Christmas Double Pack (Game Boy Advance) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

If you've been Nintendo gaming for some time you'll probably be aware of the Drunken Coders Christmas Coding Competition which is now in it's third year. This cart represents two entries to that very contest and in these dying days of the GBA it's important to remember just what it did best: simple 2D games with simple objectives and outcomes. This kind of independent publishing is becoming more widespread at the moment and really should be supported. After all, you could be missing out on some true gaming gems.

Gameplay

There's two festive games available on this cart with another hidden one should you care to look. Santa's Chimney Challenge puts you in the driving seat of the man himself delivering presents across the snow-covered rooftops. The problem is that the chimneys are far to tall and to avoid crashing into them you must 'feed' them with presents. This sounds simple but with an increasingly fast sleigh mixed with a nervous trigger finger leads to the obvious miscalculations. Next up is Santa's Skidoo Scarper, which is a 'top-down' affair where you must get Santa (and his Skidoo) across the finish line as quickly as possible. Along the way there's the usual bonus items, speed up's and hazards but this is all a great deal challenging that it first appears. Both games feature hi-score saves and given that the average game time is around three minutes you'll find yourself picking up you GBA during adverts on TV.

Controls

Couldn't really be simpler with the Chimney Challenge in particular only requiring one button to be pressed. The Skidoo Scarper is a little more complicated but even though this requires turning your GBA on its side it's still very easy to play.

Graphics

Nice colorful visuals which make the most of the GBA pallet. Yes, they're hardly going to win any awards but they do a fine job of brining the game play to life

Sound

Wonderful Christmas classics, which will have you humming along as you deliver presents/drive your skidoo.

Final comments

This Santa Double Bill cart really is a blast from the past. Remember when games where simple basically because we knew nothing better? I'm by no means saying that as a bad thing and these two games with their single objectives represent not only great fun but also outstanding value for money so give yourself some festive cheer, order a copy from the RGCD website and give that other slot in your DS something to do.

Pro: Great, Simple Fun.
Con: Only Two Games.
Final score: 6.2

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