This is not a hyper-stylized, modern take on video games molded into an NES game. It isn’t a roguelike or a deck builder either. Christmas Crisis 2 is simply a NES game as they were back in, say, 1988. German Garage Games, also known as our Gamescom and homebrew scene reporter Dennis Fleaman, has been infected with the homebrew virus after their first successful attempt. Based on the abandoned (and later obtaining the rights to) source code of a game in development by some members of Retroplayer.nl, Dennis—whose real name is Bert—decided to reverse-engineer the code and create his own Christmas game. It’s a tradition in the homebrew community that fizzled out years ago. With hard work and a lot of learning, he and his son Noah managed to bring their vision to life.
Another Christmas Kickstarter Campaign
After a successful Kickstarter campaign and rollout, Dennis and Noah quickly pivoted to a sequel—this time starting from scratch and diving deeper into NES Maker. The development interface had a learning curve during the creation of the first game, but by the second attempt, the father-and-son team could focus more on gameplay and mechanics rather than on mastering the application itself.
Santa Strikes Back!
After a year of hard work, German Garage Games has launched its second Kickstarter campaign for Christmas Crisis 2. As part of the Retrolike family, Dennis offered Retrolike.net a preview of the latest build. Let’s take a look!
Once again, an evil force has stolen Santa’s presents just before Christmas. But instead of reaching out to a hero, Santa takes full responsibility and sets out to retrieve the goods himself. Armed with snowballs and occasionally… snow shurikens(?), Santa embarks on his journey to recover the presents and roll up the snow-bending evildoer for good.
The main focus of Christmas Crisis 2’s development was creating a tighter experience compared to the first game. It features four levels with far more variation and platforming. Haywire snowballs still fill the streets, and demanding dodging and precise platforming are essential for surviving long enough to reach the end. GGG definitely spiced up the platforming to deliver a more engaging experience. Still, much like the first game, Christmas Crisis 2 sticks to the early NES tradition of blending reflex-based gameplay with level memorization.
Surprise! You’re Dead!
The uncompromising “no continues” and “one life” principle remains, sure to send you to your maker within minutes if you’re new to the game. Getting caught up in a rolling snowball that strips away three of your five hearts will surely infuriate many players at first. However, it also sends a message: some enemies and traps need to be avoided more than others. This mechanic is one many developers shy away from for fear of upsetting their audience. But if you do not compromise of the sake of doing what is expected, it makes sense. If a snowball drags you along, it keeps hurting you as long as it’s rolling over you.
One misstep like this can completely mess up your run, especially since there are no power-ups to refill your hearts. Now that I mention it, there aren’t any power-ups at all, aside from presents that give you five extra shots of snow-shuriken goodness. These deadly projectiles deal twice as much damage and have saved me in many runs.
New Levels, Boss Fights and Music
The four levels are newly built, though a few set pieces are reused from the first game. Santa’s sprite and animations are largely unchanged, but why rework what already looks great? Primarily, Noah took care of designing new sprites to populate the new levels, such as the Toyshop. One new addition is boss fights. Levels are now split into sections that lead to a boss at the end. While this is a great new feature, the bosses could use a bit more attention if there’s ever a third Christmas Crisis project from German Garage Games. For now, they are a bit too simple to defeat if you’re just focusing on getting the most out of the gameplay experience.
What is a cool new addition that I hadn’t mentioned is that it features some alternative paths, were you’ll find doors that will allow you to take an alternative route. In addition to all gameplay additions, Dennis and Noah also added a fireplace option in the main menu. It’s a nice little screensaver-like mode where Santa can relax at the crackling fire place with pooch at his feet. It’s a charming little thing, just there, because Dennis and Noah wanted to add it.
Another element of the game completely overhauled is the music. Dennis and Noah brought in the help of Radu Prado, a very capable chiptunes creator that has been working on a couple NES titles the homebrew community as delivered the last couple of years. The music definitely adds a lot of added value compared with Christmas Crisis 1, where the music was there, but not in the slightest as catchy as the new OST.
The Evolution of Christmas Crisis
If you’re expecting a completely overhauled and reimagined game compared to the original, this isn’t that. Instead, Christmas Crisis 2 feels like a refinement of lessons learned, with new and more interesting levels including the alternative routs as well. The bosses are definitely an area for further improvement in future games. The essence of what made Christmas Crisis fun—with all its quirks and sometimes frustrating level design—is still here, but it feels more cohesive and fleshed out. It’s still tough as nails and relentless, and even after memorizing levels, staying on target and sticking to your plan is harder than it seems.
The Kickstarter is live now!
