History VideoGame / JamesPond

* AxCrazy: One of the enemies, "Alan [=McRat=]", DrivesLikeCrazy and tries to run over Pond.[[spoiler: Dr. Maybe himself becomes a non-violent variant during his VillainousBreakdown if you get the good ending when in SandboxMode, where he quotes Darth Vader and claims he's been playing ''I-Spy with his Uncle Frank!'']]

* SandboxMode: The password screen has a cheat code you can use to play the game like this. Activating the cheat requires Red cheese, yellow mouse, green cat, and a blue dog. Add various red items for different effects.[[spoiler: Getting the good ending with this cheat gives you a Funny moment where Dr. Maybe goes utter nuts!]]

** [[spoiler: If you get the good ending while playing in SandboxMode, you get not only a good, but a [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfFunny funny]] ending where Dr. Maybe has a psychotic breakdown and quotes Darth Vader, saying "I am your father..."]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A really mild one, but the game gets away with a single use of "[[PrecisionFStrike]]" if you beat a boss. This password screen is different from the one you get if you get a save beacon in an otherwise normal level.

* LevelAte: The moon isn't ''just'' made of cheese, but other dairy products too, and even non-dairy foods related to said dairy products! The game starts off in a plain orange cheese area, the second area of the game is a custard area, which also has bananas as obstacles, The third area of the game [[PaletteSwap resembles the first cheese levels]], but covered with [[Squick slime and mushrooms]], the third world is a yogurt area with fruits, the fourth is a butter plateau that has beanstalks, bread, eggs, and teacups, the fifth area is a blue cheese area that has vines underneath the cheese, and appears a lot more plant-like, and the last area in the game is an ice cream snowcap. As a bonus, the custard, yogurt, and butter levels all have lava-like liquids that hurt Pond when he falls into them.

* WarpZone: Two levels in the game, "The Chunnel" a NintendoHard yellow cheese cave that [[PointOfNoReturn will trap you]] in the first world, and "The Lost Caves", another cave level very late in the game (in the Blue cheese world), have these. For the former, it's the only way to get out, where it takes you to "Nether Slimeswold", but for the latter, it takes you to a SecretLevel not accessible by a Micro-map, "The Long Tunnel", which itself has a WarpZone going to the final level, "Neopolitan Peninsula".

* Snowlems: They appear as enemies.[[spoiler: Dr. Maybe himself operates a Snowman mech suit as the FinalBoss.]]

* ProductPlacement: ''Robocod'' frequently plugs [=McVitie's=] Penguin Biscuits, a real-life candy in the UK. The Play-It, Ltd. remake removes the marketing. In addition, the original Amiga version and the Sega Genesis and Commodore 64 versions have Bertie Bassett, a mascot for Liquorice Allsotts (or Licorice in American English) candy in the UK. The [=SNES=], [=AGA=] Amiga and Amiga [=CD32=] replace him with a generic gingerbread man, but oddly, Bertie Bassett is restored in the Play-It, ltd. remake; albeit, at the very last level, and with a revamped sprite for the handheld ports.

* ProductPlacement: ''Robocod'' frequently plugs [=McVitie's=] Penguin Biscuits, a real-life candy in the UK. The Play-It, Ltd. remake removes the marketing. In addition, the original Amiga version and the Sega Genesis and Commodore 64 versions have Bertie Bassett, a mascot for licorice (or Liquorice in British English) candy in the UK. The [=SNES=], [=AGA=] Amiga and Amiga [=CD32=] replace him with a generic gingerbread man, but oddly, Bertie Bassett is restored in the Play-It, ltd. remake; albeit, at the very last level, and with a revamped sprite for the handheld ports.

* SecretLevel: They are hidden in either small spaces or in empty spots covered by ground. The Play-It, ltd. remake removes them in favor of simple bonus levels you need to collect all bell items in the room to access.

** One of the mouse enemies, Artie, sometimes either throws bombs at you or holds the above mentioned [[AbnormalAmmo fruit gun]], these two enemies are called "[[Film/{{Terminator}} Verminator]]" and "Verminator II"

** One of the mouse enemies, Artie, sometimes either throws bombs at you or holds the above mentioned [[AbnormalAmmo fruit gun]], these two enemies are called "[[Film/Terminator Verminator]]" and "Verminator II"

* DarkerAndEdgier: Surprisingly for a James Pond game. The game feels much larger than the previous two, has legitimare NightmareFuel moments (even if the moments in question [[NarmCharm sound silly on paper]]), and you can actually get ''bad endings'', one of which implies James Pond himself ''gets killed''. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking It also has profanity]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Surprisingly for a James Pond game. The game feels much larger than the previous two, and you can actually get ''bad endings'', one of which implies James Pond himself ''gets killed''. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking It also has profanity]].

* MisplacedWildlife: Penguins ''at the North Pole!'' They probably had to do with the below-mentioned McVitie's penguin biscuits product placement. You also have to rescue penguins from the levels in order to go onto the next stage... maybe. The manual claims the Penguins you collect are stuffed toys with bombs, but the intro says that Pond must rescue them. The Play-It, ltd. remake removes them.

