James Pond II: Codename RoboCod

n/a

NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J Master System Game Gear
James Pond II: Codename RoboCod
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Electronic Arts (US/EU) Electronic Arts Victor (JP) U.S. Gold
Developer: Millennium Interactive
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Hent Gruppen (SE rental) Datart International (CZ) Tec Toy (BR) Samsung (KR)
Original system(s): Commodore Amiga
Developer(s) of original games: Vectordean
Sound driver: Electronic Arts/Rob Hubbard
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1993-06-09 ¥6,9006,900 EM20015 US 1991-08-18 $49.9549.95 708701 EU 1991 E199SMXI EU (EA Classics) 1996-09-13 EAX02401041I DE 1991 DM 120120 E199SMXI DE (EA Classics) 1996 EAX02401041I PT 199x MDJ0027 UK 1991-12-13 £39.9939.99 E199SMXI SE (Rental) 199x CZ 199x AU 199x BR 1992-06 KR 1993 GM4104JT EU 1993-09 29013-50 EU (Kixx) 199x 29013-50 PT 1993 MS29013 UK 1993-09 £34.9934.99 29013-50 UK (Kixx) 199x 29013-50 AU 199x FROB00SEC BR 1996-11 028580 US 1993-08 $39.9539.95 T-79068 EU 1993-08 79068 EU (Kixx) 199x 79068-50 PT 199x GG79068 UK 1993-09 £27.9927.99 79068
Non-Sega versions Amiga Amiga (AGA) Amiga CD32 Archimedes Atari ST Commodore 64 Game Boy Game Boy Advance IBM PC PlayStation PlayStation 2 Super NES

James Pond II: Codename: RoboCod (ジェームスポンドII コードネーム・ロボコッド), known as James Pond II in Japan, Korea, and Brazil, is a Sega Mega Drive platform game developed by Millennium Interactive. A port of the Vectordean Commodore Amiga title James Pond 2: Codename: RoboCod, the game was first published in the United States by Electronic Arts in August 1991. It was later brought to Japan by Electronic Arts Victor in June 1993. U.S. Gold later ported the game to the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear in late 1993, titled James Pond 2.

Story

Although Acme Oil Company was destroyed by James Pond (in the events of the first game), his arch enemy Dr. Maybe survived and retreated to the North Pole, where he has taken over Santa's workshop. Dr. Maybe is holding Santa's workers hostage and has turned many of Santa's helpers into his own twisted and dangerous assistants. James Pond is recruited to infiltrate Santa's grotto, free the captive penguins, retrieve the stolen toys for the children of the world, and defeat Dr. Maybe once and for all.

This time, however, due to the greater risks involved in this mission, James Pond is given a robotic suit and the code name "RoboCod" (a play on RoboCop). This suit gives Pond superhuman strength and agility as well as enabling him to stretch his midsection almost indefinitely to reach otherwise impossibly high areas.

Gameplay

Mega Drive version

James Pond II diverges significantly from its predecessor. Rather than taking place underwater, the game is a conventional platformer. James Pond wears special body armor that allows him to move on land (using his fins for bipedal movement) and jump without the aid or need for water. It also allows him to stretch his midsection vertically to reach great heights. The game has a Christmas theme and takes place at Santa's toy factory, with Pond tasked with rescuing Santa from Dr. Maybe's evil machinations. Missions consist of multiple rooms, each containing an exit pole that Pond must reach. Sometimes the exit pole must be activated first by deactivating all of the "Penguin Bombs" in the room. There is a fight against a large boss after every two missions.

Pond walks with or and ducks with . He jumps by pressing or . He defeats Dr. Maybe's "meanies" by jumping on top of them. Most meanies require more than one hit to dispatch, but Pond can curl up and do double damage to foes by pressing while in midair. Pond's RoboCod armor can stretch his body by holding or . He can continue to extend his body vertically until he is blocked by an overhead platform or other objects (or unless he is hit by an enemy). If he reaches up to a platform, he can grab it by pressing , then he can move with or or drop down with . This allows Pond to travel along with the ceiling and drop down on top of an unsuspecting enemy, to travel over hazards, to pull himself out of otherwise inescapable areas, and to get to reach inaccessible areas.

