A playthrough of THQ's 1992 licensed-based action-platformer for the Super Nintendo, James Bond Jr.

Based on the entertaining but cheesy cartoon from the early nineties, James Bond Jr. stars the titular nephew of England's best-known superspy. Since when does being named after an uncle make someone a ""junior"?

I actually enjoyed the show as a kid, though. My sister and I often would watch it when it was on after school.

James Bond Jr. was the first of a series of license-based SNES games developed by Gray Matter, and it was followed by the likes of Wayne's World, Ren & Stimpy: Veediots, and The Incredible Crash Dummies.

It's a simple mash-up of the platformer and shoot 'em up genres. On foot, James boings across the screen with little regard for things like gravity and physics, punching snakes and shooting costumed bad guys in the face. When he takes to the skies, good ol' Jimmy-boy pilots a helicopter and fires at random targets in sequences that feel remarkably similar to the shooter stages in the NES game Captain Planet and the Planeteers, which also happens to have been developed by Gray Matter.

The gameplay is all perfunctory but sub-par and sloppy, and the graphics are laughably ugly. To the game's credit, it is easy enough to let you derive a few good laughs from it without becoming too frustrated. My favorite part of the entire game was the awkward abuse of the SNES stock sound library's slap bass sample (famously known for its use in Paperboy 2's Seinfeld tune) that is prominently featured both on the title screen and during the first shooter stage. It made me laugh pretty hard at how corny it was, and I'm pretty sure that those songs have lodged themselves deeply enough in my mind that I won't forget them. Probably ever. FML.

And speaking of that helicopter stage music, was anyone else struck by just how similar it is to the boss music in A Link to the Past?

James Bond Jr. isn't terrible. There are many official carts for the SNES that play far worse than this one, but there are just as many out there that play better. It doesn't really do anything worthwhile with its license, which was of dubious value to begin with, but it is short and easy enough that you can spend an hour or two finishing it and not totally regret the use of your time. You won't be terribly satisfied by it either, though.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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