There's Something About Calamari

Chasing the mass appeal of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario in the '90s, some game developers devised blatant clones, whilst others assimilated the best elements of each, expanding upon the concepts that make them so engaging. Vectordean's contribution was the lovably ubiquitous James Pond 2: RoboCod. It takes Sonic's foot-blurring velocity, seamlessly blending it with the platforming antics of Mario. What RoboCod delivers over and above homage is his telescopic torso manoeuvre, platform-underside-gripping shimmying, endearing enemies you can't decide whether to pet or kill, charming wit, in large part courtesy of the unrelenting James Bond/RoboCop parodies, nostalgic throwbacks to the inaugural James Pond game that fans of the series will recognise and appreciate, and more artistic variety than Sonic and Mario mushed together. Of course, they all feature fantastic music, finely-tuned, responsive controls and addictive gameplay too.

My enduring affection for RoboCod no doubt contributed greatly to my lack of interest in SEGA and Nintendo consoles at the time. A controversial stance that explains Roger Moore's raised eyebrows. In what must be the most comprehensive article ever written about RoboCod, I explore the abounding reasons our fi5hy friend left such a lasting impression on my psyche and was sufficiently well-regarded to break free from the niche of Amiga gaming to earn a license to gill on almost every game and computer system worth its sea salt.

In a separate article, I discuss with Chris Sorrell - RoboCod's creator - the curious inclusion of Bertie Bassett in the original title and many of its subsequent ports.

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