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen working name for it was ''[[ComicBook/FlashGordon Splash Gordon]]''. It actually helps that in the Sega Genesis versions of the first two games, the music sounds like it's trying to be orchestral due to the brass instrument soundfont, which distinguishes it from the more child-like instrumentation of the Amiga and SNES versions.

* {{Camp}}: Part of [[SoBadItsGood the appeal]] of James Pond is him being a FunnyAnimal fish who's a ''secret agent'', trying the save the environment in the first game. The sequels have even more ridiculous plots, such as SavingChristmas in ''James Pond 2'', which is actually very unclear about what you're saving ''besides'' Christmas[[note]] The introduction cutscene in the game (at least the Amiga, Sega Genesis, and Japanese SNES (the PAL and American SNES cut it out entirely for a basic title screen) claims that James Pond will save the penguins, which does at follow the first game's somewhat environmental theme, but the manual claims the penguins Pond touches in the levels are stuffed penguins with bombs inside, and the Play-It, Ltd., remake removes them entirely for elves strapped to dynamite to rescue).[[/note]], and the third game's plot is the trope right below. It actually helps that in the Sega Genesis versions of the first two games, the music sounds like it's trying to be orchestral due to the brass instrument soundfont, which distinguishes.

An obvious spoof of the James Bond franchise, the titular character is an anthropomorphic fish named (surprise) James Pond who is secret-agent Double-Bubble 7 of the organization F.I.5.H. and has a "license to gill" in his battles against the evil J.A.W.S. organization and its leader Dr. Maybe (a spoof on the infamous 007 villain Dr. No). His adventures begin in ''James Pond: Underwater Agent'' (1990), in which he defends his watery home and its denizens from polluters and enemy agents. His next adventure, ''James Pond 2: Codename Robocod'' (1991) sees Pond wearing robot armor as he sets out to save Santa Claus and his toy workshop, and ''James Pond 3: Operation [=Starfi5h=]'' (1993) sends Pond into space to save the moon and its cheese supplies from Dr. Maybe in a ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''-like adventure.

* MascotWithAttitude: It was the 90s, after all. The very heyday of the animal-mascot platformer started by [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog a certain blue rodent]]. Though James Pond [[OlderThanTheyThink actually predates Sonic,]] as ''Underwater Agent'' was released for the Amiga in 1990.

* PaletteSwap: ''James Pond 3'' has a few of these.
** The underground "slime" levels such as "Slimeswold" actually reuse graphics from ''James Pond 2: [=RoboCod=]''; they use the rock/pebble graphics that can be found in the cars/vehicles level and the underwater parts of the bathtub level. The above-ground "slime" levels {{downplay|ed Trope}} this, as those levels reuse some of the cheese levels' graphics, such as one flower sprite and the swiss-cheese holes, but still is visually different ([[FridgeHorror Maybe Dr. Maybe already successfully mined the cheese in those areas?]])
** In addition to "Slimeswold", the rock graphics from ''James Pond 2'' also gets reused on some platforms in the "blue cheese" areas. The blue cheese area itself is represented on the map by a palette swap of the earlier yellow cheese's map graphics.

** In addition to "Slimeswold", the rock graphics from 'kJames Pond 2'' also gets reused on some platforms in the "blue cheese" areas. The blue cheese area itself is represented on the map by a palette swap of the earlier yellow cheese's map graphics.

** The underground "slime" levels such as "Slimeswold" actually reuse graphics from ''James Pond 2: [=RoboCod=]; they use the rock/pebble graphics that can be found in the cars/vehicles level and the underwater parts of the bathtub level. The above-ground "slime" levels {{downplay|ed Trope}} this, as those levels reuse some of the cheese levels' graphics, such as one flower sprite and the swiss-cheese holes, but still is visually different ([[FridgeHorror Maybe Dr. Maybe already successfully mined the cheese in those areas?]])

* CheesyMoon: The entire plot of ''Operation [=Starfi5h=]'' is that Dr. Maybe wants to mine the moon and cripple the cheese market with his ill-gotten dairy gains.

