The Official Father Christmas - GameHammer

[Zoe Robinson]

Hey guys!

It's Christmas so let's take a look at the Official Father Christmas game!


http://youtu.be/EGxRsGK_gT8

[Shaun M. Neary]

Worlds easiest game, possibly tied up with Strider II in the sense that you can finish the game, first attempt! 

At least this one had an excuse, it was aimed primarily for kids. Proceeds went to charity too if I recall correctly (duh,it's on the box!).

[Zoe Robinson]

Yeah it's very easy and a bit daft, too - but it's fun and it's for charity so that makes it okay.

[chinnyhill10]

It's 'official'. Seriously, where do you licence that from.


The cover is, well, completely can't be arsed like much of Alternatives own artwork.


Terrible game. But not quite as terrible as Santas Christmas Capers. At least there's some variation in the gameplay.

[Shaun M. Neary]

The cover is, well, completely can't be arsed like much of Alternatives own artwork.

Stock image and generic font for the year, probably due to it being a rush job to get it on the shelves in time for Christmas. It was also a charity game, and ideas in Charities have a tendency to be implemented too late (most often due to budget constraints), so planning is something I don't think this was a priority.

I reckon it was four Christmas themed mini games written by four schoolkids, probably unfinished, and bundled together to make a charity release.

[DanyPPC]

I played it this morning on CPC, Spectrum and C64, but i think CPC and Speccy ones have a best playability respect the Commodore machine.


It's another good game for this Xmas 

[Zoe Robinson]

I'm not convinced that it's a terrible game - to be honest, Santa's Christmas Capers wasn't that bad when all was considered. This one is cheap and cheerful but it does the job and you can enjoy it for a few minutes; which I maintain is the best way to play it and probably what it was intended for (the rule back in the early 8-bit era was that games should be completable in 5-10 minutes if the player knows what they are doing, after all)


Each version has its merits. The CPC version is a decent game and the Spectrum has a nice bit of speed to it. The C64 has a great colour and music scheme. It all comes down to what you want from it, really.

[Shaun M. Neary]

Christmas Capers required a little more effort. It wasn't great, but it wasn't 6% bad like AA gave it back in the day.