Super James Pond for SNES

-

Review #570

Super James Pond

Somewhat so-fish-ticated

SNES 1993 American Softworks Action Action › Platform
Super James Pond screenshot for SNES
Screenshot used for review/reference purposes.
3 / 5

Gameplay

Start outside a comically huge castle, like the one near the end of Wizards & Warriors. Either there are multiple entrances or I glitched into one on them.
Once inside the levels are linear with no rhyme or reason to what you're doing. Are you climbing the castle?
Strange mechanic where James Pond can stretch his body upward indefinitely and grab the ceiling, then sidle very slowly to either side.
Controls are responsive, but twitchy, making it hard to land exactly where you want to.

2 / 5

Level Design

Teeny tiny platforms with ill-defined edges. Platforming is a massive chore.
Collect X widgets to unlock the exit. Uggh
Some decent platforming
Busy background graphics are distracting and make it hard to spot enemies and platforms.

1 / 5

Theme

You're a fish. In a cartoon castle. With no clear objective.

2 / 5

Art Style

Amiga graphics
Difficult to pick out platforms
Creative use of color results in what I can only describe as Crayola vomit. Also, tons of inanimate objects, like baseballs shoes have goofy cartoon faces. It's a bit much.

2 / 5

Audio

Only one music track - sounds like Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf played with kids toys. Super weird

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About this Site - Sep 2025 Update

-
Hey gamers. I first published this blog in July 2024. That initial release included my thoughts about every game that was released in North America during the 16-bit era.  At the time I was underway with the second, and final, phase of this project - to play and review every 16-bit title playable by an English speaker, regardless of region. As of right now, that goal has been reached. What lies before you is a heap of reviews for every game I could play on the following consoles: Super Nintendo/Super Famicom (1204 total) North America (716) Japan (450) Europe/PAL (38)  Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (849) North America (704) Japan (94) Europe/PAL (51) Sega CD/Mega Drive CD (158) North America (141) Japan (12) Europe/PAL (5) TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine (255) North America (95) Japan (160) TurboGrafx-16 CD/PC Engine CD (163) North America (44) Japan (119) ...
Read more

Super Hydlide for Genesis

-
Image
Review #4565 Super Hydlide Easily the worst game of the 16 bit era Genesis 1990 Seismic Adventure Adventure › Overhead X 2 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay Zelda clone... in theory. Includes an unbelievably annoying weight system, limiting both what you can carry and what your character can use as a weapon. If you’re overloaded, you are unable to move. After buying a few things at the weapons shop I thought the game was broken. I had to Google it and read about this weight mechanic. So stupid. It makes the game nigh unplayable. Even with a minimal inventory of a knife, a helm, and two food rations I could barely walk. The game has a clock and calendar and it took me 12 game hours to walk from the Shop to the exit to attempt combat. By that...
Read more

Chrono Trigger for SNES

-
Image
Review #109 Chrono Trigger Only by mastering time itself do you stand a chance against Lavos. SNES 1995 Square RPG RPG › Japanese A 100 / 100 Classic Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 5 / 5 Gameplay Battle system is special. There's an optional Active Battle System and an innovative Single and Team techniques system. No grinding necessary. An assortment of sidequests and minigames like the actions you take at the Millennial Fair which influence how the trial plays out. One thing that I greatly appreciate is that you are never alone in a one-character party. You are joined by 3 other playable characters within the first hour of play. Being able to switch your party members on the fly is also a welcome quality of life feature. No random battles. The Game+ feature! What an awes...
Read more