The Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and The Aquabats

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The Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and The Aquabats
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Millennium Interactive, Vectordean
Distributor: Electronic Arts Australasia (AU), Ecofilmes (PT), Hent Gruppen (SE rental), Tec Toy (BR)
Sound driver: Electronic Arts/Steve Hayes
Genre: Sports
Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code US 1992-09 716901 EU 1992-10 E077SMXI PT 199x MDJ0033 UK 1992-10-15 £39.9939.99 E077SMXI SE (Rental) 199x IT 199x E077SMXI AU 199x BR 199x 042730
Non-Sega versions No results

The Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and The Aquabats is a spin-off of Millennium Interactive's James Pond franchise. It was released, among other systems, for the Sega Mega Drive in 1992. During development it was known as Aquabatics and The Offishal Aquabatic Games.

Gameplay

The Aquatic Games is a sports game modeled after the Olympic decathlon, featuring James Pond and a cast of his friends competing in eight water-themed events.

Modes

Mode select

The game supports up to four players competing in the same events (taking turns and sharing the same control pad).

At the start of the game, players choose from the following modes:

• The Aquatic Games: Starts a single-player game where the player attempts every event in order to earn medals.
• James Ponda's Workout: A single-player practice mode where the player can play any event on Easy difficulty.
• Tuffer Training: A single-player practice mode where the player can play any event on Normal difficulty.
• Piranha! Practice: A single-player practice mode where the player can play any event on Hard difficulty.
• Double Trouble: Starts a two-player game where the players compete for points.
• Triple Trouts: Starts a three-player game where the players compete for points.
• Fintastic Foursome: Starts a four-player game where the players compete for points.

In single-player games, the player can earn a gold, silver, or bronze medal in each event. The player can participate in bonus events by acquiring enough bonus points. Winning a bonus event earns a "shield of merit." The player can earn up to eight medals and six shields of merit.

In multiplayer games, each player tries to earn more points than the other players.

Events

The events are played in order, except in the practice modes (where they can be selected in any order). After an event is over, a score screen is displayed that summarizes the player's performance.

