Capturing the holiday spirit…in videogame form!

Ah, the Christmas holiday. Bringing along with it thoughts of presents, snow, Christmas carols, and family. But, if you're an obsessive gamer, like myself, the holiday season also brings along with it thoughts of lemmings, jesters, and weird human-faced tadpole…things. Okay, let's face it, games based on holidays are rare and usually pretty bad. Anyone remember Daze Before Christmas? Yeah, case in point. But there are a few that manage to remain, at the very least, interesting footnotes in video game history. So as the Christmas holiday nears, let's take a look at three Christmas themed games that almost any gamer would love to see in their stocking.

Christmas Seaman – Sega Dreamcast

A special two-disc set sold for only ten days in Japan, Christmas Seaman isn't so much a game as it is a companion disc for Seaman. The first disc is a "message disc". Using it to connect to a special server on SegaNet, the player would enter a personal ID number to receive a special message from Seaman, as well as being able to have a holiday-themed conversation with him. The second disc is a "present disc". Once again, it required internet access, but once you connected you would receive special presents for your Seaman. The disc also contained a set of Seaman stickers. And really, who doesn't want Seaman stickers?

Christmas Lemmings – PC

Ah, Lemmings. The cute, absolutely brainless little green-haired rodents that you were tasked with keeping alive long enough to reach the level's exit. Christmas Lemmings is a lot like the standard Lemmings games, except with holiday themed levels, and Santa Claus suits for the Lemmings. There were actually four Christmas Lemmings games released. One per year from 1991 to 1994. The first two releases were demos, but the 1993 and 1994 releases were full games.

Christmas NiGHTS – Sega Saturn

Ask any die-hard Sega fan what the Holy Grails of the Sega Saturn are, and you'll probably hear Christmas NiGHTS somewhere on the list. One part demo, one part expansion pack, Christmas NiGHTS was released in the US through magazines like Sega Saturn Magazine and Next Generation Magazine. Containing two levels, one each for Claris and Elliot, Christmas NiGHTS also had a plethora of time-sensitive Easter Eggs. During November and December, the levels would become winter themed. In December, a Christmas theme would overtake them. And, on April Fool's Day, players could play as Reala instead of NiGHTS. Also interesting is an Easter Egg that would allow players to play as Sonic The Hedgehog. Sonic, however, could only traverse the level on foot.

So, fellow gamers, there you have it. Three games that, while possibly not the greatest games out there in terms of content or length, manage to capture the Christmas spirit. Because come on, who DOESN'T think of green-haired rodents in Santa suits walking off cliffs to their impending doom when they think of Christmas?

Or is that just me?