Systems > Genesis > D > Daze Before Christmas > Staff Review

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Review by Felix Arabia
December 24, 2007

Santa, toting his iconic sack full of Christmas goodies and clad in his furry red suit, sets out to save Christmas from a nefarious plot in the appropriately titled platformer Daze Before Christmas – a cult classic that abandons holiday cheer with drear. With a premise as charming as that, it would be wrong – though perhaps somewhat expected – to label the game as nothing more than a gimmicky holiday-themed treat. Where so many platformers these days rely on attitude and sass in order to appeal to the masses, Daze definitely comes off as a more innocent title geared toward a younger audience. In fact, they’ll love it. I don’t doubt that at all.

But what about us gamers who actually enjoy a bit of challenge? Does Daze provide any kind of quality we can deem worth experiencing?

For all its inherent charm, Daze is very simple and straightforward, perhaps to a fault. Its twenty-four stages are divided into a small collection of differing motifs, but none of these simple courses should take any able gamer more than a minute or two to clear. This would certainly be a problem for any serious, big budgeted game. Of course, that description doesn’t fit Daze in the slightest bit. It’s a lighthearted, jovial game; and though it may be easy, that doesn’t mean it we should penalize it for a lack of challenge.

On the contrary, there are many things that make up for that. Santa is an excellent hero due to his popularity. He is also quite dexterous, which is impressive considering his massive gut. He has no problem leaping high into the air and landing with pinpoint accuracy. It’s great because he’ll have to clear many spike-filled pits and other deadly trials in his fight to save Christmas. Legions of naughty penguins and scuba-geared rats (???) will also attempt to halt his progress with their feeble attacks. It only takes a magical gust of wintry fury from Santa’s fist to dispatch these foes. It’s somewhat strange seeing Santa acting as an omnipotent fighting force, but that’s where a large part of Daze’s charm comes from. In fact, that’s nothing. There are some truly strange moments in the game, such as when Santa turns into Satan.



Notice the comparison.

By downing a steaming cup of hot cocoa, our beloved gift-giver sprouts horns and turns into a fiery imp who goes around bashing enemies over the head with his bag of Christmas goodies. The power-up grants temporary invincibility, too, making an easy game even easier. But at least the effect is hilarious. Satanic Santa is quite the character.

When he’s normal, Santa will pick up presents to deliver to kids all across the globe. The game progresses in an interesting manner since Santa will begin his curious adventure in his house where he’ll begin saving his imprisoned elves. From there he’ll move outside to tackle some misbehaving arctic wildlife, while next moving onto a dreary cave where he’ll free two of his reindeer. After two more stages, Santa will then fly over London’s chimney skyline so he can begin dropping presents from his sleigh. At the same time, though, he’ll have to worry about colliding into toy airplanes and giant hot-air balloons painted with the union jack.

Daze is very likeable during segments such as the aforementioned one because it works to create a very refreshing experience. The same cannot be said about the boss fights, though. While the game may be easy, the boss encounters are insultingly easy.

His first major encounter will be against Frosty the Snowman’s evil clone. This malignant wad of snow heaves massive snowballs over Santa’s head, not at it. This means that Santa will be able to stand right in front of him, dealing damage with his fireballs (the upgrade to the wintry burst), never having to worry about receiving any damage from this ferocious-looking miscreant.

It’s almost to the point of being pointless.

But as soon as one of these pitifully easy boss battles ends, the game goes back to its winning formula. With graphics as bright and colorful as these, and with a wonderful soundtrack consisting of remixed Christmas carols and some original as well, Daze Before Christmas turns out to be a rather likeable and rather enjoyable game. It’s still unchallenging no matter how you look at it, but it is quite charming, even for us gamers who like challenge.

Santa should honestly think about starring in a sequel.

Rating
7	Very Good This game does enough things right that for the most part, you'll likely enjoy yourself while playing it. Recommended.
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Game Profile & Content - - - AU
	Staff Score (Avg): 7.0 User Score (Avg): 7.0 Press Score (Avg): N/A Reviews: 2 Guides: 0 Cheats: 1 Ratings: 2 High Scores: 0 Screenshots: 7 Videos: 0
Title: Unknown Genre: Action (Platformer) Developer: Funcom ESRB: N/A Platforms: SNES, GEN

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