It’s Christmas time once again, that time of year when you gather your family together, sit down by the fire, and pwn your n00bish Grandma at Call of Duty. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, or Krampus-Fest, all of us at Gamer Headlines wish you a very Happy Holiday and New Year, and hope you get a boatload of games under your tree or Chanukah bush. Without further ado, here are our top 5 Christmas-themed games to play this holiday:
[promo title=”5. Holiday Lemmings”][/promo]
Platform: PC
Dev: DMA Design
Publisher: Psygnosis
Release: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
Yes, nothing screams the holidays quite like a batch of little critters wearing Santa outfits marching inevitably towards their doom. Holiday Lemmings was a series of Lemmings levels released around the holidays over the course of four successive years (yes, Lemmings was relevant that long) which dressed up the Lemmings for the holiday season and added new Wintry environments and Christmas music.
Watch the video below to get a sense of what its all about, but be warned, one does not simply listen to midi Christmas music for ten minutes straight without going bonkers.
[promo title=”4. Jazz Jackrabbit in Holiday Hare”][/promo]
Platform: PC
Dev: Arjan Brussee and Cliff Bleszinski
Publisher: Epic MegaGames
Release: 1994
Ah the shareware days, when we would pass around illicit software via floppy disks on the playground like the incorrigible scamps we were. Many early software developers would release special Christmas-themed content for their franchises to be distributed around the holidays, and the horrible Rambo / Sonic / Captain Bucky O’Hare mashup Jazz Jackrabbit was no exception.
Speeding along past Christmas trees and collecting candy canes along to yet more midi Christmas music, this game truly stands out in my Christmas game memories of a simpler time for games.
[promo title=”3. Batman Returns”][/promo]
Platform: SNES
Dev: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release: 1993
A true beat ’em up classic, it might be only coincidence that Tim Burton’s dark vision of Gotham starring Michael Keaton happened to take place during Christmas, but damn is this ever a fun game. Right in the game’s opening level you’re strolling through the streets of Gotham beating up members of the Red Triangle Circus Gang next to Christmas trees and shopping malls (the shrine of Xmas shoppers everywhere).
One might think that beating people up is not really in the spirit on Christmas, but once again Batman proves us wrong. Also, I’ll refer you back to Krampus-fest.
[promo title = “2. Christmas NIGHTS Into Dreams…”][/promo]
Platform: Sega Saturn
Dev: Team Sonic
Publisher: SEGA
Release: 1996
Originally released as a part of Xmas console bundles, or along with magazine subscriptions, the demo version of NIGHTS goes high up on the list because of the dedication required to completely tweak the environments and sprites into this Holiday-themed masterpiece. In fact, the environment in the game would change based on the season of the year, and the Christmas theme was available only during the month of December (based on the Saturn’s internal clock).
It even included a unique Xmas intro cutscene. Not bad for a demo disk.
[promo title = “1. Kingdom Hearts 2 (Christmas Town)”][/promo]
Platform: PS2, PS3 (Remix Edition)
Dev: SquareEnix
Publisher: SquareEnix
Release: 2005, 2014 (Remix)
Number one in our Top 5 Christmas-themed games is Kingdom Heart’s inclusion of The Nightmare Before Christmas as one of the Disney worlds Sora, Goofy, and Donald get to explore. Complete with Jack Skellington, Sally, “Sandy Claws,” and the Oogie Boogie Man, you get to explore not only Christmas Town, but Halloween Town as well – it’s a twofer!
Henry Selick and Tim Burton’s vision of Christmas taken over by Halloween is lovingly recreated by SquareEnix in Kingdom Hearts 2, with snowy hills, Christmas trees and lights, and super skinny reindeer, and therefore reigns supreme on our list of Christmas-themed games to play this holiday season.
[promo title=”BONUS. Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (Christmas Costumes DLC)”][/promo]
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Dev: Team Ninja
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Release: 2013
BONUS ROUND! Team Ninja has been well known for releasing skimpy costume packs as DLC for their fighters, and as a special gift to you they’ve released a new Christmas set just in time for the holidays. Enjoy!
Do you agree with our Top 5 Christmas-themed games list? Have we missed any games that should have been added? Let us know in the comments!
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