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[fennec fox]

(Or "holiday games" if you are uptight about that sort of thing.)

I would like to ask you what games spring to mind when you think of Christmas. Not holiday-themed games, mind you, but games you played around the Xmas season and stick out in your memory.

For me, it would certainly have to be Dark Cloud 2. I know it came out February 2003, but I was reviewing it for GamePro so I brought it home with me for Xmas 2002. It's got that Victorian Europe feel that pretty much oozes Christmas, and it's incredibly atmospheric, wholesome, and somehow make you understand the virtues of having a loving family, and all that stuff.

I also remembering pirating Donkey Kong Country with my brand new Game Doctor SF6 and playing through that in Xmas of 1994. That was a lot of fun, too.

But what about you?

 

[renvi]

Final Fantasy IV Advance

 

[demi]

Kingdom Hearts

Got it and my first PS2 for Christmas, it was the reason I wanted a PS2

Buy Kingdom Hearts

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

dkc

 

[truffleshuffle83]

Oot

 

[Grug]

Christmas NiGHTS
Christmas Lemmings.

 

[radrelic]

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

and the Christmas of 97 with Goldeneye...


good times.

 

[Prospero]

The Bard's Tale (Commodore 64). I remember ripping that out of its wrapper on Christmas morning and reading the manual oh so carefully, and then spending the entire day playing.

 

[John Harker]

Dance Dance REVOLUTION


Mario Kart DD and Mario Kart 64

and as always

Mario Party

 

[Cymbal Head]

Shenmue.

Got it for Christmas and it was literally the only thing I did for my entire break other than, y'know, all that stuff you have to do to stay alive.

 

[Littleberu]

Every Mario Kart.

 

[bitwise]

.
.
.
.
.
.
<-----------

 

[MadFuzzy]

SNES - Secret of Mana
Saturn - Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop

Good times.

 

[Tarazet]

D2. Cheerful little game, it is.

 

[Solo]

X-Mas '97: got my N64 and Goldeneye 007. Played pretty much non-stop 4 player supplemented with an occasional break for muiltplayer for the entire winter break.

X-Mas '98: Zelda: OoT. Same as year before, pretty much played it non-stop for 2 weeks until I beat it.

February '99 (a little late, but so what, its still winter): got my PSX and Metal Gear Solid. Again, played the shit out of it until I beat it.




Thats it. Those are the 3 games I associate with winter/holidays/X-mas.

 

[tedtropy]

RAWK.

If I wanted to remind myself of much happier Christmases, I'd probably go back and play Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, or Super Mario World. You know, back before the crippling weight of adult reality crushed all the joy out of my heart....LOL!

 

[D-X]

http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/073/073427p1.html

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

it was literally the only thing I did for my entire break other than, y'know, all that stuff you have to do to stay alive.

eww.... you dont have to do that for survival....

Spoiler

it's mainly for sanity

 

[UncleScr00ge]

Animal Crossing for GCN.

Also, Christmas NiGHTS

 

[GitarooMan]

Three games I really remember playing around Christmas

91 - Final Fantasy II (SNES) - I was a big FF fan on NES, but I remember getting this for Christmas and being enthralled.

98 - Ocarina of Time - Played it all through the holiday break that year, great

99 - Donkey Kong 64 - Got my wisdom teeth out right after Christmas, and basically after that spent a ton of time playing through this. The somewhat tedious aspects of it didn't seem so bad because it was a great distraction just exploring the levels forever while recovering.

 

[Cymbal Head]

http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/073/073427p1.html

I remember loving the music that that came with.

 

[Unison]

Christmas Nights & Animal Crossing.

 

[Mama Smurf]

F-Zero X for me, despite the fact that OoT came out like a month after that in Europe.

1998 was awesome.

 

[Goreomedy]

Blue Stinger over Christmas. Hellsyeah!

And I love the Christmas Map in rotation on the Wolf ET servers. It's double-cool if the host is also using the Santa Hat, Reindeer hat modification.

 

[Cymbal Head]

eww.... you dont have to do that for survival....

Spoiler

it's mainly for sanity

:lol :lol

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I meant eating, sleeping, etc. Although that was a factor, too.

 

[Oneself]

Best christmas ever = when me and my brother got a SNES with Super Mario Kart and a second controller (the year SMK came out).

 

[Yoshi]

Zelda Majoras Mask .

 

[Borys]

Quake 3 Arena

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like pwning some noob with rail on some X-Mas map :lol

Garou: MotW

Just Dong Hwan-ing my brother to oblivion :lol

 

[dlobro1080]

Street Fighter 2, Donkey Kong Country

 

[djtiesto]

Parasite Eve!!

 

[PhatSaqs]

Bubble Bobble always reminds me of Christmas. I got it as a present for my NES when I was about 12 or 13. Spent allllllllllllll day playing it.

 

[King Jippo]

Shenmue 1 & 2. I played them on that day...when it snowed.

