ECS no. 1
ECS no. 2

James Pond: Underwater Agent

Guppie [Prerelease name]

General info

Amiga Original

Relationships

WHDLoad

2020-08-31

Stats

9,451

Conversions

Acorn Archimedes
Atari ST/E
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

ECS / OCS

Version info

No
Max 1, Sim 1

Features

Credits

Lead programmer
Additional programming
Music & SFX
Sound effects

Hard Disk Installer

No

Releases

Year
Name
Licence
Type
Country
Publisher
Languages
Manual Languages
Disks
Rarity
1990
James Pond: Underwater Agent
AKA Guppie
Commercial
Full Price
Worldwide
English
English, French, German, Italian
1
One version is common, at least one other version is rare
1992
James Pond: Underwater Agent
AKA Guppie (Pre-release name)
Commercial
Budget
Worldwide
English
English
1
One version is common, at least one other version is rare

Notes

[2] Two editions of JAMES POND with different memory requirements were commercially released: (a) standard 512k and (b) enhanced 1MB limited edition.

The only tangible difference between the two releases is that the enhanced 1MB limited edition detects extra memory and, consequently, displays an extra animation (i.e. a shark fin on the first screen displayed) in the intro sequence. Reportedly, disk loading after the game has booted to the main menu screen has been reduced also.

[3] Distributed by Leader in Italy and United Software in Germany.


TRIVIA: As well as being inspired by Japanese games, JAMES POND pays tribute to EA's platform game FLOOD. The secret agent and Bluebeard ghost which follow Pond around mimic the ghost in FLOOD and leeches the main character's energy. Similarly, mushrooms mimic transporters in said game and even one of the intro screens has a Quiffy look-a-like staring out at you. Reportedly, FLOOD was one of coder Chris Sorrell's favourite games at the time.

Conversion Notes

Screen info

ECS / OCS
Screenshot ECS no. 3

Screenshot ECS no. 4

Screenshot ECS no. 5

Screenshot ECS no. 6

Screenshot ECS no. 7

Screenshot ECS no. 8

Screenshot ECS no. 9

Screenshot ECS no. 10

Screenshot ECS no. 11

Screenshot ECS no. 12

Screenshot ECS no. 13

Screenshot ECS no. 14

Screenshot ECS no. 15

Screenshot ECS no. 16

Screenshot ECS no. 17

Screenshot ECS no. 18

Screenshot ECS no. 19

Screenshot ECS no. 20

Screenshot ECS no. 21

Screenshot ECS no. 22

Screenshot ECS no. 23

Screenshot ECS no. 24

Screenshot ECS no. 25

Screenshot ECS no. 26

Screenshot ECS no. 27

Screenshot ECS no. 28

Screenshot ECS no. 29

Screenshot ECS no. 30

Screenshot ECS no. 31

Screenshot ECS no. 32

Screenshot ECS no. 33

Screenshot ECS no. 34

Screenshot ECS no. 35

Screenshot ECS no. 36

Screenshot ECS no. 37

Screenshot ECS no. 38

Screenshot ECS no. 39

Screenshot ECS no. 40

Screenshot ECS no. 41

Screenshot ECS no. 42

Box: ECS / OCS
Box scan ECS no. 1

Original Release (front) [Standard 512k Edition]

Box scan ECS no. 2

Original Release (back) [Standard 512k Edition]

Box scan ECS no. 3

Original Release (front) [Limited Edition 1MB Enhanced]

Box scan ECS no. 4

Original Release (back) [Limited Edition 1MB Enhanced]

Box scan ECS no. 5

Budget Release (front)

Box scan ECS no. 6

Budget Release (back)

Disk: ECS / OCS
Disk scan ECS no. 1

Original Release [Standard 512k Edition]

Disk scan ECS no. 2

Budget Release

Misc: ECS / OCS
ECS no. 1

UK Advert (Amiga Format, Issue 16, 11/1990, Page 74)

ECS no. 2

Italian Advert

ECS no. 3

German Advert (Amiga Joker 1/1991, Page 81)

Manual info

ECS / OCS
ECS no. 1

Manual (English/German/French/Italian)

ECS no. 2

Instructions (English) [Budget] [Source: Atari Mania]

