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SANTA CLAUS JR. ADVANCE (GBA)
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Publisher: JoWooD Productions.
Developer: Neon Software. Released: November 2002. Genre: 2D Platformer. Other versions: GBC. Posted 13th December 2024. By Tom Clare © 2024 |
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Nine Christmases ago, buoyed by seasonal spirit, I took the plunge and covered a Santa-themed 2D platformer for the Game Boy Advance. It didn’t end well. Santa Claus Saves the Earth carried all the festive cheer of a graveyard, and none of the craftsmanship. Always eager to learn from (and then seemingly forget) my mistakes, this year I plumped for another Santa-themed 2D platformer for the Game Boy Advance. Returning to this unreliable hunting ground with Neon Software’s Santa Claus Jr. Advance, I was in for a surprise…
SCJA is an extensive revamp of a Game Boy Color game from a year earlier, albeit with entirely new visuals, gameplay mechanics and levels. It stars what I assume to be Santa’s son (Bear would be a good name, Bear Claus), a blue-haired guy who darts around levels handing out presents. Given that he embodies precisely no gravitas whatsoever, it’s surprising just how much vim and personality the rest of the game brings to the table. It doesn’t feel ‘budget-y’, and for once, it’s a seasonal-specific game that isn’t a generic platformer with a few Christmas assets pasted cynically atop it.
Delivering all the presents by hand would take a heck of a long time. The game is 36 levels long, mind you.
Graphics are the game’s strongest element, they’re prettier than a road’s worth of multi-coloured Christmas lights. As well as being blessed with pleasingly chunky cartoon overtones and smooth animation, there’s a delightfully wacky array of enemies, including garden gnomes, birds, remote-controlled cars, UFOs, haunted pumpkins and snowball-slinging yetis. Its settings are lush and incredibly inviting, buoyed by an excellent snow effect, multi-layered backdrops and a significant range of settings. Along with the more familiar icy exteriors and villages, there are caves, rooftops and train yards to explore, each with a myriad of little touches, such as individual signs, vehicles, houses and light displays. The visuals are consistently good throughout, though their themes become increasingly abstract.
In stark contrast to Santa Claus Saves the Earth, it plays well. If you like your platformers streamlined and old-school, then Santa Claus Jr. Advance will appeal. There’s no story at all, but plenty of ledge-hopping, enemy-bopping action and some challenging levels. Jr. can sprint, climb ladders, shimmy across wires, and wield snowballs at points. In an unusual move, he can collect stars from boxes, which are spent either replenishing a health heart, or performing a double jump. It’s not an idea that’s ever caught on, but it adds a different slant to dealing with certain challenges. For the most part, you’ll have few complaints where the controls are concerned: Jr. moves with alacrity. There are a few sections, however, when grabbing ledges is hit-and-miss.
In stark contrast to Santa Claus Saves the Earth, it plays well. If you like your platformers streamlined and old-school, then Santa Claus Jr. Advance will appeal. There’s no story at all, but plenty of ledge-hopping, enemy-bopping action and some challenging levels. Jr. can sprint, climb ladders, shimmy across wires, and wield snowballs at points. In an unusual move, he can collect stars from boxes, which are spent either replenishing a health heart, or performing a double jump. It’s not an idea that’s ever caught on, but it adds a different slant to dealing with certain challenges. For the most part, you’ll have few complaints where the controls are concerned: Jr. moves with alacrity. There are a few sections, however, when grabbing ledges is hit-and-miss.
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Whilst the nature of the action doesn’t change a great deal, there’s no faulting the amount of gameplay on show, and the levels guarantee plenty of player involvement all the way through. It never really gets repetitive, either. Plunging to your death is a theme you’ll become increasingly familiar with by the end, with a mostly well-managed difficulty curve spiking in the closing stages with some patience-sapping sections. Fortunately, the combination of a new save function and unlimited continues (you have three lives to beat each level) proves welcome, especially for younger players.
The game contains a whopping 36 levels, a big increase from the Game Boy Color outing. The majority of them are a fair bit of fun, even if it could be argued the game makes little effort to break new ground. The trouble with so many levels is, that themes start to feel drawn out at points, particularly at the beginning where a proclivity for chilly exteriors means it starts to look samey. With no bosses to break up the action (not necessarily a bad thing), transitions to new areas might have benefited from happening a little more quickly, to retain impetus. Fun but odd locations like city rooftops and the graveyard don’t really allow the player to appreciate where they sit in terms of the game’s overall progression, and with so many levels, it feels strangely endless at times.
The game contains a whopping 36 levels, a big increase from the Game Boy Color outing. The majority of them are a fair bit of fun, even if it could be argued the game makes little effort to break new ground. The trouble with so many levels is, that themes start to feel drawn out at points, particularly at the beginning where a proclivity for chilly exteriors means it starts to look samey. With no bosses to break up the action (not necessarily a bad thing), transitions to new areas might have benefited from happening a little more quickly, to retain impetus. Fun but odd locations like city rooftops and the graveyard don’t really allow the player to appreciate where they sit in terms of the game’s overall progression, and with so many levels, it feels strangely endless at times.
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Jr. Advance looks great, and makes extensive use of the GBA's colour palette to help bring its settings to life
Jr. may not be as quirky as Rayman, as stylish as Sonic, or as creative as Mario. He was never destined to adorn the posters of gamers’ bedroom walls, and the level of entertainment you glean from this platformer will be influenced by the affinity you have for the holiday season. You probably guessed that already though, if you’ve read this far. Santa Claus Jr. Advance is a fun distraction that’s worthy of battling through to its (rather decent) last boss. It’s a pity the icon-only menus are so unintuitive: it is possible to replay previous levels, but the game doesn’t appear to chart whether the player has delivered every present, or beaten the target time for individual levels. This feels like a chance to extend the game’s shelf life gone begging. With a little extra incentive, many of the levels would have been worth revisiting. Still, mustn’t grumble. As 2D platformers go, it’s a genuinely good effort. As Christmas-themed Game Boy Advance 2D platformers go, it’s utterly outstanding.
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VERDICT
"A genuinely good effort. Santa Claus Jr. Advance plays sturdily and offers up an impressive collection of levels. Its visuals prove the high-point, and will have fans of the festive season feeling cozy and content." OVERALL: 6/10 |
OTHER GAMES SET DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON REVIEWED
Santa Claus Saves the Earth (2002, Game Boy Advance)
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The 3rd Birthday (2011, PlayStation Portable)
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