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The James Pond games feature more bad gags than all the so-called comedies to emerge from Ealing Studios in the '50s. However, rather than litter this review with witticisms such as this not being the 'plaice', 'oh for cod's sake' or 'a bream come true'. You now, the kind of thing Roy Walker does when Mr. Haddock-Snacks is a contestant on Catchphrase.

Still, Pond is back and this time his arch nemesis, Doctor Maybe, has landed on the moon and is threatening to contaminate the cheese it's made of so we won't be able to enjoy the smelly stuff ever again. With such an obvious catastrophe in the making. Pond zips up to the moon in an attempt to thwart Maybe's plans by legging it across the platform zones it contains and stomping on a few foes. Thus proving it's not just the plot that's cheesy...

The third instalment of the ageing Pond series bring more fish gags to the Game Gear.

Abandoning the expanding midriff he used in Robocod, Pond is now a more athletic hero than ever before. In keeping with past platform heroes, he runs and jumps with the best, but he can also carry bulky objects and can defy gravity by running along upside down surfaces! In terms of offensive capabilities, we're in bum-bouncing territory, but Pond can also KO his foes by lobbing one of the said objects at them. Similarly, some of the icons he collects prove doubly useful - i.e. the old 'umbrella-breaking fall' gag.

The moon has been split into sixty levels, each of which are accessed via a Mario World-style map. Starting at his rocket's landing point, Pond tackles each level in order, with a dotted line to the next appearing when the level has been completed. This line then spreads across the surface of the moon as new areas are unveiled, including Dessert Desert and other cheese-related bases.

Despite the variety of baddies and obstacles inhabiting each, the basic aim is the same throughout the game: reach and destroy a mini-reactor at the end of the stage.

Being a weirdo, I thought Megadrive Operation Starfish was a fab platformer, because it employed your brain. Now I find an almost pixel-perfect conversion for the Game Gear. Just How Did They Do That? The graphics are great, with an excellent main sprite and bold yet detailed backgrounds. More levels than you'd reasonably expect and surprises on many... As Steve says, the game's own high speed is its own downfall in some ways, but this will remain a recommended buy for months.

Whilst the Megadrive version of Operation Starfish was adequate enough, it never really caught my imagination. After all, why pay for an average platformer when Sonic's latest adventure or Castlevania was out? However, despite the Game Gear playing host to more platform games than probably any other machine, Starfish seems more original than most, with ideas such as Pond running along a ceiling, and impossibly steep inclines never really seen before on the machine.

The sixty levels are well designed and offer a long-term challenge, but Starfish is let down by one major fault - and it isn't one regarding the game! When the action speeds up, the game blurs horribly making it hard to land on an enemy or judge how close you are to the edge of a level.

Despite this, though, Pond's latest adventure is worth persevering with, and finds itself firmly lodged amidst the top five Game Gear platformers.

Graphics 87%
P. Incredibly detailed, most of the 16-bit game has been ported.
N. The Game Gear screen blurs where speed is involved.

Sound 76%
P. A burbling intro, and more than adequate sound effects.

Playability 86%
P. Control of James is responsive and comprehensive.
N. The said screen blur makes some of the baddies hard to see.

Lastability 87%
P. 60 large levels which start tough, and get rapidly harder. Unbeatable for lasting appeal.
N. The password screen is a little murky because of the Game Gear's screen.

Value For Money 89%
P. You're getting a lot of game for your thirty quid!

Overall 88%
Better than the Megadrive game! Operation Starfish is a challenging and playable addition to the Game Gear library. Pity about the screen blur, though...