ECS / OCS

Start the game and type “JUNKYARD”. The screen will flash to let you know that it worked. Now press ‘RETURN’ to turn the cheat mode on. When the cheat mode is active, you will see a small fairy flying around your character. James Pond is also invincible during this time and you have access to the following keys:

 

‘RETURN’_________________________Toggles cheat mode on and off

‘D’____________________Press twice to make all locks disappear

‘6’ (NUMERIC KEYPAD)___________________________Warp to level 1

‘BLANK KEY BESIDE SHIFT’_______________________Warp to level 2

‘Z’____________________________________________Warp to level 3

‘X’____________________________________________Warp to level 4

‘C’____________________________________________Warp to level 5

‘V’____________________________________________Warp to level 6

‘B’____________________________________________Warp to level 7

‘N’____________________________________________Warp to level 8

‘M’____________________________________________Warp to level 9

‘,‘___________________________________________Warp to level 10

‘.‘___________________________________________Warp to level 11

‘/‘___________________________________________Warp to level 12

‘F6’________________________________________Switch to PAL mode

‘F7’_______________________________________Switch to NTSC mode

‘F10’____________________________Toggle DMA visibility display

‘TAB’________________________________________________Quit game

You can view the end sequence by jumping to level 12 with the ‘/’ key, then pressing ‘D’ twice.

The key ‘F10’ is used to see how much DMA time each part of the game is using up by changing the black background colour. It is really only of interest to the programmer or hackers :)

All keys used in this cheat assume an English keyboard layout and the game checks the position of the key rather than the actual letter that would normally be typed. For example, on French and German keyboards, the ‘Z’ key is in the top row of letters, but the skip level keys are always the bottom row of letters. Basically, work out where the key would be on an English keyboard and hit the key that is in that position on your keyboard.

Acorn Archimedes
No conversion screens found.
Atari ST/E
Conversion Atari ST/E

Conversion Atari ST/E

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Conversion Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

Conversion Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

Map info

ECS / OCS
ECS no. 1

ECS no. 2

MAGAZINE REVIEWS

Magazine
Issue
Rating
Reviewer
Release type
Review
Scans
ACE: Advanced Computer Entertainment
40 (Jan 1991)
780/1000
David Upchurch
1
Amiga Action
15 (Dec 1990)
88%
Steve Merrett
Doug Johns
Alex Simmons
2
Amiga Action
31 (Apr 1992)
89%
Re-release
1
Amiga Computing
32 (Jan 1991)
1
Amiga Computing
48 (May 1992)
91%
Jonathan Maddock
Re-release
1
Amiga Format
17 (Dec 1990)
81%
Trenton Webb
1
Amiga Format
33 (Apr 1992)
90%
Re-release
1
Amiga Joker
Jan 1991
78%
Carsten Borgmeier
1
Amiga Joker
Dec 1992
Joachim Nettelbeck
Michael Labiner
Re-release
1
Amiga Mania
Apr 1992
90%
Re-release
0
Amiga Power
12 (Apr 1992)
83%
Matthew Squires
Re-release
1
Amiga User International
Vol 5 No 1 (Jan 1991)
82%
Tony Horgan
1
Computer + Video Games
109 (Dec 1990)
90%
Richard Leadbetter
0
CU Amiga
Nov 1990
77%
Dan Slingsby
2
CU Amiga
Mar 1991
Roundup
0
CU Amiga
Mar 1992
67%
Steve Merrett
Re-release
1
Datormagazin
No 17 (Nov 1990)
9/10
Lennart Nilsson
1
Génération 4
28 (Dec 1990)
89%
0
Joystick
10 (Nov 1990)
93%
Derek
0
Svenska Hemdatornytt
No 8 (Oct 1991)
70%
0
The One
26 (Nov 1990)
86%
Laurence Scotford
2
The One
41 (Feb 1992)
4/5
Jools Watsham
Re-release
1
Zero
14 (Dec 1990)
85%
Teresa Maughan
0
Zero
31 (May 1992)
86%
Re-release
1
Zzap
69 (Jan 1991)
85%
Robin Hogg
Phil King
0

MAGAZINE PREVIEWS

Magazine
Issue
Rating
Reviewer
Release type
Review
Scans
Amiga Joker
Nov 1990
T. Kansas
Carsten Borgmeier
Oskar Dzierzynski
Preview
1
Zero
12 (Oct 1990)
Preview
1

ECS / OCS

Lore Score: 82%

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