Festive fan-game Birdo's Holiday Brawl is a late entrant for game of the year
Dino-mite.
.png?width=1920&height=1920&fit=bounds&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp)
Eurogamer's game of the year 2023 is...
I jest, I jest. Even though the spirit of Birdo-loving continues at Eurogamer, passed down by our old mate Martin Robinson, I can't crown the title to fangame Birdo's Holiday Brawl, deserving though it may be.
Birdo's Holiday Brawl was made by Super Squidoodle for the Christmas Sonic Amateur Games Expo organised by fan-run site Sonic Fan Games HQ. It's a fun, short little game which is easy to understand but difficult to master.
The gameplay was inspired by Super Mario Bros. 2 and Mario Clash, and Birdo must defeat enemy waves using eggs. She can only have three at a time, but the eggs recharge after a few seconds. To rack up points, you need to hop between the levels of each stage and shoot eggs up or down, which will cause them to ricochet and chain hits.
The story is a classic tale too. Birdo decided to host a Christmas party and sent invitations to Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad, but none of them turned up. She receives a phone call from Super Mario Bros. 2 antagonist Wart, who reveals he kidnapped her friends so it's up to Birdo to rescue them!
Birdo's Holiday Brawl is a charming game, and I especially love the music, created by Ectogon, which has Christmas tunes worked into the tracks. I hope Nintendo isn't here, because I'd like to see this fangame remain online for others to download and try, unlike the unofficial PC port of Link's Awakening it so graciously had taken down earlier this week.