The RoboCod suit starts with three "batteries" (units of health). The suit loses a battery if it takes damage from touching a meanie or a hazard (including falling into a pit). Pond loses a chance if he loses all of his batteries (or if he is crushed by a falling object). The game ends if he loses all of his chances. Extra chances are awarded for every 500,000 points earned. Pond appears in the bottom-left corner of the screen and shows the number of remaining chances with the fingers of one hand and holds the number of batteries in the other hand.

Objects

	! Block
	Releases an item if Pond hits it from underneath.
	Bonus Block
	Releases a vehicle or an enemy if Pond hits it from underneath.
	Penguin Bomb
	Some rooms require deactivating all of these (by touching them) before the exit is activated.
	Barber Pole Exit
	Exits the current room if the light is flashing. Some rooms require finding all of the Penguin Bombs before the exit is lit.
	Pond's Marker
	Passing a checkpoint activates it. Pond is revived at the last activated checkpoint if he loses a chance.

Items

Good

These items have a good effect.

	Power Star
	Collect stars for an extra battery (unit of health), up to a maximum of 5. The effect is the same regardless of the color.
	Bulletproof Armor
	Temporarily surrounds Pond in stars that make him invulnerable.
	Wing Attachments
	Allows Pond to fly by pressing and then using or to move. This effect lasts until Pond leaves the room.
	Umbrella
	Slows Pond's descent, allowing him to maneuver with or when falling, which allows him to more easily collect items or maneuver onto a favorable platform. Each umbrella can only be used for a single fall.
	Golden Ankh
	Gives the player an extra life, up to a maximum of 4.

Bad

These items have a bad effect.

	Skull Potion
	Harms Pond and costs a battery (unit of health).

Bonus

These items can be collected for points.

	Bonus Items
	These items give bonus points when collected.

Vehicles

These vehicles can sometimes be found inside Bonus Blocks. Once inside a vehicle, Pond can ride it until he exits the room or jumps out with or .

	Car
	Aeroplane
	Flying Bathtub

Missions

	Santa's Workshop
	Pond starts here and returns here after each stage is completed. It is a hub world from which Pond can access the rest of the stages by standing in front of their doorways. The stages must be played in order, as the doors to later missions are locked until the prior mission or boss fight is completed.
	A Sport to Catch a Mackerel!
	Cuddly, Cute, and Canontankerous!
	Pick up a Penguin!
	Crazy Cars and Wacky Wheels!
	Bubbles and Bathtubs!
	Batty Board Games!
	Castle Constellations!
	Music Maestro Please!
	Big Top, Big Hop!
	The stage music is a medley of "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

History

Release

Penguin biscuits

The penguins featured in the game are product placement for the British biscuit company Penguin.

Legacy

The game was originally released for the Amiga, Atari ST, and Sega Mega Drive in 1991. It was ported to many contemporaneous platforms, including the Amiga (AGA), Amiga CD32, Game Gear, Commodore 64, Master System, DOS, Acorn Archimedes, Game Boy, and Super NES (as Super James Pond).

Unusually, the game was revived over ten years later and ported to the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation in 2003, the Nintendo DS in 2005, and the PlayStation 2 in 2006. The PlayStation version was later made available as a download for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network store and the Nintendo Switch. These later versions are remakes with reworked graphics and new level layouts. The penguins have been replaced with Santa's elves that Pond must rescue since the Penguin biscuits sponsorship had ended. The Nintendo DS port features a map on the second screen.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

• Original Game Design: Chris Sorrell
• Graphics: Chris Sorrell
• Coding: Chris Sorrell
• Course Director: Steve Bak
• Additional Graphics: Leavon Archer
• Sega Programming: Simeon Pashley
• Original Music and Sound Effects: Richard Joseph
• Music and Sound Effects Translation: Rob Hubbard
• Producer: Christopher Erhardt
• Associate Producer: Roland Kippenhan III
• Product Management: Lesley Mansford
• Art Direction: Nancy L. Fong
• Package Illustration: Marc Ericksen
• Documentation: Andrea Smith
• Documentation Layout: Jennie Maruyama
• Testing: Steve Matulac
• Quality Assurance: Bill Romer

