Andrew Newton with a selection of classic Christmas movie tie-in retro games…
With Christmas upon us I thought it was time for us at Flickering Myth to have a look at video games through the ages that have been inspired by this wonderful season of giving. Sure, not all the games (nor the films) may be considered as Christmas movies but they take place at this festive time. There’s some gems in this list so let us start with….
Home Alone
A game based on this came out on near enough every single platform out at the time (if it had been an 80’s release it would probably have had a release on the Grundy Newbrain). That being said, not every platform had the same game and had all different developers depending on whether you played it on an Amiga, Super Nintendo, Game Gear etc. To describe all the different games this film has spawned would take us through to the new year but to summarise them all, they all have little Kevin McCallister defending homes from the Wet Bandits.
Harry and Marv unaware of the young psycho they’re about to encounter. Amiga version.
The version I specifically remember playing was the Amiga version (also the same as the MS Dos version) and gave players an in-game hour to set traps, such as the iconic hot door handle and blowtorch, then run around the house avoiding Harry and Marv. Touching either of the thieves resulted in defeat but getting them with ten traps each was a victory. A neat detail was showing the robbers in the top half of the screen reacting to the traps and the location.
Kevin runs through a huge bathroom while the Wet Bandits come to a sorry end in the Amiga version.
The Sega version had players defending several houses with a variety of makeshift weapons, including bazookas and rifles (seems a bit naff to me), while the Nintendo version tasked players with collecting the family’s valuables and dropping them down the laundry chute to a safe while avoiding Harry and Marv.
Wet Bandits and electricity don’t mix well in the Mega Drive/Genesis version.
No version was, to my knowledge, ever slated but there is a special place in my heart for the Amiga one. Anyway, are you ready to give up or are you thirsty for more?
Elf: The Movie
Next we come to the incredibly popular Elf: The Movie. Not being a fan of Will Ferrell I avoided the film so naturally also avoided the game. That paid off in the long run as the game was not very well received and was the target of many a criticism (unlike the movie). Elf: The Movie is a side-scrolling platformer that has players control Buddy as he jumps and runs through 10 levels based on events of the film.
Buddy makes a weird gesture in a land of floating icebergs and a dentist’s nightmares.
Despite its failings, Elf: The Movie video game does have some appeal thanks to the addition of minigames accessible from the start menu. These include a snowman building puzzler, a memorisation game and a match-the-pairs game.
Still looking for a good Christmas game, then read on…
The Grinch
Loosely based on the 2000 film, The Grinch was a platformer released on PC, Dreamcast and PlayStation that had players control the titular Grinch and help him on his mission to find all the blueprints that blow out a window and scatter over Whoville. The Grinch will visit the many areas of Wholand, including Whoville, Whoforest and more, collecting his blueprints, destroying Christmas presents and playing dastardly tricks on the Whos.
The Grinch stares unimpressed at a snowman in the PlayStation version
There was also a Game Boy Colour game produced that took a different approach by tasking players with guiding the Grinch and his dog friend Max through a number of mazes stealing presents. Whoville citizens also roam the maze and if they see the Grinch, will chase him. Players will need to steal all the presents in the maze before time runs out.
The Game Boy Colour version gave players weird mutants to avoid instead of Whoville citizens.
Batman Returns
Just as with the Home Alone video game, a Batman Returns game was available on many platforms and for the most part were all very different. The version for the Sega Mega Drive was a platforming beat-’em-up, Master System and Game Gear players had a side scrolling platformer, the MS Dos version was a nice looking adventure, the SNES had a Renegade-esque scrolling beat ’em up game and the Amiga had a disappointing scrolling beat ’em up.
Batman assaults one of the weird circus enemies on the Mega Drive and Mega CD version.
Though Batman Returns was very different on different platforms they all revolved around scenes from the film and Batman’s fight against the Penguin as he ruins Christmas time for the residents of Gotham.
The Amiga’s Batman blends (unintentionally) into the background while a giant glaring utility belt distracts the player.
How were they all received by the gamers of the time I hear you ask. Well, the console versions had middling reviews, the MS Dos was considered very good looking and different while the Amiga version managed to disappoint many due to the PC version screenshots being given to the press and it being a buggy mess.
Die Hard
Die Hard is one of the best Christmas films out there, and yes it is a Christmas film. It’s also one of the rare few films where the sequel (Die Hard 2) is as good as the original. The success of the films led to the creation of the Die Hard Trilogy which was released on the PlayStation at the end of 1996, and PC and Sega Saturn in 1997. As the name suggests, the Die Hard Trilogy featured game versions of the first three Die Hard films but we’ll only look at the first two as not only were they set at Christmas, they were also good.
Die Hard is a third-person shooter that tasks players with shooting the bad guys and rescuing the hostages in Nakatomi Plaza. Players took control of John McClain and would need to clear all the enemies on each floor to work their way up to the roof. It definitely was a game that would have you shouting ‘Yippee Ki Yay’ with the advance to each new level.
John McClain runs barefoot around the offices looking for a pair of shoes.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder was an on-rails shooter that once again had players donning the dirty vest of John McClain and killing the terrorists that have taken over Dulles International Airport. Each level revolved around different scenes in the film, the closed of terminal, the church etc, and gave plenty of opportunities to aim a plastic gun at a TV screen.
Players get the chance to make terrorists explode in showers of blood in Die Hard 2.
The Die Hard Trilogy, at least the first two games, provided an amazingly satisfying experience and was exceedingly well received by the gaming press of the time.
These weren’t the only games based on Christmas films but we’ll save those for another time. In the meantime, let us all be thankful we were never forced to face a video game of Christmas with the Kranks.
Anyway, all that’s left is for all of us here at Flickering Myth to wish you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Andrew Newton
