Publisher Sunsoft made a name for themselves in the ‘80s by releasing high quality licensed games on the NES and Game Boy, based on such properties as Batman, Gremlins and Looney Tunes. Terminator and Superman games were once in development for the NES too, only to have their licenses revoked mid-development. It seems this played a small part in Sunsoft choosing to chase another trend – an assortment of mascot driven platformers, fuelled by the incredible popularity of Sonic and Super Mario.
Sunsoft found success with the Aero the Acro-Bat series, releasing two titles and a spin-off for the Mega Drive and SNES. These weren’t created in-house in Japan, but rather by Iguana Entertainment who later created the Turok franchise on N64. Sourcing games from Western studios led to Sunsoft picking up the publishing rights for Daze Before Christmas in 1994, developed by Norwegian studio Funcom – who were also putting the finishing touches to the movie tie-in A Dinosaur’s Tale. The two even share code.
You could argue that when it comes to mascot driven platformers, creating something with Santa as the main star was a no-brainer. Santa is just as recognisable as Mickey Mouse or any Looney Tunes character – and there’s no licensing fee to pay. You could also argue that it’s a risky proposition, as sales are likely to fizzle out once the Christmas tree is back in the loft. A Christmas game is something that had (and still has) the potential to be a strong seller for a couple of months, though, and this alone seems to be enough for Sunsoft to take the plunge.
The seasonal nature of Daze Before Christmas appears to have played havoc with the release schedule, originally gaining a release only in Australia on the Mega Drive. Later, a SNES version was released in Europe during November 1994. A US release was planned but cancelled after Sunsoft faced financial difficulties.
The limited release has made the Mega Drive version sought after by collectors, with copies selling for over £500 nowadays. The European SNES version can fetch a hefty sum too.
Fortunately for those curious it can be played (legally!) on the Evercade, appearing on Sunsoft Collection 1. It’s not a bad little platformer at all, offering a little bit of variety, but neither is it a classic. The story sees Santa – who doesn’t largely resemble the cover star, looking far more rotund and having a yellowish complexion – out to save Christmas by retrieving presents, freeing elves, and defeating bosses including a giant rat and a storm cloud. The action is spread across 24 stages, charted using an advent calendar. In addition to platforming stages set within Santa’s workshop and the North Pole, it has horizontal scrolling sleigh rides in which presents must be dropped down chimneys. These are set across the globe and feature famous landmarks as backdrops, helping to break up the platforming reasonably well.
As 16-bit platformers go, Daze Before Christmas is considerably easy going with little to frustrate aside from a few maze-like levels. Indeed, it’s clear that it’s aimed at younger gamers. This makes its standout feature even more peculiar. Here, Santa can turn into a red-skinned devilish doppelganger known as ‘Anti Claus’ after collecting a cup of tea. This power-up grants invincibility for a few seconds, replacing Santa’s magical projectile attack with a sack swing. It’s an odd sight that doesn’t suit the family friendly nature of the game at all, but there may be a reasonable explanation. In Norwegian folklore, Santa is joined by Krampus, a horned beast who hits naughty children with branches. It seems that at some in development point, Krampus became the more marketable Anti Claus. You have to wonder how American gamers would have perceived this satanic take on Santa, with religious imagery usually a no-go in early video games, especially those licensed by Nintendo. It may have even been enough to cause a stink.
Daze Before Christmas gets a pass largely on its presentation, with each stage commencing with a unique image showing Santa in a precarious situation, and the quality of animation a cut above what we usually saw on the Mega Drive. Santa walks with a waddle, spins down poles, hides inside his hat when ducking, and has a goofy expression when falling. He builds momentum when running too quickly though; especially when the stages aren’t designed for speeding around. You’re mostly tasked with collecting presents, defeating enemies, searching for level exits, and leaping over gaps – with a few ‘leaps of faith’ to contend with. The need to create 24 unique stages does result in padding, with a few later stages feeling like filler, although it never feels lazily made as the backdrops are mostly good looking and the bosses are creative.
Reviews for Daze Before Christmas weren’t too kind, mostly in the 5/10 ballpark. This seems reasonable considering how low the difficulty level was. SNES and Mega Drive games retailed at £40-£50, so they were expected to take a while to complete. The developers managed to cram a lot of seasonal cheer in, so it does succeed as being suitably festive, achieving a lot more than the terrible Santa Claus Saves the Earth on PS1 – which also had a main sprite failing to resemble the cover star. There we were thinking only parents had to explain the concept of multiple Santas.