UPIXO in Action: Mission in Snowdriftland

Last updated
Mission in Snowdriftland
Developer(s) tons of bits
Publisher(s) tons of bits [1]
Designer(s) Bogac Sariaydin, Steve Welz
Programmer(s) Steve Welz
Artist(s) Bogac Sariaydin
Composer(s) Fabian Del Priore
Platform(s)
Release
  • Adobe Flash
  • December 1, 2006
  • Adobe Flash re-release
  • December 1, 2010
  • Remaster
  • Windows
  • December 1, 2021
  • Nintendo Switch
  • November 29, 2024
Genre(s) Platformer
Mode(s) Single-player

Mission in Snowdriftland (originally known as UPIXO in Action: Mission in Snowdriftland) is a 2D platformer originally released as an online Adobe Flash game in 2006 and sponsored by Nintendo of Europe before being remastered and re-released on Steam, created by German studio tons of bits. [2] The game was used as an advent calendar advertising various Nintendo products [3] from December 1 to December 24, 2006, with an additional level added each day. It was supposed to be taken offline on January 14, 2007, but was delayed until January 16. The game was brought back on December 1, 2010, this time to promote upcoming WiiWare titles for the Wii, but once again removed in 2011.

Contents

A remaster of the game with new features, more content and technical updates was later released on Steam on December 1, 2021, with a Switch port following suite on November 29, 2024. [4]

Storyline

El Pix, an evil penguin, has stolen video game artifacts from the secret archive of Video Game World, and made off with them to his lair in Snowdriftland. UPIXO (United Pixelheroes Organisation) has no clue what to do, seeing as the region is far too cold for anybody to survive. However, UPIXO boss Chief Tapir's assistant, Professor Schwabbel, spots Chubby Snow, a snowman video game character, who is complaining at the front desk because all his video game roles have been bad so far. It now depends on Chubby to get back the stolen artifacts.

In the original Flash version the only difference was that El Pix has stolen game files from the Human World.

Gameplay

While Mission in Snowdriftland plays like a traditional platformer, it can be also played as a digital advent calendar. Due to its history and concept the player can open a door each day of December and play one level per day until the final boss stage.

The game is divided into 4 worlds: Lake, Forest, Mountain, Cave. Each world has 6 stages, for a total of 24. Each stage contains 24 snowflakes. Once the player collects all 576 snowflakes (24 in 24 levels) a huge Bonus Level gets unlocked.

At the end of each world a miniboss stage is accessible. Beating the miniboss will clear the way for the next world. The miniboss of world 4 (cave) however will unlock the endboss stage, where Chubby will take on villain El Pix in a final battle.

At first, Chubby can only take 3 hits before he dies. A few levels contain hidden power-ups such as extra heart containers, which will add a permanent extra heart to Chubby's life meter.

Restoration

Technical upgrades for the Steam version include remastered graphics (including characters, objects, and backgrounds), parallax scrolling, controller support and save game slots.

While the Flash game was no longer available due to limited accessibility, the game was still playable on the developers website after January 16. The site was meant to be password protected, [5] however this was non-functional due to a programming bug.

The flash game was re-released in the winter period of 2010 to promote indie games available on Nintendo's WiiWare online market, though it was subject to the same timed release window, making the game only accessible for a few more days. [6] [3]

Web browsers would also cease the use of Adobe Flash Player in December 2020, the framework Snowdriftland ran on. However, BlueMaxima's Flashpoint saved these experiences as well as reviving Snowdriftland, which is now playable in their catalogue.

A video made by YouTuber Nick Robinson, titled "Mission in Snowdriftland: Nintendo's forgotten Flash game", revealed that a remaster has been announced for a Steam release in late 2021 with the developers also possibly creating a Nintendo Switch port of the game in the future. [7]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "tons of bits". Twitter. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "tons of bits". www.tons-of-bits.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Spotlight on Indie Issue #3: Interview with Indie Game Developer tons of bits". www.alteredgamer.com. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  4. ↑ Rossignol, Derrick (November 11, 2024). "Feature: Nintendo's Long-Lost Advent Calendar Game Comes Home For Christmas On Switch". Nintendo Life.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Nick (December 24, 2020). Mission in Snowdriftland: Nintendo's forgotten Flash game (video). Event occurs at 21:00. Retrieved October 19, 2021– via YouTube. But actually, it's password-protected as far as I know.
  6. ↑ van Duyn, Marcel (26 November 2010). "Mission in Snowdriftland Returns this December". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  7. ↑ Robinson, Nick (December 24, 2020). Mission in Snowdriftland: Nintendo's forgotten Flash game (video). Retrieved October 19, 2021– via YouTube.
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