* ProductPlacement: ''Robocod'' frequently plugs McVitie's Penguin Biscuits, a real-life candy in the UK. The Play-It, Ltd. remake removes the marketing. In addition, the original Amiga version and the Sega Genesis and Commodore 64 versions have Bertie Bassett, a mascot for licorice (or Liquorice in British English) candy in the UK. The [=SNES=], [=AGA=] Amiga and Amiga [=CD32=] replace him with a generic gingerbread man, but oddly, Bertie Bassett is restored in the Play-It, ltd. remake; albeit, at the very last level, and with a revamped sprite for the handheld ports.

* PaletteSwap: The yellow rock/pebble graphics that can be found in the cars/vehicles level can also be found in the underwater parts of the bathtub level, except colored blue-green.
* ProductPlacement: ''Robocod'' frequently plugs Penguin Biscuits, a real-life candy in the UK. The Play-It, Ltd. remake removes the marketing. In addition, the original Amiga version and the Sega Genesis and Commodore 64 versions have Bertie Bassett, a mascot for licorice (or Liquorice in British English) candy in the UK. The [=SNES=], [=AGA=] Amiga and Amiga [=CD32=] replace him with a generic gingerbread man, but oddly, Bertie Bassett is restored in the Play-It, ltd. remake; albeit, at the very last level, and with a revamped sprite for the handheld ports.

** [[spoiler: If you get the good ending while playing in SandboxMode, you get not only a good, but a [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfFunny funny]] ending where Dr. Maybe has a psychotic breakdown and quotes Darth Vader, saying "I am your father..."

* ShoutOut: While the James Pond games already have their ShoutOuts, ''James Pond 3'' has specific ShoutOuts:
** The OpeningTextScroll is obviously meant to parody ''Film/ANewHope'', even name dropping the title! And that's not the only ''Star Wars'' reference.

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

** Shut down the mines but forget to destroy the stiltonium machines and [[ItsAWonderfulFailure Dr. Maybe attacks the Earth with incredibly-smelly cheese bombs.]]
** The last two are good endings that only differ in Dr. Maybe's dialogue. If you beat the game without cheating, Dr. Maybe simply goes on a rant about how his schemes are constantly ruined despite his effort. The ''other'' good ending, which strangely only happens if you use the cheat password, has Dr. Maybe [[VillainousBreakdown going nuts and quoting]] [[Franchise/StarWars quoting Darth Vader]] by claiming [[LukeIAmYourFather "I am]] [[BlatantLies your father..."]] and then claiming ''he's been playing I-Spy with his Uncle Frank!''
* PaletteSwap
** The underground "slime" levels such as "Slimeswold" actually reuse the above-mentioned rock graphics from ''James Pond 2: [=RoboCod=]''. 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?]])

* NoFairCheating: Averted with one of ''James Pond 3'''s Good Endings, which if you use the cheat password, gives you an otherwise normal good ending where [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfFunny Dr. Maybe goes delirious]]. The closest thing to this trope you get is a "Now try without cheating!" message that appears ''after'' the enemy list and credits.

* 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.

* ArtCourse: In ''James Pond 2'', one of the doors has an art-themed workshop with paint and pencils. There's also music-themed room in the level as well.

* {{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]] ''[[Franchise/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.
* 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. Not all the levels in the game are actually cheese levels (they're all ''dairy product'' levels), but there's actually two different cheese "environments"—the regulary yellow-orange holey swiss cheese, and a later section of the game referred to as "blue cheese", which has a weird, vine-like surface with thorns. This place actually appears on the map as a palette swap of the yellow cheese's map section graphics.
* 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: Four of them in ''Operation [=Starfi5h=]'', two of them bad:
** Fail to close up all the cheese mines and [[DownerEnding Dr. Maybe laughs at your shoddy attempt to shut him down.]]
** Shut down the mines but forget to destroy the stiltonium machines and [[ItsAWonderfulFailure Dr. Maybe attacks the Earth with incredibly-smelly cheese bombs.]]
** The last two are good endings that only differ in Dr. Maybe's dialogue. If you beat the game without cheating, Dr. Maybe simply goes on a rant about how his schemes are constantly ruined despite his effort. The ''other'' good ending, which strangely only happens if you use the cheat password, has Dr. Maybe [[VillainousBreakdown going nuts and quoting]] [[Franchise/StarWars quoting Darth Vader]] by claiming [[LukeIAmYourFather "I am]] [[BlatantLies your father..."]] and then claiming ''he's been playing I-Spy with his Uncle Frank!''

* NoFairCheating: Averted with one of ''James Pond 3'''s Good Endings, which if you use the cheat password, gives you an otherwise normal good ending where [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfFunny Dr. Maybe goes delirious]]. The closest thing to this trope you get is a "Now try without cheating!" message that appears ''after'' the enemy list and credits.

* PaletteSwap:
** In ''James Pond 2: Codename [=RoboCod=]'', the yellow rock/pebble graphics that can be found in the cars/vehicles level can also be found in the underwater parts of the bathtub level, except colored blue-green.
** ''James Pond 3'' has a few of these.
*** The underground "slime" levels such as "Slimeswold" actually reuse the above-mentioned rock graphics from ''James Pond 2: [=RoboCod=]''. 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 are 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.
* 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 SecretLevel [[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.
* ProductPlacement: ''Robocod'' frequently plugs Penguin Biscuits, a real-life candy in the UK. Later releases of the game remove the marketing.

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