Super James Pond (SNES)

To do: Some more regional differences

A game based on a pun of the James Bond series with Super in the title. Something's fishy here...

Regional Differences#

Intro#

Unique to the Japanese version is an intro shown before the title screen, which is found in other versions of the game. The product placement for Penguin biscuits at the end seen in the home computer versions is also absent, despite the penguins still getting into position for it. We also see Victor's logo on a screen before this.

Title Screen#

Japan	US	Europe

The US and European versions have the publisher's logo towards the bottom, unlike the Japanese version, presumably because the logo is on a separate screen instead. The logo and image of James Pond are also slightly bigger in the US version, and Pond has less fingers.

Lastly, despite the boxart just calling it Super James Pond, the European version doesn't omit the II in-game.

Japan-Exclusive Timer#

Another Japanese version exclusive is this screen after the usual level completion results screen (excluding boss levels), including Dr. Maybe looking at his watch alongside a timer counting down to the explosion of Santa's Workshop.

There isn't a real-time countdown, and the time shown on this screen is pre-determined and changes depending on the level beaten, so competing Level 1, for example, always shows 23 hours and 28 minutes.

There is also a unique variant seen after completing the Circus World (the level preceding the final boss level, the final boss in question being Dr. Maybe inside a giant snowman), where Dr. Maybe is implied to have left the room, leaving his shoes, watch, and coat behind.

The text is also a more yellow color and the numbers are dark blue, likely indicating that the timer has stopped.

Continues & Game Over Screen#

The Japanese version has a unique game over screen for when the countdown timer is up, which is essentially a static recreation of the game over scene found on other versions like the Amiga original. The US and European versions just have two bits of text with the background at its most pixelated, and they also have limited continues.

Music#

To do: The rest of the music plus an EU-exclusive jingle

The music in the Japanese and US versions was composed by Richard Joseph, the composer for the Amiga original, while the European version was composed by Keith Tinman, who was employed by Ocean at the time. There are some key differences, like the Roaming theme being faster but with more sections before it loops.