Created by Lithuanian developer Ivolgamus and released for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance by Telegames in 2002, Santa Claus Saves The Earth is a Christmas-themed platform game that plays better than it looks. Not that it looks particularly bad – it doesn’t; it just doesn’t look that good either. Let’s just call it “middle of the road“… 🙂

In this game you take control of Santa and must make your way through fifteen different levels in order to escape the “Magic Lands“, where you’ve been trapped by the wicked fairy Nilam.

Santa is surprisingly agile for a stout Wellington boot-wearing fellow. He can jump, somersault, climb up ledges, and shimmy along ropes. If he collects a particular power-up he’ll turn blue and can then ‘super jump’, which greatly increases his jump height and distance.

To defend himself against hostiles Santa can throw either snowballs or tomatoes – if he collects enough ammo. If he has no ammo his only form of defence is to swing his green toy sack at enemies, although this does make him move backwards as he does it, so you have try to counter this effect. Later on Santa gets access to other weapons, including a bazooka! Which is very festive…

In each level you’ve basically got to avoid all the traps, activate and use elevators, and jump around and climb ladders, until you find the key to the exit door.

The GBA version of Santa Claus Saves The Earth uses passwords to access levels you’ve already reached, and it’s actually not a bad platform game overall, in spite of reviewing poorly at the time of its release. Sure, it’s nothing special – as platform games go – but it’s certainly not terrible, and is mildly entertaining. It’s a half-decent game that’s designed for kids and is playable and challenging enough that it at least doesn’t insult their intelligence.

Seasons Greetings from The King of Grabs!

More: Santa Claus Saves The Earth on Moby Games
More: Santa Claus Saves The Earth (GBA) on YouTube