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Ponder this: the oceans are racked by ruinous radioactive waste, oil platforms pillage the sea bed, waters are foolishly over-fished. There's only one character who can handle this desperate situation, and his name's Pond - James Pond.

Controlling the fishy character of James Pond, underwater super sleuth and special agent extraordinaire, you need to complete a series of twelve missions, each set underwater or close to the shortline, and amass a huge score in the process. The first mission you face is to release all the lobsters from their baskets. To achieve this you have to find keys scattered round the level, pick them up and carry them to the lobsters. You can hold only one item at a time, which isn't a problem at this point in the game but can prove awkward later on - when in later levels, for example, there are extras to collect such as a ray gun or a pair of shades which can illuminate otherwise invisible dangerous jellyfish.

Later missions demand that you lead fish out of toxic water or blow up oil platforms by placing sticks of dynamite round their legs. The missions are complicated by menacing fish which consistently get in your way. You can stun them by firing a bubble at them and kill them off altogether by walking over them while stunned.

The visuals are particularly bright and colourful, but sadly the scrolling is slightly jerky. This doesn't upset the gameplay much but it's still an unfortunate oversight. By comparison the sound effects are brilliant. There's an option to listen to ST sound chip music during the action or you can switch to sampled effects, including all sorts of bubble noises and beeps and burps when you collect bonus objects.

The only thing likely to hold James Pond back is the fact that's different. Don't get me wrong: it's certainly an absorbing and fun game to play, but many people are likely to miss you on the action because they won't be quite sure whether it's the right type of game for them.

It's a shame the scrolling couldn't have been smoother, but apart from that the visuals are bursting with kaleidoscopic colour, the sound effects are a masterpiece and the action is going to keep you rooted to your chair.

In short, you can't afford to miss it.