It’s the big countdown! Just as you pull out your advent calendars to count down the 24 days to Christmas, so too are we going to count down in our own way, by highlighting 24 games that you could play this month to get into the spirit of the season.
Christmas means different things to different people, but we see it as a time to get together with family and friends, relax after a long year’s hard work (and, given this is 2020, it was an especially hard year), enjoy good food and good company. It’s a good time to knock off that epic RPG you’ve had sitting in the backlog, or crack open the beers (or eggnog) and get stuck into the local multiplayer battles.
Each day we’ll highlight one game that you could have a great time playing over the Christmas season. It’s not a countdown, nor is it a “best of” list. It’s not highlighting new games, nor old. It’s just 24 games, one per day, that we love the idea of breaking into over the season. Have a great and happy season, everyone!
Game #1: Mac Bat 64
Those who played video games in the mid-1990s witnessed the meteoric rise of 3D games. For some, blocky character models and pointy polygons were their introduction to gaming as a whole. In 2020, millions are still eager to play these outspoken classics, be it through a full-on reimagining of Final Fantasy VII or an incredibly faithful port of Super Mario 64. After all, buying and hooking up an older console just to return to the more primitive graphics of 25 years ago isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Want a little nostalgia trip on modern hardware for the price of a glass of eggnog? Mac Bat 64 has you covered with a brand-new, silly adventure presented like a classic Nintendo 64 game. It isn’t meant to be particularly lengthy or challenging, yet it will stick in your heart long after completion. You’ll find elements from famous Nintendo 64 classics such as Mario Kart 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. There’s even a Christmas level to make it extra topical. Littered throughout are a Banjo-Kazooie-esque sense of humour and various cultural references of the era beyond gaming such as Terminator.
Mac Bat 64’s greatest gift goes beyond nostalgia with a playable mock-up of a certain franchise Nintendo never saw fit to release on the 64.
– Clark A.
News Editor
