Daze Before Christmas
Encyclopedia
Daze Before Christmas is a video game
developed by Funcom
and originally released by Sunsoft onto the Sega Mega Drive in 1994
. A version was also released for the Super NES
. The Super NES version is one of the last games to be released by Sunsoft's USA
division. The game is one of the few Christmas
-themed video games to see commercial release.
The player controls Santa as he races to save Christmas from an evil snowman
who has imprisoned Santa's elves
and captured Santa's reindeer. Santa faces foes such as giant rat
s, evil toys and living snowmen using his magic
powers to turn them all into harmless Christmas present
s. He can also collect a power-up
that makes him shoot flames which melt ice. Santa's magic can also be used to open the Christmas presents scattered around the levels. These presents may contain enemies, power-ups or bomb
s. Santa's energy level is represented by Santa hats, which represent how many hits he can take before losing a life. He can collect more hats to replenish lost energy.
The game's most remarkable feature is Santa's ability to turn into his evil twin
, "Anti-Claus". By drinking a cup of coffee
, Santa transforms into a blue-suited, devilish looking version of himself. As Anti-Claus, Santa is invincible, but unable to use his magic or collect gifts. His primary method of attack is swinging his sack of toys at enemies.
In a break between platform levels, at several points in the game, Santa flies in his sleigh and uses the presents he collects to drop them down chimney
s in several locations around the world.
The Sega Mega Drive
PAL version of the game is believed to have only been released in Australia
along with Ecco Jr.
Reasons for this are unknown, the game had a limited print run in this territory and when up for sale, usually commands a very high asking price.
of the game, Carl-Henrik Skårstedt has stated that the game took about a year to develop, but he didn't start until the game was six months into development. He also stated that he integrated source code
from the Funcom-developed video game based on the film We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
into Daze Before Christmas. Skårstedt also said that the Super NES version had one programmer working on it and the porting
took about six months.
The level select cheat code for the Super NES version is said to refer to "Badla", the nickname of Geir Tjelta, a musician who worked on the game. The Mega Drive version's level select cheat code is said to refer to the Swedish
word "Barra", which refers to a Christmas tree
dropping its needles.
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
developed by Funcom
Funcom
Funcom Productions A/S is a Norwegian video game developer specializing in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game titles Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and its The Longest Journey series of adventure games...
and originally released by Sunsoft onto the Sega Mega Drive in 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
. A version was also released for the Super NES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. The Super NES version is one of the last games to be released by Sunsoft's USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
division. The game is one of the few Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-themed video games to see commercial release.
Gameplay
Snowman
A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture. They are customarily built by children as part of a family project in celebration of winter. In some cases, participants in winter festivals will build large numbers of snowmen...
who has imprisoned Santa's elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
and captured Santa's reindeer. Santa faces foes such as giant rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, evil toys and living snowmen using his magic
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
powers to turn them all into harmless Christmas present
Christmas Present
- References :*...
s. He can also collect a power-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
that makes him shoot flames which melt ice. Santa's magic can also be used to open the Christmas presents scattered around the levels. These presents may contain enemies, power-ups or bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
s. Santa's energy level is represented by Santa hats, which represent how many hits he can take before losing a life. He can collect more hats to replenish lost energy.
The game's most remarkable feature is Santa's ability to turn into his evil twin
Evil twin
The evil twin is an antagonist found in many different fictional genres. They are physical copies of protagonists, but with radically inverted moralities. In filmed entertainment, they can have obvious physical differences with the protagonist—such as facial hair, eyepatches, scars or distinctive...
, "Anti-Claus". By drinking a cup of coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, Santa transforms into a blue-suited, devilish looking version of himself. As Anti-Claus, Santa is invincible, but unable to use his magic or collect gifts. His primary method of attack is swinging his sack of toys at enemies.
In a break between platform levels, at several points in the game, Santa flies in his sleigh and uses the presents he collects to drop them down chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
s in several locations around the world.
The Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
PAL version of the game is believed to have only been released in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
along with Ecco Jr.
Ecco Jr.
Ecco Jr. is a video game in the Ecco the Dolphin series, released in Summer 1995. It had the controls and basic gameplay of the other two Mega Drive/Genesis titles, but was very much geared towards younger players, lacking the high difficulty of Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides of...
Reasons for this are unknown, the game had a limited print run in this territory and when up for sale, usually commands a very high asking price.
Development
The lead Mega Drive programmerComputer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
of the game, Carl-Henrik Skårstedt has stated that the game took about a year to develop, but he didn't start until the game was six months into development. He also stated that he integrated source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
from the Funcom-developed video game based on the film We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (film)
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story is a 1993 American animated film, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio, distributed by Universal Pictures, and originally released to theaters on November 24, 1993 for the United States. It was rated G by the MPAA...
into Daze Before Christmas. Skårstedt also said that the Super NES version had one programmer working on it and the porting
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
took about six months.
The level select cheat code for the Super NES version is said to refer to "Badla", the nickname of Geir Tjelta, a musician who worked on the game. The Mega Drive version's level select cheat code is said to refer to the Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
word "Barra", which refers to a Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
dropping its needles.