The 12 Days of Last Christmas

Moley Christmas - ZX Spectrum

Back in the eighties it was great, we got a white Christmas every year, no repeats on the telly, wars would stop and no one would go hungry (OK, so none of those are strictly true, but that was how it felt back then). But best of all, was the bumper Christmas specials that filled the magazine stands. Going through the TV and Radio Times with a big black marker, ringing all the shows that you wanted to watch, cracking open a new five pack of three hour videotapes to record Morecambe and Wise and the Two Ronnie's.

But even better than that was the amazing double issues of your favourite computer magazines. I was a Crash man, but for one issue a year I would put aside the petty rivalry with my Your Sinclair loving enemies and buy both. Big double issues with a snowy scene on the cover and plenty of pictures of staffers in silly hats. But what made the magazines extra special were the tapes stuck to the cover. Gone were the limited demo's of up and coming games, to be replaced with full commercial games and brand new specials and in 1987, Gremlin Graphics and Your Sinclair combined to produce one of the best Christmas cover tapes ever.

Moley Christmas is a six screen game in the Monty Mole series and after previously tackling such thorny subjects as the miner's strike and the increasing influence of Europe on local politics, Monty's next exploits were to centre around one of those unsung professions that work tirelessly over the Christmas period to keep the country on track. No not nurses, or policemen, or firemen. This game is about those hard working games journalists and has you running around the Your Sinclair offices to find a disk containing the code for the free game that will adorn the cover of their Christmas issue.

The disk needs to be taken to the tape mastering plant and then the tapes duplicated. Then a trip up the M1 back to the YS offices before the magazine hits the newsstand. It is typical Monty platform fare and with only 6 screens it isn't the most in-depth game ever, but Monty does what Monty does best and this was the perfect kind of game that will see you through Boxing Day while you waited for the shops to re-open so you could get some batteries for your Big Trak.

Special Delivery: Santa's Christmas Chaos - Commodore 64 / Atari / ZX Spectrum

Ah Christmas. The lights, the presents, the tree, the presents, the carol singers, the presents. Oh those joyous presents. It's a time to revel in all that you have and sneer at the have-nots. But despite the corrupting influence that capitalism and materialism has fostered in our cynical view of the holy holiday, there was a time before the magic had been cruelly shattered, when Christmas meant something different. It was a time for putting aside our narcissistic dreams of world domination and thinking of those less fortunate than ourselves (Amstrad owners for instance). Special Delivery is a game that takes that ethos and puts you in the big red pants depositing packages of happiness down the chimneys of the world.

This is a game that Estate Agents would call charming (poor graphics) and compact (not many levels) but it is also a fun and very tough challenge. But hey, who said being Santa was easy. Set over 3 distinct levels you must help the big guy deliver presents to the kids on the nice list through a side scrolling sleigh flight, Kong-like chimney descent and a burglar-esque mad dash through the houses.

But this is a game of the 80's, so it is no surprise to learn that the National Elf Service are striking again leaving Santa with a toy shortage. But fear not, the Angels are happy to break the picket line and are frantically making toys and dropping them from clouds for Santa to collect en-route. Of course you will need to watch out for the scab hating red elves that are dropping letter bombs disguised as presents to halt your progress*.

When enough presents have been collected you must then land your sleigh on the largest roof top. The view then changes to inside the chimney. Here you have 3 parallel chimneys that must be navigated whilst avoiding the flames from the fire below. Make it into the house and you must then leg it through the house dropping your payload under the tree and escaping through the front door only to start again in another location.

It is a pity that we will probably never see the likes of these Christmas specials again because just as I never tire of watching It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve (with the volume turned up high so that I can ignore the carol singers knocking at the door), I will also never tire of Special Delivery's gimmicky seasonal cash-in glory.

Charming.

*back-story may not be exactly as per the cassette inlay.

Fire and Ice - Commodore Amiga / Atari ST

Perhaps games shouldn't need a reason to feature a coyote that shoots ice at penguins and then smashes their frozen bodies as he hunts for keys, but even by platformer standards, that's pretty bizarre.

That could also be the reason why the Fire and Ice Christmas Special Edition seems so much more reasonable, what with this time of year being inherently surreal - dress the dog in a Santa costume, put the rats on skis and incorporate the odd snowball avalanche and everything suddenly falls into strange, seasonal place.

That's presumably what Amiga Power magazine thought in 1992 when it included a single, winter wonderland level of Graftgold's answer to Mario, Sonic and Lemmings - all rolled into one bizarre quest to find stuff and freeze other stuff. And a fine choice it was, since the arctic nature of the original game put Cool Coyote in a fairly wintery mood anyway, so the addition of a few pressies for him to gather up and a jovial Saint Nick costume seemed only fitting. In truth, it did kind of highlight the fact Fire and Ice was actually lacking a Chrimbo themed level, so this delightful demo squared things up rather nicely.

Hunting around the rather difficult, expansive play area is a great way to spend an hour on a frosty December morn, tracking down the six key parts Coolio needs to escape from his winter paradise. The inertia driven mechanics of the main character (an absolute prerequisite of any platformer in the days of Sonic and Mario) add a slick, organic feel that brings the ice to life and paints a scowl of intense concentration on the face of any serious player.

Although the demo was only one level long, the environment almost never repeated itself and the impressive range of simple, yet intricate challenges was certainly enough to encourage any late comers to the 16-bit home computing scene who found an Amiga at the bottom of the chimney that Christmas to put Fire and Ice on their January hot list.

It was also particularly nice to see a bit of extra effort going into a coverdisk demo. Being of a wintry nature, it would've been a simple matter for Graftgold to rip an ordinary level from the release game and give it Amiga Power to package with the magazine, but the minor seasonal tweaks made the Christmas Special Addition feel like a small gift; a genuine "thank you" to the magazine's readers for another year well spent in celebration of the beloved Amiga.