The Aquatic Games
The Aquatic Games (Super Aquatic Games on the SNES) is a sports video game by Millennium Software. It featured pseudo-Olympic sports starring the video game character James Pond, better known for his series of side-view platform games.
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| The Aquatic Games | |
|---|---|
 European Mega Drive cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Millennium Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Producer(s) | Kevin Shrapnell |
| Designer(s) | Steve Bak |
| Programmer(s) | Steve Bak |
| Artist(s) | Sean Nicholls |
| Composer(s) | Richard Joseph |
| Series | James Pond  |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES |
| Release | 1992 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Gameplay
The game is an aquatic-themed parody of games like Konami's Track & Field. Aquatic Games was the last game starring James Pond to be released for the Amiga A500. Though the next game (James Pond 3: Operation Starfish) also appeared on the Amiga, it was only compatible with the newer range of 32-bit Amigas (such as the A1200) which used the AGA chipset.
The game contains classical music pieces Ode to Joy (from Beethoven's 9th) in the title screen and Schubert's fish song "Die Forelle" during certain events. The rest of the music is composed by Richard Joseph.
Reception
GamePro gave the SNES version a generally positive review. They commented that the simplistic gameplay, cartoony graphics, and humorous sound effects make it a game that younger players would enjoy, while older players would find it unappealing.[1]
In contrast, Classic Game Room's Mark Bussler reviewed it negatively as "a very half-baked game at best." He made an exception to the Feeding Time mini-game, "which would have made a good Atari 2600 game back in the day."[2]
References
- "ProReviews". GamePro (51). IDG. October 1993. p. 100.
- Classic Game Room review, May 18, 2017