Mission in Snowdriftland
Mission in Snowdriftland is an absolutely gorgeously detailed 2D side-scrolling platform Flash game with production values that rival Nintendo's own efforts in the category. In fact, this one appears to have been commissioned by Nintendo as an advergame as it contains all sorts of delightful unlockable goodies—from screenshots and wallpapers to videos and ringtones—from several of Nintendo's latest DS handheld and Wii console offerings.
Beginning with a lengthy intro cutscene that develops the game's background story, you learn of a terrible plot in Video Game World by El Pix who has stolen important game files from a laboratory and retreated to remote Snowdriftland. Chubby the Snowman gets the task of recovering the files and off you go.
The game overworld is presented as an advent calendar with each of the days of December leading up to Christmas representing a playable level that, when completed, will unlock the files for the featured product. So far only the first 8 levels are unlocked with a new level being unlocked each day.
Cheers to Wouter for the heads-up about this exceptional game. =)
Update: Unfortunately, this wonderful experience was short lived as extra toxic has taken the game offline. They tell me they will continue to make exceptional games like this one, and that you may even see another game based on the game engine used for Mission in Snowdriftland.
Update (Dec. 2010): IT'S BACK!
Wow, that review came fast.
The greatest thing I encountered in the game untill now is that you have to sink the floes of ice on one side to get up higher on the other side, that's unique gameplay I think.
thanx for writing :).
It would have been up faster were it not for the rather difficult levels to complete. The first one took me no less than 10 tries before I managed to make it all the way through.
Yes, I agree about the unique approach to jumping higher by tipping the icebergs (oh that's punny!) =) ...although I am all but certain it's not a first in that regard.
I still plan to write up a bit more about it, but didn't want to delay getting it up. Thanks again, Wouter!
damn
exciting
nice
color
woha
sound
damn - best ever written flashgame if seen,
why are the most expensive things so good sometimes
It's a great game, but it's so hard to keep alive... One missed jump=restart. And that can be a little tiring...
Awesome!
I love it, but I did find a glitch where if you stand on the back of an igloo, theres a spot where you can walk through it, and enter the igloo, but the cross-section isn't revealed.
Nice, but if you are a impatient person, prepare to get bored.
Brilliant game. It reminds me Giana Sisters which I liked so much as a kid.
The only drawback is lack of a quality selector, my 900 MHz PC is too slow for smooth gameplay.
THis is really a AWSOME game try it NOW !!! I just think the creator should make it so that when you die you start at a check point or something like that. BUT on the other hand it makes it nice and difficult so that you would keep on trying. One real problem that i just notised is there is no save or mute function. its a big game to complete in one go !!
Nice indeed. But somewhat frustrating :P
Cool game. Literally and figuratively.
Yay, jay does review!!! I was begining to think we were going to have to change the site to "JohnBIsGames!"
Nice game, cute find, jay!
Now, back to "studying for finals."
hahaha =D
Yes, JohnB has been taking over many of the publishing tasks of the site so that I can focus on site improvements and upgrades that I am unable to get to when worrying about keeping content flowing daily.
That is also why we are in the process of transitioning the name of the site to "Casual Gameplay" because it puts the focus more on what is reviewed here than on any one person doing the reviewing. =)
It's a group effort, and the site simply couldn't have come this far without everyone's help.
I wanted to know if there are any pluses to collecting all the snowflakes? I'm able to pass most levels but not with all the snowflakes.
According to the "Help" menu in the game, collecting every single ice crystal/snowflake in every single level (576 total) will earn you a special download. Obviously, we won't know what it is until the 24th.
Mmm everything done up to the 9th. Can't wait until tomorrow for the next installment!
Level 6 was a bit frusterating for me, took me way too many tries...
does anyone else find level 8 freakishly hard?
Great game but dang I can't even get through the 1st stage. I agree, it needs save progress stations. I absolutely hate starting from scratch every time. That, or give us 5 lives instead of the typical cruel "nerds revenge" 3 lives.
And you can't even stockpile lives. No sense going after that heart up there if you still have 3 under your belt. But don't fret, 3 deadly enemies await you just beyond the horizon.
It might help to know there's a heart box which extends your life by one.
