Fishy 16-bit platform hero James Pond is swimming onto the Evercade
James Pond is back.. again! After it was announced that James Pond Legacy: The Pond is Not Enough is bringing all four outings to Switch 2, this ’90s platform hero is making his way to the Evercade. And, like The Pond is Not Enough, this second collection (featuring James Pond: Underwater Agent, RoboCod and The Aquatic Games) will arrive in December.
However, while both collections involve publisher and developer System 3, there’s one key difference. The Pond is Not Enough, developed by Antstream, will feature multiple versions of all four games (C64, Mega Drive and so on), whereas the Evercade collection, from Blaze Entertainment, just features one version of each game.
As confirmed by the Evercade James Pond press release, all four games will be console versions, likely the Sega Mega Drive versions. I experienced James Pond on the Amiga, but graduated to the Mega Drive so I’m okay with that decision. But the other incarnations will remain exclusive to The Pond is Not Enough (and their original formats).
There was a fifth Pond game, James Pond in the Deathly Shallows, released on mobile in 2011. However, it was not well received, with then-Destructoid writer Stephanie Sterling saying it was “..stuffed to the gills with soggy gameplay and should be condemned to sleep with the fishes.” Ouch.
There are no duffers among these four, though Aquatic Games, a button mashing Hyper Sports-style offering, inflicted so much damage on my fingers and joypad. And RoboCod? I put so, so many hours into that platforming gem. It’s best not to ask why fishy secret agent James Pond became a cyborg, but extending his body vertically across the whole screen never failed to amuse me.
The Evercade James Pond collection was announced alongside another cartridge, the The Last Ninja & IK Collection. This features fourteen versions of International Karate and the Last Ninja series, from the ZX Spectrum through to the Atari ST. I can remember The Last Ninja 2 being a little challenging, but the Evercade’s save states should help with that.
Related: The ultimate Evercade guide: Every cartridge and game so far
Both cartridges are out this December 4th, priced at £24.99, and are available to pre-order now, from Funstock and other retailers. They’ll be playable on every Evercade console from the Super Pocket through to the upcoming Evercade Nexus.
