Nothing says Christmas like a fish in a robotic suit parodying RoboCop. At least, for a generation of gamers in the early 1990s, that otherwise absurd assertion holds true.
Because as Christmas 1991 neared, James Pond 2: Codename: RoboCod was released, marking an unexpectedly festive return for an icon of British gaming. Two years previously, James Pond: Underwater Agent had landed on the Commodore machines, debuting a cheerful parody platformer that took a loving aim at the 007 movies. It wasn’t a perfectly-finessed genre contribution, but it had an abundance of character, a captivatingly silly spirit, and was tremendously fun. Critics were divided, but the public eagerly embraced Pond’s return, with RoboCod charming an army of fans. The eponymous mudskipper even became something of an unofficial Amiga mascot until Zool arrived in 1992.
RoboCod remains associated with the Amiga, and was built for the Commodore line. But deep in development, publisher Electronic Arts revealed it would need the Mega Drive build ready first. An Atari port was also released in 1991, with numerous other versions following. And yet that association with the Amiga is so strong that James Pond 2 gets a spotlight in Commodore Amiga: a visual compendium – with the fish himself making the cover.
Following the concluding events of James Pond’s first outing, arch villain Dr. Maybe has retreated to the North Pole, taking over Santa’s Workshop, turning the bearded legend’s workers into a dangerous army. In most ports of the game those workers are penguins thanks to an unlikely sponsorship deal; more on that below. The result is a game set in Father Christmas’ sprawling HQ, meaning you can expect all manner of snow draped rooftops, tumbling flakes, candy cane architecture, and toy-production lines.
RoboCod’s ability to evoke Christmas nostalgia isn’t only about its setting. That is because so many of us opened our copy on Christmas day, perhaps even with our first Amiga. As a result, plenty of us harbour fond, hazy memories of time away from the grindstone spent saving Christmas with a telescopic fish.
Gameplay wise, RoboCod follows the fundamentals of the first game. The major new addition to James Pond 2 is the hero spy’s ‘robot suit’, which clearly leans into the character design of Paul Verhoeven’s iconic 1987 movie protagonist RoboCop. In the case of Mr. Pond, the suit lets him stretch vertically, enabling him to reach higher areas and evade swarming enemies.
It was an idea that came to the mind of the game’s designer, programmer, and artist, Chris Sorrell in a moment of sudden realisation. “It was just an idea that popped into my head one day when I was trying to think of some special power I could give to him,” Sorrell tells Codetapper. “Up to that point, the best I'd come up with was a large Donkey Kong style mallet so I'm very glad to have had that flash of inspiration. I didn't use a sprite for this because the stretching section would have crossed over between the two bands of sprite re-use, and besides, this was an element of play that you only used occasionally and only when the action tended to be a bit slower anyhow.”
While the ability was intended for occasional use, it was central to the quality of James Pond 2. Many of the most memorable stages were built around RoboCod’s stretch ability, enabling Sorrell to conceive unusual and captivating level design that played into the fact the game’s hero could reach great heights without needing to jump.
The game’s other memorable feature – in numerous territories, at least – was a sponsorship by Penguin chocolate biscuits, most notable in the game’s opening sequence, which establishes something of a narrative. It was a deal agreed very late in the game’s production, and initially, not everyone involved was best pleased. “That was a seriously unpopular demand when it first came through,” Sorrell explains to Codetapper. “Although in hindsight I think it actually adds to the character of the game. The whole sequence was created by Simeon Pashley who was the programmer primarily responsible for the Mega Drive conversion. He's a super professional coder, so it all went in very smoothly. I added the Penguin graphics to the chocolate-and-candy level set and tacked on the simple 'rescue the penguin' mechanic. I always like the wry addition that Simeon made to the game-over screen as a group of penguins drag Pond's body offscreen: 'smoked kipper for tea!'.”
RoboCod – like Zool soon after – may have used sponsorship as a commercial reality, but that didn't stop it having an abundance of wry, subversive, playful personality. To this day it feels the very opposite of corporate. And all these years on, it still capably delivers on the Christmas cheer.
Thank you so much to Codetapper for giving us permission to use quotes from their longform interview with Sorrell. If you’re interested in the technical side of retro gaming, the Codetapper website absolutely deserves a bookmark. And if you’d like to learn more about over 140 Amiga classics (with some insight from Sorrell and many other game makers from that era) be sure to check out Commodore Amiga: a visual compendium – and maybe add it to your letter to Santa, who by all reports is fully recovered thanks to a certain fish.
Header artwork by David Rowe. Go on ... treat yourself to a print and support this legendary artist.