* MultipleEndings: Three of them in ''Operation [=Starfi5h=]'', two of them bad:

* PermanentlyMissableContent: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] since the game itself uses a complex password system, meaning you could go to previous passwords you had if you've kept them around, but in ''James Pond 3'', whenever you complete a cheese mine level, the level is inaccessible afterwards, unlike regular levels or even bosses. One cheese mine, "Rennet Mine 1", has a "Micro-map" that unlocks the secret level [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Hidden Cheese Silo"]], so if you complete the cheese mine without getting the micro-map, you can't access "Hidden Cheese Silo". Getting the map itself is tricky, but not too hard, and you ''can'' [[AntiFrustrationFeatures restart the level]] if you miss it.

* MascotWithAttitude: It was the 90s, after all. The very heyday of the animal-mascot platformer started by [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog a certain blue rodent]]. Though James Pond [[OlderThanTheyThink actually predates Sonic,]] as ''Underwater Agent'' was released in the Amiga in 1990.

* MascotWithAttitude: It was the 90s, after all. The very heyday of the animal-mascot platformer started by [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog a certain blue rodent]].

An obvious spoof of the James Bond franchise, the titular character is an anthropomorphic fish named (surprise) James Pond who is secret-agent Double-Bubble 7 of the organization F.I.5.H. and has a "license to gill" in his battles against the evil J.A.W.S. organization and its leader Dr. Maybe (a spoof on the infamous 007 villain Dr. No). His adventures begin in ''James Pond: Underwater Agent'' (1990), in which he defends his watery home and its denizens from polluters and enemy agents. His next adventure, ''James Pond 2: Codename Robocod'' (1991) sees Pond wearing robot armor as he sets out to save Santa Claus and his toy workshop, and ''James Pond 3: Operation Starfi5h'' (1993) sends Pond into space to save the moon and its cheese supplies from Dr. Maybe in a ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''-like adventure.

* AbnormalAmmo: In ''Underwater Agent'', Pond shoots bubbles to trap enemies so that he can pop them away. ''Operation Starfi5h'' gives him a gun that shoots fruit.
* AllThereInTheManual: For the first two games, you get barely a screen's worth of dialogue at best telling you what the game's all about. Averted in ''Operation Starfi5h'', which opens with a lengthy story sequence explaining the plot.
* CheesyMoon: The entire plot of ''Operation Starfi5h'' is that Dr. Maybe wants to mine the moon and cripple the cheese market with his ill-gotten dairy gains.
* ContinuityNod: In the opening cutscene of ''Operation Starfi5h'', Dr. Maybe is seen leaving Santa's Workshop where he had just been defeated in the previous game.

* MultipleEndings: Three of them in ''Operation Starfi5h'', two of them bad:

* WorldOfPun: The Pond games are filled with puns, from those aimed at the 007 franchise (the first game) to dairy puns (''Operation Starfi5h'').

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* Expy: [[Film/JamesBond Isn't it obvious by now?]]

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James Pond also appears in the spin-off ''The Aquatic Games'', in which he is one of the playable characters in an Olympic-styled sports event. Most recently, Pond has been seen in the iPhone game ''James Pond in the Deathly Shallows''.

** The sequels parody other movie franchises, specifically ''Franchise/RoboCop'' and ''Franchise/StarWars''.

** The sequels parody other movie franchises, specifically [[Film/RoboCop RoboCop]] and [[Film/StarWars Star Wars]]

An obvious spoof of the James Bond franchise, the titular character is an anthropomorphic fish named (surprise) James Pond who is secret-agent Double-Bubble 7 of the organization F.I.5.H. and has a "license to gill" in his battles against the evil J.A.W.S. organization and its leader Dr. Maybe (a spoof on the infamous 007 villain Dr. No). His adventures begin in ''James Pond: Underwater Agent'' (1990), in which he defends his watery home and its denizens from polluters and enemy agents. His next adventure, ''Codename Robocod'' (1991) sees Pond wearing robot armor as he sets out to save Santa Claus and his toy workshop, and ''Operation Starfish'' (1993) sends Pond into space to save the moon and its cheese supplies from Dr. Maybe. Most recently, Pond has been seen in the iPhone game ''James Pond in the Deathly Shallows'', though the game met many negative reviews.

