| Introduction
Santa Claus Jr. is a European-only release for the
GBA, courtesy of Austria-based JoWooD Productions, who
also released a GBC version last year. Titles like this
are becoming a rare occurrence indeed, with publishers
very uneasy about releasing 'original' games nowadays.
This is further complicated by the fact that it's a
seasonal game, which means only winter sales and promotion
at the very best. It's certainly a unique product, but
is it an entertaining one as well?
GamePlay
Santa Claus Jr. bestows on you the task of helping
out St. Nick and delivering presents to eager children,
aided only by Fairy Snowflake (who I'll talk more about
later). It seems that a Wicked Witch (there's always
one) has decided to do her evil thing and disrupt the
festive season; seemingly harmless, everyday objects
have been put under a spell and are out to get you while
the children are hidden from view.
You must get the gifts to their recipients while
solving puzzles, collecting everything you can, then
finding the exit. Obviously this isn't as simple as
I've just made it sound, with the children becoming
far harder to locate, and far more dangerous to your
health as the game progresses. You'll quickly learn
that moving platforms and super jumps are the route
to success and exploration is often rewarded.
Fairy Snowflake is incredibly useful only if you've
managed to collect Fairy Dust, as without this she'll
simply fly by your side. In order to amass this most
important of collectibles, you'll need to seek out and
jump on the blue boxes located throughout the landscapes,
and then they'll be added to your collection. Fairy
dust can be traded for a number of spells, including
freezing your opponents, super jumps, and even extra
health.
Collecting Fairy Dust also manages to add an element
of strategy to the gameplay, as you'll find yourself
constantly making decisions about how exactly you should
use this valuable resource. Buying extra health, for
example, could save a valuable life but may leave you
without enough dust for the super jumps required to
complete the level.
You'll also discover some hidden bonus levels dotted
around, and entering them allows you to collect unlimited
candy canes against a timer. These are worth seeking
out, as 100 canes will reward you with an extra life.
The whole game is automatically saved to a battery
back-up after each completed level in one of three save
slots; this will also give you access to Santa's Rating
screen that offers you valuable feedback on how well
you did and exactly how much you missed. Completion
of the whole game opens up some amazing bonus items,
including the ability to replay any game level or bonus
level, even if you missed them originally.
Controls
Controlling Santa Claus Jr. isn't that easy to start
with, but fortunately the developers have provided not
just one tutorial, but a whole section of them covering
absolutely everything from basic movement up to dealing
with stubborn enemies. It really is very good; I've
only actually looked at the printed manual because I'm
writing this review. The collision detection and sprite
maneuverability is unquestionably some of the best I've
seen in any GBA title, and ample development time has
obviously been dedicated to this most important aspect.
Graphics
Visually, this game is absolutely wonderful and both
the design and animation are excellent, which makes
a nice change from the usual average graphics we see
on the GBA where platform games are concerned.
What really sets this title apart though is that
everything appears to have the same attention to detail;
for example, the sprites feature a unique sense of fun
whether they are friend or foe. The developers have
also utilized some classic Warner Brothers design and
the forced perspective environments mixed with the awkward
scaling all work surprisingly well. The colors used
are varied to say the least, but the manner in which
they've been used really does bring each area alive.
Overall, this game looks stunning, and developers creating
platform games should note that this is what discerning
GBA players are looking for.
Sound & Music
The audio aspects are absolutely spot-on. For starters,
the soundtrack is one of the best I've heard, and the
clarity at which it's belting out of the GBA's woefully
inadequate speaker system is quite amazing. Put on a
pair of headphones and you may never leave Christmas
Land again. The sound effects are equally pleasing,
with the developers again taking the cartoon approach
that provides a whole host of comical audio effects
to accompany the colorful adventure.
Final Comments
Having never played the GBC version, I can't really
comment on the improvements that have been made, but
what I can tell you is that Santa Claus Jr. Advance
has everything you're looking for in a platformer--spectacular
audio and visuals with ingenious level design, plus
it's incredibly long lasting. In fact, it's hard to
fault this title in any way. Of course, a multi-player
option would have been nice, as once you've actually
completed it there's little incentive to go back (except
for the bonus menu), but what's here really is quality.
You're going to encounter a lot of mediocre movie-inspired
platformers this Christmas, so do yourself a favor and
take a chance on an original title. You won't regret
it.
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