Source:

In-game credits

---

• Cover artist (US/EU): Marc Ericksen

Source:

Uncredited

Game Gear version

• Cover artist (US): Marc Ericksen

Source:

Uncredited

Magazine articles

Main article: James Pond II: Codename RoboCod/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

FI advert (1992)

Mega Drive print advert in Sega Visions (US) #7: "Winter 1991/1992" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #30: "January 1992" (199x-xx-xx)
• GamePro (US) #31: "February 1992" (199x-xx-xx)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #32: "March 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Print advert in Gamers (DE) #1992-01: "Februar/März 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Print advert in Mega Force (FR) #8: "Juillet/Août 1992" (1992-07-07)
also published in:

• Joypad (FR) #11: "Août/Septembre 1992" (1992-07-1x)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1993-05: "May 1993" (1993-04-08)

Print advert in Game Champ (KR) #1993-09: "xxxx" (199x-xx-xx)

Game Gear print advert in Sega Visions (US) #15: "October/November 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Sega Visions (US) #16: "December/January 1993/1994" (1993-xx-xx)
• Sega Visions (US) #17: "February/March 1994" (199x-xx-xx)

Artwork

Prototype box art (US)

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 ACE (UK) 94 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 83 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 65 Console XS (UK) PAL 94 Computer & Video Games (UK) 91 Dengeki Mega Drive (JP) NTSC-J 66 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 75 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7 (RU) 50 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 55 Game Mania (UK) 87 Game Power (IT) 92 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 80 Gamers (DE) 73 Games-X (UK) 100 Game Zone (UK) PAL 92 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 50 Hobby Consolas (ES) 95 Joystick (FR) 91 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 87 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 87 Mega (UK) 80 Mega Action (UK) 92 Mega Force (FR) PAL 95 MegaTech (UK) PAL 83 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 83 Mean Machines (UK) PAL 95 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 95 Player One (FR) 89 Play Time (DE) 77 Power Play (DE) 73 Sega Power (UK) PAL 90 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 95 Sega Pro (UK) 95 Sega Pro (UK) 91 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 90 Sega Force (UK) PAL 86 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 59 Supergame (BR) 78 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 80 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) NTSC-U 80 Video Games (DE) 71

	82
Based on 42 reviews

James Pond II: Codename RoboCod

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Spinecard

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU (EA Console Classics)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, FR
Manual

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart Manual EU Manual

Mega Drive, PT (EA Console Classics)
Cover
Cart Manual EU Manual

Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; black)
Cover

Mega Drive, SE rental (HENT black; Alt)
Cover

Mega Drive, CZ
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Cart Error creating thumbnail: convert: width or height exceeds limit `/tmp/magick-F4msGi52fLZocHMtITtMWzD9LAWDls2f' @ error/cache.c/OpenPixelCache/3909. convert: no images defined `/home/sonicret/domains/segaretro.org/public_html/images/temp/transform_5af2b5032ace.jpg' @ error/convert.c/ConvertImageCommand/3229. Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover

Mega Drive, KR
Cover

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Consoles + (FR) 91 Gamers (DE) 60 Joypad (FR) PAL 92 Megablast (DE) 78 Mega Force (FR) 89 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 78 Player One (FR) 89 Power Up! (UK) 88 Sega Magazin (DE) 85 Sega Power (UK) PAL 83 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 92 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 87 Sega Force (SE) 93 Sega Master Force (UK) PAL 93

	86
Based on 14 reviews

James Pond II: Codename RoboCod

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU (Kixx)
Cover
Cart

Master System, PT
Cover

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Computer & Video Games (UK) 94 Freak (IL) 90 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 45 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 75 Gamers (DE) 60 Hobby Consolas (ES) 68 Joypad (FR) PAL 90 Mega Force (FR) 89 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 78 Power Up! (UK) 88 Sega Magazin (DE) 85 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 90

	79
Based on 12 reviews

James Pond II: Codename RoboCod

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU (Kixx)
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, PT

Technical information

Main article: James Pond II: Codename RoboCod/Technical information.