It's at level 6
It's at an igloo after jumping to top section of level 6. I prefer to go finish the level right after getting it and get the snowflakes after.
Yay, a typical old-school platformer with frustrating instant-falling deaths! I love those. In fact, I'm gonna fire up my old copy of Super Mario Bros 3 right now.
An excellent game. One small gripe though, you gotta love the helpful "tip" the game gives you if it runs too slow.. :)
GAH! I just did 12, and could only find 23 of the 24 flakes!
does anyone else know any other nintendo sponsored games flash games?
theres one that you can't see, its in the lower tree tunnel at the end of the level.
To captain:
http://www.nintendo.com/arcade
and search on the seperate gamessites too.
It seems there's one of those extra-heart boxes in level 12 as well, not as hidden. Anyone figure out how to get it?
Great old school game.
They should reverse the ice and woods levels, the woods are easier because there is no water to kill you in one touch. Especially annoying if you hit a monster mid flight, which kills your speed and then drop with a splash to eternal doom.
For those complaining, should try Mario Lost Levels on the SNES, took me months to finish that one before finally completing the final level on a perfect run.
How do you get the extra life, it's in level 12, in the beginning up in the tree=p plz help me:P
How to get the extra heart-box in lvl 12:
Getting the extra heart-box in lvl 12 is quite tricky. First of all in the beginning go left. You'll see a passage in a tree there. Go up. When you meet the second 'snow-dog' (or whatever it is called) you'll find it difficult to reach next floor. You need to jump on him and after falling on him again try to press 'jump' the same time you touch him. You should jump higher. After that go up until another passage in the tree. From there go right, right, right, jumping from branch to branch (look out for spiders and squirrels) till you see a trunk. Jump into it a quickly press the 'right arrow' button. Again go right staying away from those orange creatures. Finnaly you'll see another trunk. Jump into it and fall till you get your extra heart-box. Good luck! ;]
THNX i got him;)
to get the last snowflake in lvl12, u need to do the same thing to get the extra heart box as shown above, except instead of jumping into the trunk, go beyond it.. you should fall into a snowflake
Wanted to like this game with all the positive posts, but the controls suck. And I played for a while trying to get used to them, but the little penguin continues even after you stop, and not just on the ice. Maybe others have not encountered this problem, but I found it ver frustrating. Sorry
Actually no, Marcoose. You can get the one just beyond the trunk by
Climbing up the spiderweb to the right, turning towards the tree, and jumping to the tree trunk. To beat the level, you don't need to do the upper challenge route unless you want the heart box.
It seems that every 6 levels or end of worlds you get a heart box. So the next two are on the 18th and the 24th.
I like the fact that the levels are released one day at a time. It allows the play for 45 minutes a day or less gamers like me to keep up with the pro lifetime gamer person who could beat all 24 levels in one hour. ;)
I must say that - As a linux fan I feel bad crushing penguins. Is the game anti-linux (killing penguins) and anti-Firefox/etc. (tip recommending MSIE)?
Just kidding, I love this game :p
OMG those mammooths have some serious frontal lobe issues... :)
I rather like how challenging this game is. It reminds me of the old-school Mario games that had those few levels that were maddeningly difficult. They kept you playing the game for months. The new Mario games seem to miss those kinds of levels, but this game is like 24 in a row.
I love it.
Wow good game, just beat lvl 17 can't wait for the 18th!
Those extra heart box tips sure will help (don't find those tips til sfter i beat 17)
Great game, can get a little frustrating but it make me want to win even more.
@Bigblargh:
If you want a real mario challenge, go out and buy Super Mario Allstars for the SNES. One of the games is Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, which is like a whole new game, except WAY harder. For example, the new engine makes it tougher to play, and there are actually pipes that bring you backwards levels. Evil. You could go out and buy a SNES...or...um...you know ;)
Yeah, 17 was a toughie, took a few tries.
Just done level 18, and another extra heart box.
Great game.
Yeah, level 18 also has an extra heart box!
5 lives now!
Lol, level 17 is damn easy! did it in first try and im new :P
Okay... so after making the extra heart boxes difficult to get to on 6 and 12 they make the one on 18 extremely easy? That is kinda strange.
I think that the level 6 and 12 ones were meant to be secrets/bonuses, while the level 18 one was meant to be a straightforward upgrade.
