December 25
Hello! Welcome back to our regular section where we write a little about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week it's all about Christmas gifts and video game memorabilia that we associate with the holiday season: what we've unwrapped, gifted, or been involved with in some way at Christmas over the years.
Catch up on previous editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.
A pop star and Need For Speed: Underground 2, PS2
I don't think I have any amazing Christmas memories related to the video games I received. Most of my video game gifts as a kid were on my birthday, just a couple of months before, but I have a couple of lovely memories of giving video games.
My son, doomed to be obsessed with video games like his father (me), was surprised with a Switch and a bunch of games five years ago. In classic video game tradition, we did the full “And One More Thing” reveal, and he was obviously delighted. Good luck so and so.
However, what will probably interest you the most, reader, is the time I gave a copy of Need for Speed: Underground 2 for PS2 to a cousin who would become a pop star who topped the UK charts at early 2010s. I say cousin… the family relationship is a little more complicated than that, but I'll move on.
Merry Christmas everyone! Tell me if you have given a gift to someone famous.
-Took.
Can you top Zelda's joy at Christmas?
I haven't ordered any games this year (the curse of being a games journalist is that there are usually very few gaps in your library at the end of the year), but I'll probably be playing varying degrees of NYT Sudoku this holiday, in addition to finally tackling Star Wars Outlaws . For reasons I'm not even entirely sure about, that's the big blockbuster this year that's drawing my attention the most right now. It wasn't from the Dragon. Not Silent Hill 2. It's Star Wars, of all things. Although with a lot of family travel this week, I'll probably load up my Steam Deck with a bunch of great indie games that I also missed this year. Top of the heap? UFO 50.
I haven't even given away many games this year, just Unicorn Overlord for my little brother, since he's already decked out with most of this year's major RPGs, which is his favorite genre these days. If there was a new Zelda or Xenoblade just released, those might have been nice gifts for my two older brothers, and yes, Echoes of Wisdom was in contention at one point. Then I found out that my little brother already has it, so there's a good chance they just borrowed his copy due to our long-standing family law of never buying anything twice (which I intentionally ignore all the damn time, mostly because I just live a lot longer). away from all of them).
-Katharine
A Christmas Dream (cast)
The first time I saw Sonic in full 3D on a Dreamcast I was amazed. Although I grew up with the original Sonic Mega Drive games, I switched to Nintendo for N64 and fell in love with Zelda. But once the Dreamcast launched, my heart raced as my beloved blue blur was chased by an orca whale, racing through vibrant, roller-coaster-like levels with proper realistic graphics, not just a side-scrolling pixel.
I never had a Dreamcast though. I had friends who did it and I clearly remember Soul Calibur sessions after school, taking turns playing Crazy Taxi, and one particular night at a house party playing Sonic Adventure from start to finish. However, once the GameCube was announced, and subsequently included a slew of previously Dreamcast-exclusive games (specifically Sonic Adventure 2 and Skies of Arcadia), the dream fell by the wayside.
That's why my partner and I decided to treat ourselves to a Dreamcast this year, the only console either of us have ever owned. And then we're going to search thrift stores for all those iconic titles. I can finally play songs like Shenmue and Jet Set Radio. I can kick your ass in Power Stone. I'll have an excuse to play Skies of Arcadia again. And I'll definitely play Sonic Adventure one more time and remember that it's actually kind of trash, but I still love it. After all, Christmas is all about nostalgia. What games should I catch up on?
-ed
A Fiery Christmas (Spyro 2: Season of Flame – Game Boy Advance SP)
Unwrapping the Spyro 2: Season of Flame cartridge for my bright pink Game Boy Advance SP is a vivid memory I have from a Christmas in the early 2000s. My brother and I sat on the floor under the tree unwrapping presents to Christmas music. while my very tired mother (we got up at dawn) sat on the couch excitedly watching our reactions to each gift we were lucky enough to receive. Then it happened that I had Spyro 2: Season of Flame in my little hands, one of my first Game Boy games. I still remember tearing off the paper and seeing the iconic purple dragon that adorned the case.
To this day, if I need a comforting game that isn't Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, I'll always come back to Season of Flame. The gist was jumping across realms via portals to retrieve lost fireflies and having to navigate different themed areas. Candy Lane in Celestial Plains was candy-themed, Moon Fondue in Starry Planes felt like you were in another world with the sponge-like green rocks all around you, and (my personal favorite) Tiki Tropics in Sunny Plains where you felt like you were in another world. you were in another world. You are fighting your enemies in paradise.
It was a fundamental game in my childhood and it was also one of the first I finished. I vividly remember the moment I saw that you could use different types of breath to stop enemies: ice breath to freeze Rhynocs and make them easier to charge, lightning breath to bring machinery to life, and wouldn't it be Spyro! no flames! I was surprised that Spyro could now do all these things.
Also, this could have easily been my first experience playing different characters in a game universe. There were levels where you could play as a kangaroo named Sheila, Captain Bird, and Agent 9 (whose levels really tested my patience, and still do). Right now, being able to play as anyone other than the main character. It blew my mind and was the coolest thing on the planet.
But the above are just the minor reasons why this game has stuck in my memories since I bought it so many Christmases ago.
The reason this Season of Flames is such a fond Christmas memory is that, being young, I found some of the levels complicated and I just remember sitting next to my brother after Christmas dinner being taught what to do. From using Spyro's glide and hover ability to reach distant platforms or outwitting Rhynoc by playing ice hockey, these are just a few of the many moments my older brother helped me get through. Learning how to beat the game was actually amazing, but spending that time sitting together and being shown what to do with someone who was, quite frankly, the coolest person ever, has played a huge role in my journey to video games and taste have been one of them. One of my favorite gaming Christmas memories to date, and I'll be playing it again this year!
-Maria