CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN COLLATED

The end of 2023 has arrived like a flash, so before I get to my annual rundown of modern movies and games I've been playing this past year I thought I'd rundown those fourteen old games I revisited in the past month. As hectic as is it, I do enjoy putting together 12 days of retro PC gaming for the Christmas Countdown. Read on after the jump for the full list and see if you may have missed any. 

See you next year!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - THE FESTIVE FINALE

At this point, Lemmings and Christmas go hand in hand. This is the fourth year in a row where I've celebrated those green-haired rapscallions on Christmas Day, so I'm continuing that tradition with Lemmings Revolution (2000 Psygnosis Ltd). It's one of the lesser known entries, only ever being released on Windows PCs, but it is one of the better ones. After the experimentation of Lemmings 3D and Paintball, it's nice to come back to a more traditional approach. Cosy even. In my eyes, it's the perfect gift for Christmas!

I'll be back in the New Year with my annual retrospectives on the one just passed. It's been a good year for both movies and games, so check out my Top 10s whenever it is I get around to posting them. Beyond that, the Monthly 5 games will return on the last day January as normal but I'm sure you've got enough to be playing with until then.

Merry Christmas everybody!!!!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 11

Gothic fantasy is at the heart of Christmas Eve's entrance to the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown. Dark Vengeance (1998 Reality Bytes, Inc) is a criminally underrated action-adventure with three distinct characters battling their way through their own unique storylines and levels. Something of a must-play in my opinion. Read on for my full thoughts.

There's only one more sleep to go, so I'm gonna plug my socials once more before we can all chill with a mince pie and a pint. Follow me on Instagram and X/Twitter (screw those Facebook hackers) and if you're feeling really generous this season, consider joining my Patreon or making a one-off PayPal donation. It'll help me continue this crazy project (8-years and counting) I've become so fond of.

I'll see you again on Christmas Day for the festive finale, and until then I'll leave you guessing what it could be. Long-time followers with an eagle-eye could probably have a good idea what it could be...

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 10

Day 10 of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown teases you with a mini-game-filled multiplayer party game. Teazle (1997 Global Star Software) has you playing a weird version of tic-tac-toe as you complete a myriad of mini-games to create a line before the others do. What more could you want for the season?

There's only two more days left until the big day and the best is yet to come! Make sure to keep up-to-date on my social medias at Instagram and X/ Twitter (Facebook is still being a pain). I'm actually surprising myself with how well I'm keeping on top of it!

Until this time tomorrow, have fun!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 9

We can't have a Christmas Countdown without the traditional Disney Triple. For Day 9 of this festive foretaste, we have three educational titles hailing from the vaults of Disney. Their 100th anniversary celebration may have been lacklustre (Wish was awash), but check out Atlantis: The Lost Empire - The Lost Games ( 2001 Disney Interactive), Piglet's Big Game (2003 Disney Interactive) and The Lion King: Operation Pridelands (2004 Disney Interactive) for some of that patented magic.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 8

Twitter followers got a sneak peak for today's featured game thanks to a mis-scheduled post, but now that it's Day 8 of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown, you can finally play it! The days have crept up quickly, so hide away from the stresses of the season by entering the World Wide Wed... literally. Or, to be more accurate, virtually. Unravel a conspiracy with NET:Zone (1996 Compro Games) an internet savvy FMV adventure. The rabbit hole goes deep with this one!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 7

It's time to explore the midnight lands in the seventh game of the great Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown. Mike Singleton's Lords of Midnight III: The Citadel (1995 Maelstrom Games & Domark) is an ambitious open-world RPG with a generous helping of Dragons. Read my full thoughts after the jump.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 6

We're halfway through our Christmas Countdown, and we return to all that is pink with Pink Panther in Hokus Pokus Pink (1998 Wanderlust Entertainment), the sequel to Passport to Peril from a few days ago. The first one was a surprisingly hilarious time, so how does this slightly spooky follow up fare? Head on after the jump to find out - and stay tuned for more festive festivities in the days to come!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 5

There's only ONE WEEK left until the big day, so I hope you've all got your presents sorted. If not, I gotcha with Day 5 of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown! Today we have a futuristic racer that was the big thing for the genre years after WipEout released. This time, Take2 Interactive took a stab at publishing Thrust, Twist + Turn (1999 Carts Entertainment Oy, Ltd) for our little ol' PCs and there sure is a lot of each of those verbs to be found.

Check it out by clicking on the links after the jump!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 4

With Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon recently hitting Netflix, and the fact that I've already reviewed both unrelated Rebel Moon games some time ago, I thought I'd bring in a slightly different touch or rebellion for the fourth day of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown. Rebel Runner: Operation Digital Code (1996 Microforum) is a tough action side-scroller from a little-known South Korean developer named Family Production. Check it out after the jump to see if it's as explosive as Netflix's most recent and expensive streaming blockbuster.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 3

Day 3 and we have a doozy! Created by a bunch of talented modders around the world before being picked up, funded and expanded at the behest of Sierra On-Line, Gunman Chronicles (2000 Rewolf Entertainment & Sierra On-Line) is perhaps one of the best total conversions of Half-Life there ever was. A classic FPS with cowboys AND dinosaurs! What more could you want?

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 2

Day 2 of the Chamber Christmas Countdown and we're travelling around the world with fuchsia feline in Pink Panther's Passport to Peril (1996 Wanderlust Interactive, Inc). It's a surprisingly chucklesome point-and-click adventure for kids with some mean jokes and even meaner stereotypes. Enjoy!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 1

The Christmas Season is here! And with it comes a slew of old games thanks to the Collection Chamber. We begin with something creepy... and crawly. It's also Christmassy too with Creepers + Christmas Creepers (1993 Psygnosis). If you take Lemmings and mix it up with The Incredible Machine, this is what you'll get. A fun puzzler with some bonus festive levels too!

On another note, there is one update to rattle on about. Most likely the only one in December. Disney's Hercules: Hades Challenge has now gone back to using DOSBox emulating Windows '95. This is instead of ScummVM which - unbeknownst to me - hasn't fully implemented a lot of the mini-games. Perhaps this is the better way to play!

Bon Noël everybody!