Amiga Action Issue 57 is a bright, upbeat issue anchored by a big James Pond 3: Operation Starfish feature (and a full “career retrospective” on the fish himself), while the reviews section leans hard into glossy, modern, “console-quality” Amiga releases. The standout review is Mr Nutz, hailed as the closest the Amiga has come to a Sonic-style platformer thanks to ultra-smooth scrolling, parallax layers, flashy presentation, and clever map-based linking between stages. Alongside that, the mag digs into CD32-friendly party gaming with Trivial Pursuit (voiced host, loads of animation and a big question bank), and gives serious time to deep strategy with K240—pitched as a “Utopia evolved” empire-builder where you colonize asteroids, manage resources and morale, then expand into conflict with alien races—while Maelstrom lands as the “too dense to love” counterpoint: atmospheric and ambitious, but slammed for drabness and a painfully inaccessible interface. The overall vibe is classic AA: celebrate the genuinely excellent (especially platformers and polished CD32 titles), recommend the smart strategy stuff, and mercilessly call out anything that feels like hard work.

Highlights

• Cover + main feature: James Pond 3: Operation Starfish preview + deep-dive retrospective on the series and creator Chris Sorrell.
  • Fun backstory: Pond originally started as “Guppy” before the Bond parody identity clicked.
  • Pond 3 plot: Dr Maybe lures unemployed rats to the Moon to mine Moon cheese, aiming to monopolize the world cheese market; Pond gets new wall-walking boots, plus fellow agents Finnius Frog and Angel Fish; promoted as 100 levels and save points to reduce frustration.
• Coverdisks (2 disks) content:
  • Disk 1: Sierra Soccer World Challenge demo (England vs Holland, 1-minute halves; aftertouch passing and set-piece controls explained in a mini guide).
  • Disk 2: Brian the Lion (A1200 enhanced) first level demo, plus it’s promoted as a “real treat” for A1200 owners.
• Best-reviewed game: Mr Nutz — 92% overall, described as a true “console-style” platformer with smooth scrolling, parallax, gorgeous sprites, and a map section between stages where you collect key items before entering flagged platform zones. The review especially praises its speed, polish, and the fact it runs on any 1MB Amiga.
• CD32 party highlight: Trivial Pursuit — 86% overall, positioned as a slick CD quiz experience with a voiced host character (Russell, voiced by comedian Chris Langham), cameo question presenters like Albert Einstein and Mae West, and a question bank of 2000+; praised as perfect office multiplayer.
• Strategy star: K240 — 86% overall, framed as Utopia’s sequel-in-spirit: colonize and sustain asteroid bases (air/water/food/power, housing, entertainment), build defenses, then expand via ships/satellites to scout and conquer—choosing from six alien races as your opponent. Called addictive once mastered.
• The divisive one: Maelstrom — 73% overall, introduced as a Syd Mead–styled “planetary war” strategy epic with ministers, politics, and huge scope, but heavily criticized for being too text-heavy, drab, and inaccessible, aimed only at the hardest-core strategy fans.
• Charts snapshot: Full-price chart lists big hitters like Cannon Fodder, Frontier: Elite II, Premier Manager 2, Skidmarks, Winter Olympics, Liberation, plus strong showings for Championship Manager 93/94, Sensible Soccer, Chaos Engine, and Simon the Sorcerer.