A semi-platform snowball fight against the computer.

Judging - Chris

GRAPHICS: 10/20
GAMEPLAY: 13/30
PROGRAMMING: 13/20
CHRISTMASSINESS: 18/30
TOTAL: 54/100

Judging - David Newton

GRAPHICS: 15/20
GAMEPLAY: 15/30
PROGRAMMING: 20/20
CHRISTMASSINESS: 20/30
TOTAL: 70/100

Judging - Shab

GRAPHICS: 8/20
GAMEPLAY: 5/30
PROGRAMMING: 5/20
CHRISTMASSINESS: 2/30
TOTAL: 20/100

Judging - Andi Smith

GRAPHICS: 12/20
GAMEPLAY: 5/30
PROGRAMMING: 10/20
CHRISTMASSINESS: 9/30
TOTAL: 36/100

Judging - Assault Andy

GRAPHICS: 18/20
GAMEPLAY: 6/30
PROGRAMMING: 19/20
CHRISTMASSINESS: 18/30
TOTAL: 61/100

CHRIS: An attempt at a game in the style of Fatal Bout (a multiplayer platform deathmatch game) which really isn't particularly fun. To be honest, the only good thing about the game is the initial storyline presentation - it's nicely done. The graphics are very crude and it's easy to mistake them for being drawn in pencil first before being scanned. However, Santa animates well. The main problem with the game is the AI. It's bad. The other computer opponents jump around all over the place and it's far too hard to hit them with your snowballs. Because of this, each match takes far too long and it quickly becomes boring. Effort has gone in, but sadly for me, it's not enough. However, there are quite a few references to Christmas, and it does stop the game from getting a much lower score.

DAVID NEWTON: The title gives a rather false impression of the game! But snowballs do play a large part. The game mechanic of firing them off pretty much at random seems a little chaotic, though it does put the emphasis on getting to the yellow presents. The characters' jump height also seemed a little low, but I assume that the object was to make the player rely on bouncing on the others to reach heights quickly. Backgrounds in this game are a little plain, but they can be spruced up a bit by adding custom images to the levels. Snowball fights are definitely a winter theme, but the backgrounds and the presence of Santa are all that really make it Christmassy in particular. There are some great effects, though, like the score in Arcade mode and the snow at the beginning. I've given the game full marks for programming because of two features - first, the platform AI, which is something that I've always found immensely tricky to do. The second is that providing a level editor was an excellent touch, as was integrating the created levels right into the game rather than separating the two.

SHAB: Not particularly fun, but not bug ridden. A pretty weak entry.

ANDI SMITH: You always have to worry about a Christmas game with Massacre in the title. The presentation was quite sweet with some nicely polished graphics, but the game idea was one that should have really been left on the drawing board. This sort of idea has been done before, and better.

ASSAULT ANDY: I really just didn't find this game a whole lot of fun to play. The game had pretty graphics and was professionally presented, but it just wasn't fun, especially with the absence of Two Player Mode. The AI was able to navigate around the levels properly, and you did include a useful level editor, but the core elements that were required to make the game fun were not there.