Santa Claus Jr. (Game Boy Advance) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

As part of our Festive Games round up we felt it only fair that we take another look at one of our favorite Christmas titles of all time on the GBA. What's different about Santa Claus Jr. is that it's an original property and rather than use the internationalyl recognized St. Nick the developers have instead created a side story involving an adventurous boy. When I first reviewed this game some years ago it was clear that original titles were on the decline, mainly due to the built in risk factor, whilst anything with a license be it TV or movies was flourishing. This situation has not improved and we've seen a decline in the number of GBA titles produced with both developers and publishers preferring a 'sure thing'. It's a shame really and Santa Claus Jr. does demonstrate one very important aspect of game development: What happens when you just let the creatives do what they want? The answers are here...

Gameplay

Santa Claus Jr. bestows on you the task of helping out St. Nick and delivering presents to eager children aided only by Fairy Snowflake who I'll talk more about later. It seems that a Wicked Witch (there's always one) has decided to do her evil thing and disrupt the festive season. The problem you have is that seemingly harmless, everyday objects have been put under a spell and are out to get you whilst the children are hidden from view. You must get the gifts to their recipients while solving puzzles and collecting everything you can and then find the exit. Obviously this isn't as simple as I've just made it sound and the children become far harder to locate, and far more dangerous to your health, as the game progresses. You'll quickly learn that moving platforms and super jumps are the route to success and exploration is often rewarded.

Fairy Snowflake is incredibly useful but only if you've managed to collect Fairy Dust. Without this she'll simply fly by your side. In order to amass this most important of collectables you need to seek out, and jump on, the blue boxes located throughout the landscapes and they will then be added to your collection. Fairy dust can be traded for a number of spells including freezing your opponents, super jumps and even extra health. It's a unique addition to the platforming genre adding an element of strategy to the proceedings, as you'll find yourself constantly making decisions about how exactly you should use this valuable resource. Buying extra health, for example, could save a valuable life but may leave you without enough dust for the super jumps required to complete the level.

You'll also discover some hidden bonus levels dotted around and entering them allows you to collect unlimited candy canes against a timer. These are worth seeking out, as 100 canes will reward you with an extra life. The whole game is automatically saved to a battery back up after each completed level in one of three save slots. This will also give you access to Santa's Rating screen offering you valuable feedback on how well you did and exactly how much you missed. Completion of the whole game opens up some amazing bonus items including the ability to replay any game level or bonus level even if you missed them originally.

Controls

Controlling Santa Claus Jr. isn't that easy to start with but fortunately the developers have provided not just one tutorial, but a whole section of them covering absolutely everything from basic movement to dealing with stubborn enemies. It really is very good. I've only actually looked at the printed manual because I'm writing this review. The collision detection and sprite maneuverability is unquestionably some of the best I've seen in any GBA title and ample development time has obviously been dedicated to this most important aspect.

Graphics

Visually this game is absolutely wonderful and both the design and animation are excellent, which makes a nice change from the many average graphics we see. The main character is very fluid whatever he happens to be doing which is very nice though it is the very least you should really expect. What really sets this title apart though is that everything appears to have had the same attention to detail and whether the sprites are friend or foe they also feature a unique sense of fun. The developers have also utilized some classic Warner Brothers design and the forced perspective environments mixed with the awkward scaling all work surprisingly well. The colors used are varied to say the very least but the manner in which they've been used really does bring each area alive. Overall, this is a stunning looking game and other platformer developers should note that this is what gamers are looking for.

Sound

Again, the audio aspects are absolutely spot-on. For starters, the soundtrack is, again, one of the best I've heard. The clarity at which it's belting out of the GBA's woefully inadequate speaker system is quite amazing. Add yourself a pair of headphones and you may never leave Christmas Land again. The sound effects are equally as pleasing with the developers again taking the cartoon approach providing a whole host of comical audio effects to accompany your colorful adventure.

Final comments

As I never played the GBC version I can't really comment on the improvements that have been made but what I can tell you is that Santa Claus Jr. Advance has everything you're looking for in a platformer. Spectacular audio and visuals, ingenious level design and it's incredibly long lasting. In fact, it's hard to fault this title in any way. Of course, a multi-player option would have been nice as once you've actually completed it there is little incentive to go back (except for the bonus menu) but what is here, really is quality. The years have done little to age this GBA classic, so do yourself a favor and take a chance on an original title. You won't regret it.

Pro: Looks Incredible
Con: Little Replay Value
Final score: 8.5

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