Item - As Good as Gold

Yes, once upon a time there was an attempt to market the James Bond property to young children, via the cartoon series based around his teenage nephew, and teenage relatives of other prominent characters from the film series. Like, apparently, Felix Leiter's surfer dude son. Go figure.

As an introduction aid to the show, this book isn't up to much, with how it goes in assuming the reader's already familiar with the cartoon's cast of characters (the first choice is about which of James Jr.'s friends he hangs out with on their day away from school). Let alone easing anyone who's more familiar with the film series into the setting, since they'd be expecting Goldfinger and Oddjob to be dead.

As a gamebook, though, the game design's slightly above average, since there are some mechanics that affect play like whether a certain sidekick's with him, which can be both a help or a hindrance. Later on there's also a bit of inventory management where the reader can pick from a selection of concealed gadgets to help them on the more dangerous phase of their mission.

One of the stranger aspects of the book, at least to my mind, was how it tried to include 007 himself (which, from a cursory bit of research, the cartoon itself never did). Basically, James Jr. has the option to call his uncle for help at a few points, but is told James Sr. will handle things from then on, and James Jr.'s disappointed at missing out on the adventure and should've handled things himself. Telling kids to have confidence is one thing, but telling them not to get help when they see something dangerous is another.

6.5 / 10

More reviews by Fireguard