That said, this reasoning would work a lot better if you were forced to play the levels in order.
This has to be the best "advent calendar" that I've ever seen. Thanks to Wouter and Jay for bringing it to our attention. :-)
I've noticed the first level in a "world" (1, 7, 13) tends to be comparatively easy. If level 19 is any indication, then, I'm hoping the last couple levels in the game are going to be really tough.
Omg, just did level 1-19 -_-
And level 17 is darn easy man! Its an sliding map, i am bored. No more levels for this day :P
It's pretty easy to reach the end of level 17, but collecting the snowflakes is a different matter. At least that was my experience...
Hmm.. The levels 19 & 20 are both pretty easy; I'm also hoping that the last 4 levels will be really hard.
level 21 doesn't work?
works now :)
and wow hard level
Lol what are you talking about Bart? It's not even the 21st yet...
o_O
Level 21 doesn't work
wow 21 was significantly more challenging then 19 and 20. it took me about 5 trys to beat it...with all the snowflakes.
Level 21 did not work for me earlier, but it works now and its a corker.
First level since the first few that took me more than 2 goes to get all the stars. Took about 6.
this is a great game, it really needs come out on a big time nintendo system!
22 has been the first level that's it's been difficult to get all the snowflakes on. The jumps at the the end are kind of tricky.
how do you get the snowflakes that are at he ceiling by the purple spider in level 22?
The ones by the second red spider are much harder for me. Does anyone know how to get them?
Forget my last comment, I already have them :)
On 22 to get the top two snowflakes
I sat on the right side of the right 'teeter-totter' and would jump to the other tip and immediately jump again. This was obviously the hardest part of the level, but using this technique you avoid having to jump by the spider a million times and if you do fall you can go straight down without hitting anything.
It seems impossible until you finally hit the tip and get one...then rinse and repeat for the other. (I wasn't able to get both in one jump, but I did beat the level on the second try...second very long try.)
thanks. i finally beat it. it took me forever
dang, 23 is hard!
Woot! Beat lvl 23. That was a FUN one.
Now...I'm sad because there's only one level left :(
It better be like twice as long or something, or let all the snowflakes unlock another insane level...
This really has been an entertaining game. Just finished lvl 23 with all snowflakes from every level. 22 seemed the hardest by far. Oh, and I have 5 hearts (though I couldn't tell you where I got them all).
Whyyyyyyy the 24th ain't open??? :(
Ruisperkele, I assume it's because the game is updated whenever they feel like it :)
I don't know when it'll be up, since it's still 10:35 PM on the 23rd where I am.
(Hi from the past!)
Ahaa. Okies.
Well merry christmas to all anyhows. In past, present and future :)
It's up now, at 2AM EST.
Well, that was a fun one. If you have to know, the bonus at the end is...
There's a few icons for a couple random games, and a Wii wallpaper.
If you're cool and got all the snowflakes...
Head to the Lab and there's a bonus download option, with most/all the mp3's of the game's levels, icons of the game's characters, and various wallpapers with the game's theme.
Am I the first to finish it? :)
Collecting all 576 snowflakes gives you the special prize of
a very nice set of Mission in Snowdriftland downloads (icons, backgrounds, and the MP3 for each level).
Defeating El Pix gives you
a few Christmas Wii desktops and a bunch of new Nintendo icons. You also get a very amusing credit sequence. :)
If you have trouble finding everything on level 24,
know that you can drop down into the pit that's just after the first spiderweb, to the left of the big teeter-totter. Your sixth heart box lives down there.
Yahoo! 2nd to beat it (to post at least)
That was a great, great game!
If you don't know where to find the extra heart in lvl 12,
you start te level and you go immideately to left instead of right, that's the only way to get the heart
that was truly a fantastic game... i hope they do something next year
AAAAAA!! I've been waiting till all the levels were made to complete it (so I wouldn't have to load it twice), and it's going to close on Jan. 15!!!
***hurriedly completes levels without even looking at the snowflakes***
Last day to play
:(
There is an extra heart box on level 6, 12, 18, 24, !
Damn I missed this before they closed it. Is it mirrored anywhere?
It's coming back! Finally, this year! Can't wait for December 1st :D
Update