4 bizarre Christmas games you need to know (or not)

I know you’re already in the Christmas spirit. Probably reading this article thinking about supper, already devouring some delicacies, or even working, since the world cannot stop!

To entertain you, I’ve put together a selection of 4 Christmas-themed games. But, pay attention! No listing famous titles with subtle references to the time, like Spider-Man: Miles Morales. VWe take the opposite path.

A list of somewhat bizarre titles that you may have never heard of. Let’s go!

Daze Before Christmas

I start this list with the platform game Daze Before Christmasreleased in 1994. This was the only Mega Drive game released exclusively in Australia. The game also got a version for the SNES.

Em Daze Before Christmasyou take control of the good old man throughout 24 stages full of challenges. Your mission is to recover the children’s gifts, which were stolen and cursed by the villain. Louse the Mouse. To do this, Santa Claus collects items along the way and uses magic powder to purify the toys “contaminated” by the mouse.

An unusual detail of the game is Santa Claus’s transformation power. When collecting a cup of hot tea, he turns into the Anti-Clausa blue and evil version of the old man himself. This mechanic adds an unexpected and fun twist to the experience.

Like countless other games, the programmers hid a message, an Easter egg. The message in question was a quote from the actress Shirley Temple:

“I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six years old. My mom took me to see him at a toy store and he asked me for an autograph.”

Elf Bowling

We now move on to the Elf Bowlingreleased in 1998 for PC. Developed by NStorm. The premise is super simple: you control Santa Claus and try to knock down elves that are positioned like bowling pins.

If it were released today, this theme would be enough to irritate some squeamish people. But at the time it caused some irritation, not because of the game’s theme, but because it was flagged as a virus.

The history of the internet is full of cases in which some famous software becomes a bait for the spread of malware, or at least to cause panic due to false alerts. And that happened with Elf Bowling, which was a huge success. Free, the game was installed by more than 7.6 million people in one month.

Both Elf Bowling and Frogapult, another NStorm game, were erroneously flagged as being contaminated by viruses. The information was refuted some time later. Symantec, the company behind Norton antivirus, analyzed the software and found no threats.

Merry Gear Solid: Secret Santa

A few months ago I remembered here at Hardware.com.br the history of Street Chavesa fan made by a developer from São Paulo known as Cybergamba. He took elements from some famous fighting games, such as Street Fighter, and created a fighting game with the characters from the most famous village in pop culture.

How about now taking a look at a game inspired by another famous title and which added a Christmas context?

That’s the idea behind Merry Gear Solid: Secret Santa. Released in 2006 for PC, this fan made game developed by Insignificant Studios mixes Christmas with the stealth gameplay of the classic Metal Gear Solid.

In the game you control Santa Claus as he invades houses to deliver gifts without being noticed by security guards. It’s the good old man, called Solid Santa, in stealth mode. Simple and fun.

It is worth remembering that in Metal Gear 2, released in 1990, Solid Snake goes on a mission on Christmas Eve.

Santa Claus Saves the Earth

The games mentioned above contain some eccentric, funny elements, with a hint of bizarreness, but they are playable now Santa Claus Saves the Earth It’s one of the greatest games ever made.

Developed by Lithuanian studio Ivolgamus and published by Telegames, the game gained versions for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance in 2002.

The story basically goes like this: On December 24th, an evil fairy named Nilam sends Santa Claus to an Enchanted Land. With just hours until Christmas, Santa Claus must travel across fairy-controlled worlds to save Christmas.

This is one of those games from the vast PS1 catalog that practically no one remembers, as there really isn’t much to consider about it. Everything is a bit generic and strange. Horrible graphics and controls that would irritate even Nerd Flanders.

Did you like the list? Would you mention other games? Comment below.

Merry Christmas!!