 

[ghibli99]

(Or "holiday games" if you are uptight about that sort of thing.)

I would like to ask you what games spring to mind when you think of Christmas. Not holiday-themed games, mind you, but games you played around the Xmas season and stick out in your memory.

For me, it would certainly have to be Dark Cloud 2. I know it came out February 2003, but I was reviewing it for GamePro so I brought it home with me for Xmas 2002. It's got that Victorian Europe feel that pretty much oozes Christmas, and it's incredibly atmospheric, wholesome, and somehow make you understand the virtues of having a loving family, and all that stuff.

I also remembering pirating Donkey Kong Country with my brand new Game Doctor SF6 and playing through that in Xmas of 1994. That was a lot of fun, too.

But what about you?

When I was a kid, I got a Sega Master System for Christmas, so regardless of their quality, I always think of The Ninja, My Hero, Transbot, and Fantasy Zone. The Ninja and Fantasy Zone were definitely the winners of that bunch. One needs to look no further than the SMS for some of the worst box art in the history of gaming. :lol

A few years later, it was the Genesis, and over that holiday break, it was nonstop playing of Ghouls'n Ghosts and Thunder Force II. I played Altered Beast, beat it the first time I played it, and barely touched it after that. It was decent fun playing co-op, though.

Once I was old enough to work and afford my own game systems and games, the "magic" of receiving this stuff on Christmas morning was gone.

Another game that I think of when I think about Christmas is FFVI (SNES), which I bought right before Christmas break back in college, and that pretty much ate up my entire break. It was worth it, though.

 

[Tain]

Soul Calibur, definitely. Also Sonic the Hedgehog, Christmas NiGHTS, and Virtua Cop.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Final Fantasy 3 (6, whatever)

Got it for Christmas, beat it before school started.

 

[JRPereira]

Super mario world.

 

[theREBELins]

Super Mario World
Zelda LttP
Donkey Kong Country 1 + 2
Mario 64
Final Fantasy X
Soul Calibur 2
Mario Kart Double Dash
Splinter Cell

 

[Unresponsive Bee Victim]

Games that I played around Christmas, not really gifts, or even games I just bought around then, but game I played during the season that brings me back to those days.

Warcraft 3
Kingdom Hearts
Animal Crossing
Pokemon Blue
Metroid Prime
SSX Tricky
Super Smash Brothers Melee
Pikmin
Donkey Kong 64
Marvel vs. Capcom
R-Type GBC
Zelda: Majora's Mask

Any of those games scream Christmas to me like any Christmas song.

 

[Ponn]

I remember getting UN Squadron for christmas. My grandma was there for that christmas and she was a crotchety old mean scrooge. I opened it up and was excited I got it and she exclaims in a huff

"Why did you spend that much money on a stupid game, what a waste of money"

it pissed off my mom, well everyone actually and she went to grab the game from me and was saying something like she was taking all the presents back just to make her happy. Some sort of reverse pyschology bullshit. Anyways I grabbed it away from her and said No, Grandma can just shut the hell up since she doesn't live here and ran to my room and played it all day. So the moral is fuck the family on Christmas.

 

[Chittagong]

I always solve adventures over the holidays with my gf:

2001: Silent Hill 2 (my gf's alltime favorite game)
2002: Eternal Darkness
2003: Silent Hill 3
2004: Paper Mario: TTYD
2005: Condemned

This year, I have also NFSMW for myself. Still shrinkwrapped, I've resisted the urge to try it, last played in TGS.

 

[FiRez]

I'm surprised that it wasn't mentioned

 

[Gorgie]

Metroid Prime

The game is magical, and playing it on Christmas was awe inspiring.

 

[dkeane]

My brother and I always fire up our Neo-Geo for a couple rounds of Last Blade. Which usually ends in a some Turf Masters Golf. All with the James Bond Marathon in the background.

 

[brandonh83]

Chrono Trigger
Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2
Super Mario World/64
Metal Gear Solid 3
Earthworm Jim
Halo

 

[robot]

Super Star Wars
Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy 2 & 3
Wonderboy 3: The Dragons Trap
Turok 2
Halo
Super Smash Bros. Melee

 

[snacknuts]

Super Mario Bros
Super Mario World
GoldenEye
Halo

All games I spent Christmas afternoon playing for the first time.

 

[Jade Knight 08]

Zelda: A Link to the Past back in X-mas '92.

Edit: And again in 2003 Zelda: Wind Waker

 

[TheTurtleTitan]

Donkey Kong Country in Xmas '94. My dad apparently went through hell trying to get this (remember how hugely popular this game was), but I was just blown away by it. Not just by graphics, but it's a great platformer too.

Also, Goldeneye in Xmas '97. This was my FPS, no needless to say, the fact that I was playing as James Bond and having the ability to shoot real people was just...cool at the age of 9.

 

[May16]

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete

 

[GeoramA]

MGS2 and GTA3

My first 2 PS2 games