User:Schadenfreude09/sandbox

"Santa Claus Saves the Earth" is a 2002 Christmas-themed platform video game developed by Ivolgamus Games and published by Telegames for the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

On the back of the PS1 case, key selling for this game were listed as:


 * 1) Discover how difficult it is to be Santa Claus
 * 2) 256 Color Graphics
 * 3) Parallax background scrolling
 * 4) Animated in-game cartoons
 * 5) Defeat guards with snowballs and other cool defenses
 * 6) Discover 4 unique worlds in 15 different levels

The release of the PS1 version of this game was cancelled for North America, but was released in Europe. It was released to little fanfare and exists today as a cult classic among purveyors of bad video games.

Plot
It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is preparing to deliver presents to the children of Earth. From deep in her dungeon, an evil fairy called Nilam becomes enraged by this act of kindness and curses him. Santa, now trapped in the Magic Lands, begins a quest across these worlds to defeat Nilam and return to Earth in time to deliver presents to the children.

Gameplay
"Santa Claus Saves the Earth" is a platform game, requiring the player to traverse 15 levels, gathering triangle-shaped keys to unlock doors and progress to new areas and levels. There are various collectables to gather, such as red and green chips and special power-ups. Santa can also press switches, ride platforms and climb across beams to navigate the level.

Santa has three methods of combat to defend himself against enemies - swinging his toy sack, throwing snowballs or firing tomatoes from a machine gun.

Bugs, Glitches & Criticism
"Santa Claus Saves the Earth" survives today as a cult classic among purveyors of bad video games thanks to an enormous amount of bugs, glitches and other graphical, design or gameplay issues. Some of these issues include:


 * Poor graphics in both normal gameplay and cutscenes, including on the main menu in which Santa appears to be wearing a red jumpsuit and the tree in background is sized incorrectly in scale to the houses;
 * Typos in the script, including Nilam and her "magic copper";
 * Repetitive and unpleasant MIDI-based music that loops in each level;
 * A misleading title (in that Santa Claus saves Christmas and not the Earth);
 * Poor controls, in which Santa moves too slowly, leaps with almost weightlessness but drops suddenly and heavily and is generally unpleasant to manoeuvre;
 * Overly-aggressive enemies that attack Santa whenever they enter his "sphere of influence", often resulting in powerful enemies landing blows on Santa as he descends down a ladder or from off-screen with no time to react;
 * Santa Claus involuntarily moonwalking whenever he swings his toy sack;
 * Large, unguided maze-like levels that are easy to get lost in;
 * No player feedback;
 * Checkpoint starvation, that forces the player to restart the level from the beginning when killed;
 * A dry and disheartening "End game" screen;
 * Poor HUD, which lists your health and three vial icons on the normal screen, and hides your current collection of keys and ammunition on the pause screen instead;
 * Poor camera control that doesn't centre Santa, forcing you to drag the camera along with you as move;
 * Inconsistent design, such as in Level One in which you traverse a series of icy caves, but the background features an arid desert with pyramids;
 * Inconsistent AI design, which sees Santa fighting bandits, rabid dog hybrids and goblin-esque warriors in the same environment;
 * A lack of in-game options;
 * Bizarre level backgrounds, which feature industrial fans in underground caves along with torches, clocks and clown paintings;
 * Repetitive enemy sound effects, in which every enemy makes the same sounds no matter their design or species;
 * Switches that aren't made clear are interactive;
 * Blind leaps and drops onto ledges and climbing beams that are hidden by the poor camera control;
 * Labyrinthine levels that are difficult to navigate if you wish to return to previous parts of the level.

Reviews
Reviews of "Santa Claus Saves the Earth" are difficult to come by nowadays, but a handful still exists online:


 * RetroGameGeeks gave the game a 4 out of 10, citing poor graphics, controls and music. Reviewer Olly023 said: "This review acts more of a warning than a true review. It’s my warning to all of you out there who feel compelled to experience Santa Claus Saves The Earth for yourself. Just don’t! It’s not worth the trauma, nor the price of the therapy sessions that could follow. Quite possibly the worst of the handful of game Telegames unleashed on Sony’s wonder console, but it only has me wondering who on Earth believed this was a good idea."
 * The Pixel Empire gave the Gameboy Advance version a 3 out of 10, citing similar issues to that of RetroGameGeeks. The review surmised that: "There's no point saving the Earth at the expense of your wallet or your dignity, and this is one adventure that's best left to the archives."
 * Amateur blog, "The Bramblogs", gave the game a 1 out of 5, citing the same issues are previous reviewers, including the jump mechanics in which the player "drift into the air like a balloon, and suddenly descend from the heavens like a sack of hammers." The reviewer also suggested the title felt more like a Gameboy game that been ported to the PlayStation.
 * The game appeared the YouTube series, "The Caddicarus Show", in which YouTuber James Caddick showcased the game and its many issues.
 * The game will also appear on the "Vidiots" YouTube series, " Shit Games For Wankers Worst Games Ever", after fan submission in 2018.