Simply having a pixely Christmas Time

Season's greetings one and all!

With the festive period very much in full swing and the Big Day almost upon us, I thought I would take a little look at how Christmas plays a part in some of my favourite video games...tis the season, after all.

Shenmue - Dreamcast

Ryo nearly manages a smile at Christmas!

For me, there are very few sights in the gaming world that compare with that of the wonderful city of Yokosuka covered in snow and lit up at Christmas time. And as you would expect from such a magnificent game, Shenmue makes you feel as if you are really there, trudging through the crisp snow, downing cans of Jet Cola and spending all your pocket money on addictive capsule toys! And what's more, you can do all this (and so much more) to the accompaniment of some wonderful background music.

The very first time I played Shenmue was in the lead up to Christmas of 2001, and for this reason alone it will forever remain a special Christmas game to me...plus there aren't many better ways of hibernating the winter away!

Secret of Mana - Super Nintendo/Super Famicom

Christmas is saved, thanks to Salamando!

I'm not sure I've ever played another game where you have to beat the living daylights out of Father Christmas in order to help save the world...but here we have it with Square's masterful Secret of Mana! Upon arriving in the Ice Country, you find out that the jolly fat man has been kidnapped and as it turns out, possessed by the spirit of Frost Gigas. In order to stop him wreaking havoc you need to take him down fast...a few well place swings of a Flame Sabre and a couple of Fireballs help knock the sense back into Claus and save the day.

Secret of Mana will always be one of my all time favourite video games. It offers up a very rare experience, and the chance to save Christmas within it's joyous world makes that experience even sweeter.  

Christmas NiGHTS - Saturn

Nightopia, the ultimate Christmas destination...

The original NiGHTS was always a rather magical experience for me, but once you get the Christmas edition and (if need be) change the Saturn's internal clock to December...the fun starts to get really festive! Elliot and Claris journey once more to Nightopia and team up with the whimsical jester known as NiGHTS, this time to rescue the Christmas Star from the evil Gillwing. Flying around around Spring Valley while it's covered in a deep blanket of snow and with a gorgeous instrumental version of Jingle Bells as your musical accompaniment is genuinely out of this world!  

Christmas NiGHTS is not the longest or most complex game you're likely to play this year (only 2 levels long), but it another piece of unbridled joy from Sega and one which would put a smile on the face of all but the biggest of grinches.

Batman Returns - Super Nintendo/Super Famicom

Festive cheer...Gotham Style!

Not content with making one of the most accomplished beat-em-ups of the 16bit generation, Konami also saw fit to smother Batman Returns in a wonderful Christmas inspired glaze! The Penguin and Catwoman are intent on bringing chaos to Gotham during the holiday season...cue the Dark Knight and his dazzling array of moves and gadgets. In order to save the day, you must knock seven bells out of the baddies...which strangely enough, could be compared to shopping on Christmas Eve.

Although it's by far the darkest use of Christmas within this list, there is a definite allure to prowling the lawless streets of Gotham and dispensing some seasonal vigilante justice.

So there we have it. I sincerely hope this little list of games adds to your festive cheer!

To everyone who reads my written meanderings; I'd like to extend a massive thank you for your support and encouragement throughout the year. I wish you all a very happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Gaming's great intros part II: Secret of Mana

Anyone who is fan of the RPG genre will doubtless have heard of the Mana Series, and anyone who is a fan of Secret of Mana will no doubt remember the first time they fired this game up and witnessed Hiroki Kikuta's orchestral masterpiece.

From the second you hear the haunting cry of the wolves, you know you're in for a real treat, and this feeling is only amplified when the screen finally stretches fully open and you are treated to the sight of the Mana Tree in all her crowning glory. As the epic story scrolls on by, the glorious musical score (performed by actual instruments - then a first on the SNES) weaves a tale all of it's own and shows how Square were quite simply on a different plane to everyone else. When the music finally reaches it's angelic crescendo, accompanied by a  flock of birds flying across the screen, you get the feeling that what you've just seen is beyond epic.

The most amazing thing about Secret of Mana (or Seiken Densetsu II to coin it's proper name) is that as good as the intro sequence is, the game is even better. Released in the UK way back in 1994, Mana went a long way to satisfying a rabid hunger that had grown within British gamers. With competition being thin on the ground, and coming mainly in the shape of the vastly underrated Soul Blazer and the near perfect Zelda III, Square aimed for the top with their long awaited ARPG and achieved it with consummate ease. Boasting a story that would put most traditional RPGs to shame, an ingenious battle system and the ability to have two friends join you for the ride, Mana literally wiped the floor with anything that came sniffing for it's crown.

Visually and sonically stunning in every way, Mana showed it's true class by remaining one of the greatest games on the SNES for the entire life span of the little 16bit wonder, and indeed it was only usurped as the little grey box's finest ARPG by the eventual release of Enix's majestic Terranigma in late 1996.

Perhaps the greatest testament that I can pay this incredible piece of cinema though, is that even by today's standards, it still looks and sounds genuinely inspired. And while Hiroki Kikuta may have never topped his work on Secret of Mana, he can rest assured that there is a place in the history books reserved for him and his piece of audio perfection.

A more in depth look at Square's finest action adventure game (to be released in the west anyways) is on it's way, but for now...help yourself to a look at one of the finest pieces of video game cinema ever conceived.