	100-Meter Splash
	James Pond races against champion sprinter F-fortesque Frog across a 100-meter-long body of water. Pond runs by alternately pressing and rapidly. A meter on the bottom of the screen shows how fast he is running, and he runs faster when the buttons are pressed more rapidly. He jumps by pressing . The goal is to cross the finish line in the fastest possible time. If Pond jumps over the pelican in a boat rather than knocking it into the water, the pelican comes back and picks Pond up into the air for a short distance, which improves his time. Medal Requirement Bronze 17 seconds Silver 16 seconds Gold 15 seconds
	Kipper Watching
	Ceceelia the Seal must protect her six seal friends, who are having a nap on the beach, from the beach balls of inconsiderate tourists. Ceceelia can move with or ; she moves faster when holding or while pressing in a direction. She jumps by pressing , which lets her intercept the beach balls by bopping them with her nose. Beach balls are thrown in from the bottom of the screen. There are two types: yellow and orange (the most common) and yellow and blue (appear rarely and fall faster). A seal wakes up if hit by a beach ball while asleep, but it goes back to sleep after a short time. A seal becomes frightened and leaves if hit by a beach ball while awake, and the event ends if two seals leave. Beach balls appear more frequently as the event goes on. The goal of the event is to last as long as possible without two seals leaving. Ceceelia can collect angelfish (green fish with wings) for bonus points. If an alarm clock appears, it will go off and wake up all of the seals when its countdown ends unless it is knocked away by Ceceelia. Medal Requirement Bronze 2 minutes Silver 3 minutes Gold 4 minutes
	Hop, Skip, and Jump
	A three-part event resembling the triple jump. F-fortesque Frog must run to the marked spot, then jump. F-fortesque runs by alternately pressing and rapidly. A meter on the bottom of the screen shows how fast he is running, and he runs faster when the buttons are pressed more rapidly. He jumps by pressing . He fails the event if he does not jump at the mark. Then F-fortesque skips rope for a distance (again alternately pressing and rapidly to maintain his momentum). Finally, F-fortesque stops and the jump angle indicator appears. He can leap ahead by pressing . The angle sweeps upwards to 45 degrees, then back down. F-fortesque leaps farther if the player jumps when the angle is closer to 45 degrees (and does not leap at all, failing the event, if the player fails to jump before the angle sweeps back down). He is judged on the event based on the distance that he leaps at the end. The player gets three attempts to jump at least a distance of 800; the event ends if the player meets this requirement or runs out of attempts. Medal Requirement Bronze 800 Silver 900 Gold 1,000
	The Bouncy Castle
	James Pond jumps on sponge trampolines. While on the ground, Pond moves with or and jumps onto a sponge by pressing . While bouncing on the trampoline, he jumps higher by pressing when he hits the sponge and holding the button until the peak of the bounce. He can perform different tricks while in the air: he can twist by pressing , backward somersault by pressing +, and forward somersault by pressing +. He can perform multiple tricks on a single bounce, but he must be careful to bounce high enough to complete each move successfully (or he will fall off the trampoline). Hitting the shells in between the trampolines awards bonus points. To complete the event, Pond must successfully perform the following moves (or combinations of moves) at least six times each: Double twist Double forward somersault Double backward somersault Twist and forward somersault Twist and backward somersault Forward and backward somersault Pond is judged for this event based on how quickly he can accomplish all of the required tricks. Medal Requirement Bronze 4 minutes Silver 3 minutes Gold 2 minutes
	Feeding Time
	Freddie Starrfish wants to feed his fish friends. He moves with or . He can fill his bag with sweets by walking up to a dispenser and holding . A meter on the bottom of the screen shows how full his bag is. Then he can move over a fish when one appears in the water below and drop the sweets by pressing . The fish appear periodically in randomized locations. While the fish are waiting for sweets, they rise further out of the water and fisherman's lures descend to catch them. If Freddie takes too long to feed them, they are caught by the lures. If two fish are hooked, the other fish are scared away and the event ends. Fish appear more frequently as the event goes on. The goal of the event is to last as long as possible without two fish being hooked. Butterflies sometimes appear and award bonus points if stopped by a fish or a lure. Medal Requirement Bronze 2 minutes Silver 3 minutes Gold 4 minutes
	Shell Shooting
	James Pond must pick up limpets and throw them at the balloons on the ceiling to pop them. Limpets enter the screen from machines on the sides. Pond moves with or and jumps with . Pond picks up a limpet by jumping on one at an angle, which flings it into the air. Limpets bounce after hitting the ground. Pond must then move under the flying limpet and catch it by holding (which stops him from moving). Then Pond can burst a balloon by positioning himself under it and pressing to throw the limpet. The limpet falls afterwards and can be caught again. Pond can only hold one limpet at a time. If he jumps on top of a limpet instead of at an angle, he squashes and kills it. If a limpet walks into him, it knocks him over and stuns him momentarily, which costs the player time (and causes Pond to drop his limpet if he possesses one). He is also stunned if a limpet falls on his head. There are two special kinds of limpets: a spiked one that harms Pond if he touches it (including jumping on it) and a green blob that Pond can jump on to spring into the air (allowing him to burst a balloon without throwing a limpet). There are seven balloons total, and the goal is to pop all of the balloons in the shortest possible time. Medal Requirement Bronze 3 minutes Silver 2 minutes Gold 1 minutes
	Tour de Grass
	Mark the Shark rolls through a short course on his unicycle. He pedals his unicycle by rolling the D-Pad in repeated 360° rotations. A meter on the bottom of the screen shows how fast he is cycling. He can jump by pressing , , or . Mark slows down if he runs into a crab, hindering his time. He can collect butterflies for bonus points. The goal is to complete the course in the shortest possible time. Medal Requirement Bronze 40 seconds Silver 35 seconds Gold 30 seconds
	Leap Frog
	An obstacle course. F-fortesque Frog must run through the course and jump over obstacles (electric eel hurdles and puddles). F-fortesque runs by alternately pressing and rapidly. A meter on the bottom of the screen shows how fast he is running, and he runs faster when the buttons are pressed more rapidly. He jumps by pressing . F-fortesque slows down if he hits an obstacle, hindering his time. He can jump to collect bees for bonus points. The goal is to finish the course in the shortest possible time. Medal Requirement Bronze 28 seconds Silver 25 seconds Gold 22 seconds

