CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - THE FESTIVE FINALE

It's Christmas y'all! And if you've followed the site for the past five years, you know that means one thing - Lemmings! It's become such a tradition now that I think I'll truly be sad when I've run out of games in the series to mark the occasion. But not yet! This Christmas we have The Adventures of Lomax (Psygnosis, Inc), a side-scrolling platformer that's quite the departure from the logic puzzles those blue-clothed rodents have been known for. But it's still a good one, so if you can step away from the eggnog and Christmas pudding, give it a go by heading on over after the jump.

Stick with me into the New Year where I'll be giving you the run down of the movies, TV shows and game that have been hogging my screens this past year before we get back into retro PC gaming proper. And if you can, show some festive appreciation by joining my Patreon, offering a PayPal donation or sharing the word by following me on my social medias including Instagram and BlueSky which I recently joined. It'll help me keep doing what I do.

I'm off for some mince pie and mulled wine. Merry Christmas!!!!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 11

It's Christmas Eve, and we have a doozy of a game for the penultimate Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown 2024. In case you're wondering about the clue from yesterday, Major Boobage refers to an season 12 episode of South Park. Kenny gets high and goes on an acid trip massively inspired by the 1981 animated movie Heavy Metal. That leads us directly to its interactive spiritual sequel to that movie's sequel called Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2 (2000 MetalMammoth Inc & Gathering of Developers Inc), a rather awesome third-person action adventure that yes, has very major boobage.

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and the final game for this epic countdown. More adventures await!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 10

 
There's a cash prize for today's game. One Million Dollars! Or at least there would be had you solved the insanely cryptic riddles of Treasure Quest (1996 Sirius Publishing, Inc) back when it released. Starring Terry Farrell of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame, it has quite the fascinating history for a weird multimedia CD-ROM adventure.

Only two days to go, so come Christmas Eve, expect major boobage.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 9

As is now something of a tradition within a tradition, Day 9 of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown (4C for short?) is reserved for Disney. As a kid, the VHS of latest Disney classic from the renaissance era was almost guaranteed to be under the tree. So, here's 3 Disney games to unwrap.

We 're moving away from educational titles, instead moving into first-person action, arcade pinball  and even survival horror! Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Trial by Fire (2001 Disney Interactive) is a decent first-person outing for the little'uns developed by the folks behind an earlier Christmas Countdown 2024 outing Ice & Fire. Disney's The Little Mermaid Pinball (2005 Disney Interactive) is a quick and fun ball-flipper firmly taking place where it's wetter. Lastly, we have a surprisingly unnerving foray into survival horror with the console version of Disney's Piglet's Big Game (2003 Disney Interactive). You may have seen some of the Silent Hill comparisons online, and believe me, it's warranted.

But if Disney ain't your thing, come back tomorrow. I promise it'll be worth a million bucks!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 8

 
There's only 4 days left to go in the epic Christmas Countdown, and before we get to the end game, let's game our ends away with a mech brawler. A nasty hacker has stolen state secrets from numerous countries and is forcing each one to battle against each other in cyberspace to win them back. The tournament at hand is called Zero Divide (1995-98 ZOOM Inc).

Check out this one-on-one 3D fighter inspired by Virtua Fighter by heading over to the review page. And come back tomorrow for a trilogy of games that has become something of a tradition on Day 9 of the countdown. Yes, that's right! It's Disney Triple time! But which games from the house of mouse will be here? I've already snuck in a few clues hidden in various posts this past month so come back tomorrow to see if you're correct :). 

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 7

A week into the Christmas Countdown, and I hope none of your dreams are wasted as we play Wasted Dreams (1999 Digital Dreams Entertainment), an obscure action-adventure for the Amiga from the folks behind the surprisingly good time that is Codename Hellsquad. Take control of a couple of survivors whose ship has crash landed on an alien planet. Click on the link after the jump to see how well it stacks up.

But there's nothing wasted when it comes to tomorrow game. In fact, the non-existent scraps left behind means there's nothing to share...

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 6

Shoot our way through a futuristic game-show where you either win big or die while In Pursuit of Greed (1995-96 Softdisk, Inc). It's a frenetic first-person-shooter with a weird sense of humour. Just what you want for Chirstmas!

But don't let that stop you from dreaming about bigger things to waste your money on. Save that for tomorrow...

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 5

Our good pal Tintin and his dog Snowy returns for a new adventure in Tintin in Prisoners of the Sun (1997 Infogrames Multimedia), another decent DOS port of a cinematic platformer. Professor Calculus has been kidnapped so it's off to the far reaches of the earth in search of the Incas to save him. Check out my review after the jump...

'Tis the season for rampant consumerism, so join me tomorrow as we chase that capitalistic ideal.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 4

 
Bring you woolly mittens with you for today's game in the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown for we'll we dealing with both Ice & Fire (1995 Zombie, LLC). This debut first-person-shooter from Zombie Studios (ZPC: Zero Population Count, Spec Ops and a brief stint with Disney) sees you melt or freeze evil aliens infesting a space ship. Exciting stuff.

Snow may return tomorrow, but I promise we're off to warmer climes.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 3

Day 3 of the Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown is already here, and today's game is a classic point-and-click adventure called Ween: The Prophecy (1992 Coktel Vision). Using ScummVM, the Scandinavian-inspired fantasy contains three versions; the definitive DOS version as well as the Amiga and Atari ST ports which differ slightly. Check out this doozy of a game after the jump.

I'm a bit hot-and-cold over tomorrow's game, but I'm sure it'll melt your heart regardless...

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 2

Day 2 of the Christmas Countdown brings with it some groovy spy action with The Operative: No One Lives Forever (2000 Monolith Productions, Inc & Twentieth Century Fox). Join sexy spy Cate Archer as she travels the world risking her life on undercover missions for the secretive government organisation called UNITY. Mix James Bond, Austin Powers with classic first-person-shooting and you have an absolute classic you can now play again!

As for tomorrow? I foresee misspelt sausages.

Click on the link after the jump for more...

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 1

Jumping Jellyfish! It's Christmas already! You all know what that means... the annual Collection Chamber Christmas Countdown! Kicking off this (so-far less-than) snowy season is a game based on the classic Franco-Belgian comic strip by Hergé; Tintin in Tibet (1995-96 Infogrames Multimedia). Join our quiff-haired blondie and his little dog Snowy as he climbs frozen mountains and dodges Buddhist monks on his way to discover the fabled Yeti in this smart-looking cinematic platformer for PC DOS.

If you read my last update post carefully, you might've noticed a cryptic clue hinting at this game (and perhaps some others). As for what's arching over tomorrow? Well, it's not exactly an infinity away ;).

On another note, I've recently migrated away from Twitter (for obvious reasons). It's become something like an angry X, so like many others I've moved to bluer skies with BlueSky where my social media game will likely be just as awful and erratic as it's always been. Regardless, if you want to follow me there, please do so.

Anyway, enjoy the first game of the Christmas Countdown and be check back daily for more!