Every now and then we are treated with a stocking filler of a game that just lights up our imagination. For me that game is Christmas Nights, a demo that Sega released for the Sega Saturn in December 1996. It was given away free to any Saturn owner willing to pay a small postage fee and also included in a Christmas theme Saturn console bundle. Being a demo of a game released the previous summer you would be forgiven for thinking there was not much more to say about it. However, Christmas Nights is not just any old demo disc, it is essentially an add-on pack for the main game.
It may help to explain its significance by setting the wintry scene that led to this gift from Yuji Naka and his Sonic Team. Nights was pitched up as the Saturn’s answer to Super Mario 64. Sega were still having trouble getting a Sonic game to work in 3D and decided to put Nights Into Dreams up as their killer app for the summer. Nights, in its own right, is an amazing game. Filled with genuinely unique gameplay and presentation that is breathtaking at times. It was well received by critiques and is without a doubt one of the greatest games of the fifth generation.
So why did Sega need to release a demo half a year after the game had hit the shelves? Well, a little grey console was laying waste to the game industry and both Sega and Nintendo were losing the race for dominance. The Playstation was on everyone’s Christmas list and the Saturn was left out in the cold as sales dwindled. Sega needed something to boost sales over the crucial holiday period and thought a special gift to gamers would help with the battle against Sony. Taking the role of Santa’s little helper, Yuji Naka took up the reigns in an effort to save Sega.
Essentially Christmas Nights is a demo of the first level of the game followed by the first boss. But as you start to explore the disc there is much more to it. Firstly, a small side-story to the main game was implemented with a full cutscene. The games protagonists, Claris and Elliot, have lost their star and must travel back to Nightopia to find it. They join up with their old friend Nights who must make his way to recapture the star from, the main games first boss, Gillwing. Once the star is recovered Claris and Elliot leave Nightopia and place the star atop their Christmas tree.
The game itself had its entire graphics overhauled into a Christmas setting. Snow covers the play area and the little Nightopians are all dressed as elves. All the trees are now actual Christmas trees complete with decorations. Wreaths replace the rings and other nods to the festive season are seen throughout. The original music is replaced with Jingle Bells and an a cappella remix of the theme song has been added. While the experience is short, being it is a demo, there is still replayability due to the high score table that is saved to the Saturn’s memory.
These Christmas touches would have been enough but Sonic Team went into overdrive for this special present. Firstly, a clever system of matching presents unlocks some neat features. Each time you complete the game you have the chance to uncover tiles. With each pair of matching tiles unlocking high-resolution images for a gallery, music tracks from the game and even gameplay extras such as a score attack. But it still gets better and Christmas Nights really is the gift that keeps on giving. After a few times completing the game you unlock the ability to play as Sonic with Dr Robotnik as the boss.
This was the first time that we saw Sonic in full 3D, Sonic Jam with its 3D Sonic World was still a year off. At the time it was a tantalising glimpse of what might be coming on the Saturn. The sad story is that Sonic would get his full 3D outing on the Dreamcast. But Christmas 1996 had Sega fans in a frenzy of expectation. Sonic X-treme was still in development but we had 3D Sonic right then, right there! It is the big ‘what if’ in the history of the Saturn. It is well documented among retro scholars that the lack of Sonic on the Saturn was one of the nails in its coffin. So, seeing Sonic here is an important detail in the wider Saturn story.
If this disc of festive wonderment had not already given enough, there was one more box to unwrap. A moment of amazement and certainly the cherry on top of this Christmas cake. The Saturn has an internal clock that is set by the player at start-up. It has no real use beyond letting you know the time, but Sonic Team found an ingenious use for it. If the internal clock on the Saturn is in winter the title screen for Christmas Nights is filled with snow. Set the clock to New Years Eve and the title screen has a Happy New Year message. Set it to Valentines Day and hearts fill the play screen. April Fools allows you to play as Reala, Nights’ evil nemesis. Also, during these different clock settings Claris and Elliot outfits change to match the specific holiday.
To explain Christmas Nights as a simple demo of an already excellent game would not do it justice. It is almost a new game in its own right, albeit only one set of levels. I always think on Christmas Nights as a poignant moment in Sega’s history. The Saturn, although sales were not high, was still in the race. We had Sonic X-treme on the horizon and plenty of Sega exclusives being released. There was much to celebrate for Sega fans during the winter of 1996 and Christmas Nights was the present that brought all the cheer together. There will never be anything like Christmas Nights again and it deserves a special place in retro gaming history.
This article has been republished from Fusion Magazine.