Bonus events

If the player scores high enough on an event, a bonus event is offered on the score screen (which can be accepted by pressing or skipped by pressing  START ). Bonus events cost points to enter but can multiply the player's score if completed successfully. There are two bonus events, which are chosen randomly.

	Juggling
	P.J. Penguin must juggle two balls. The player can drop a ball from above by pressing , which P.J. catches in one of his flippers. The game notifies the player when a new ball can be dropped. P.J. can toss a ball from his right flipper (from the player's perspective) to his left flipper by pressing and toss a ball over from his left flipper to his right flipper by pressing . P.J. can only toss one ball at a time, so if another ball falls into his hand when he is already tossing one, he drops it. The goal is to keep the balls in the air; the more balls P.J. can juggle at a time, the higher the score. The event lasts for two minutes.
	Long Jump
	A long jump. F-fortesque Frog must run to the marked spot, then jump. F-fortesque runs by alternately pressing and rapidly. A meter on the bottom of the screen shows how fast he is running, and he runs faster when the buttons are pressed more rapidly. He jumps by holding , which causes the jump angle indicator to appear. He can leap ahead by pressing . The angle sweeps upwards to 45 degrees, then back down. F-fortesque leaps farther if the player jumps when the angle is closer to 45 degrees (and does not leap at all, failing the event, if the player fails to jump before the angle sweeps back down). He is judged on the event based on the distance that he leaps at the end. The player gets three attempts to jump at least a distance of 350; the event ends if the player meets this requirement or runs out of attempts.

Production credits

• Original Game Design and Coding: Steve Bak
• Graphics: Sean Nichols
• Additional Graphics: Leavon Archer
• Original Music and Sound Effects: Richard Joseph
• Producer: Kevin Shrapnell
• Assistant Producer: Rupert Easterbrook
• Product Management: Andrew Corcoran, Neil Thewarapperuma, Lesley Mansford
• Package Illustration: David Rowe
• Package Design: Corey Higgins
• Documentation: David Luoto, Colin Dodson
• Documentation Layout: Jennie Maruyama
• Quality Assurance: Glenn Chin

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: The Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and The Aquabats/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Mega Force (FR) #10: "Octobre 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Print advert in Mega Force (ES) #6: "Octubre 1992" (1992-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Hobby Consolas (ES) #13: "Octubre 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Print advert in Mega Force (ES) #7: "Noviembre 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Print advert in Hobby Consolas (ES) #14: "Noviembre 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Artwork

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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 80 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 68 Console Mania (IT) 80 Consoles + (FR) 65 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 53 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 61 FX (UK) 89 Game Power (IT) 83 Game Zone (UK) PAL 83 Hobby Consolas (ES) 92 Joypad (FR) PAL 84 Joystick (FR) PAL 81 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 78 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 78 Mega (UK) PAL 75 Mega Action (UK) 90 Mega Force (FR) 80 MegaTech (UK) PAL 59 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 77 Magazina Igrushek (RU) 50 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 61 Player One (FR) 75 Play Time (DE) 71 Power Up! (UK) 74 Power Play (DE) 75 Score (CZ) 65 Sega Power (UK) PAL 81 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 92 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 82 Sega Force (UK) PAL 79 Supergame (BR) NTSC-U 77 Supersonic (FR) 78 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 56 Video Games (DE) 74 Zero (UK) 86

	75
Based on 35 reviews

The Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and The Aquabats

Mega Drive, US
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Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
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Cart Manual Manual (back) Insert Regcard

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; black)
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Mega Drive, BR
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Technical information

Main article: The Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and The Aquabats/Technical information.