Santa Claus is coming to town… to kick some alien ass!
Ever since I first saw Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, I knew there was more to Santa Claus then what the storybooks and Rankin/Bass special led me to believe. Yesterday we saw proof of that as Santa was apparently murdered at the hands of aliens (Saving Christmas), but like any good legend it looks like Santa was reborn as a twin pistol-packing commando in Xmas Meltdown: Santa VS Aliens.
Developed by the Italian duo, Rettilon Team, in 2008 Xmas Meltdown is one of the few “good” video games featuring Santa in an action hero role as he attempts to stop a race of aliens from conquering planet Earth on Christmas (those bastards!). The controls are pretty simple for a side-scroller; the arrow keys help you move, Z shoots, and X lets you jump. While the controls are easy enough, the game is pretty unforgiving. You get 3 lives and no life bar, which means even the slightest screw-up can cost you every. Likewise, there’s no save function so once those 3 lives are up its “game over.”
That being the case I haven’t even managed to get past the 3rd stage, making this a short review. I also couldn’t find any other reviews so I don’t know if anyone else has gotten any further either. On the bright side, the ingame music by Filippo Vicarelli makes for an awesome Christmas jam all on its own. It’s like Christmas remix of Zombie Ate My Neighbors.