James Pond also appears in the spin-off ''The Aquatic Games'', in which he is one of the playable characters in an Olympic-styled sports event.

* AbnormalAmmo: In ''Underwater Agent'', Pond shoots bubbles to trap enemies so that he can pop them away. ''Operation Starfish'' gives him a gun that shoots fruit.
* AllThereInTheManual: For the first two games, you get barely a screen's worth of dialogue at best telling you what the game's all about. Averted in ''Operation Starfish'', which opens with a lengthy story sequence explaining the plot.
* CheesyMoon: The entire plot of ''Operation Starfish'' is that Dr. Maybe wants to mine the moon and cripple the cheese market with his ill-gotten dairy gains.
* ContinuityNod: In the opening cutscene of ''Operation Starfish'', Dr. Maybe is seen leaving Santa's Workshop where he had just been defeated in the previous game.

* MultipleEndings: Three of them in ''Operation Starfish'', two of them bad:

* WorldOfPun: The Pond games are filled with puns, from those aimed at the 007 franchise (the first game) to dairy puns (''Operation Starfish'').

* MultipleEndings: Four of them in ''Operation Starfish'':

** Do both of the above objectives and Dr. Maybe will be properly defeated... but why stop there?
** Do both and also recover all the optional items (missing agents, satellite parts, and hidden treasures), and [[GoldenEnding Dr. Maybe will be so devastated that he'll go into a babbling wreck.]]

* DownerEnding: In ''Operation Starfish'', if Pond doesn't shut down all the cheese mines before defeating Dr. Maybe, the villain will laugh at your failure and you'll get a Game Over screen for the effort. It's even worse if you closed the mines but also didn't destroy the stiltonium machines: Dr. Maybe will attack the Earth with incredibly-smelly cheese bombs.
** On the other hand, completing both objectives and also the optional goal of recovering all the agents, satellite parts, and treasures will [[GoldenEnding send Dr. Maybe into a mental breakdown.]]

* CheesyMoon: The entire plot of ''Operation Starfish'' is that Dr. Maybe wants to mine the moon and cripple the cheese market.

* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Inverted. Being a fish, Pond can't breathe on land. In ''Underwater Agent'', he can find a special helmet to keep his gills wet. The sequels give him specialized suits as part of the plot.

James Pond also appears in the spin-off ''The Aquatic Games'', in which he is one of the playable characters.

* WorldOfPun: Practically every game is filled with puns, from those aimed at the Bond franchise (the first game) to dairy puns (Operation Starfish).

An obvious spoof of the James Bond franchise, the titular character is an anthropomorphic fish named (surprise) James Pond who is secret-agent Double-Bubble 7 of the organization F.I.5.H. and has a "license to gill" in his battles against the evil J.A.W.S. organization and its leader Dr. Maybe (a spoof on the infamous 007 villain Dr. No). His adventures begin in ''James Pond: Underwater Agent'' (1990), in which he defends his watery home and its denizens from polluters and enemy agents. His next adventure, ''Codename RoboCod'' (1991) sees Pond wearing robot armor as he sets out to save Santa Claus and his toy workshop, and ''Operation Starfish'' (1993) sends Pond into space to save the moon and its cheese supplies from Dr. Maybe. Most recently, Pond has been seen in the iPhone game ''James Pond in the Deathly Shallows'', though the game met many negative reviews.

* ProductPlacement: ''RoboCod'' frequently plugs Penguin Biscuits, a real-life candy in the UK. Later releases of the game remove the marketing.
* TheMoonIsMadeOfCheese: The entire plot of Operation Starfish.