Over the years there have been many tales of various people having to save Christmas, whether it’s some innocent little child or the big man in red himself. However, few have explored the idea that the elves themselves have gone bad. After all, Santa could never do anything to his cute little helpers, right? Well, welcome to what’s probably one of the most politically incorrect version of the “Santa Saves Christmas” theme ever – Trigger Happy Christmas. While I’ll admit that the graphics are a bit too morbid for my tastes, especially given the overall Christmas theme, this game puts a couple of nice spins on the subgenre of shooting game that was started with the likes of Zombieville USA.

For some reason not explained by the game, the elves have decided to sabotage Christmas. The sleigh has gone nuts and is dropping presents all over the place, and the elves are stealing whatever they can get their hands on. As Santa Claus, it’s up to you to grab the presents and get them to the tele-present 2000 so they can get where they need to go. This won’t be an easy task, though, because you need five presents in the teleporter to activate it, and those nasty elves have no qualms about stealing the presents right from the teleporter if they can. Not to mention the fact that one touch from a vile elf spells doom for Father Christmas and forces you to start the game over.

Don't Touch My Presents

So how do you deal with these traitors? Well, like any good administrator of justice would, you pick up your shotgun and blow them away. Unfortunately, the bigger they are the harder they fall, so thankfully Rudolph will toss you a power up every now and again that will provide you with anything from a flame thrower to a grenade launcher. Sadly these are all limited time offers, so use them as best you can while you have them. Sometimes you’ll even get non-weapon helpers like an invincibility shield or a power up that temporarily freezes all elves that are currently on the screen.

The game uses the standard control set of left and right arrows to move in the appropriate direction, a button to jump, and another button to shoot. Where it deviates from other games like it is that you actually have to click on power ups and presents to get them, instead of just picking them up by running over them. Depending on how good you are at this type of game, this could be construed as an added element of strategy or an annoyance. Personally, I’m somewhere in the middle on that one.

How does Trigger Happy Christmas differ from its brethren like Zombieville USA? The whole idea of collecting objects and returning them to a central location is the biggest departure – especially when taking into account that the bad guys can steal the objects right back from you. Second, unlike most of these games that employ the typical “travel from left to right until you reach a certain point” motif, in Trigger Happy Christmas the focus is on the Tele-present 2000 in the middle of the playing field. In fact, you can only go so far to the left or right, because each side is blocked off eventually by a cave entrance that unleashes all the elves. Finally there’s the whole “one hit death” thing. I’m not sure I’m real keen on that last one, but the game’s amusing enough that I’m willing to overlook it for now.

Ho Ho... Uh Oh!

Graphically the game is quite detailed, which might actually be a mixed blessing. It took me a while to figure out how I’d describe the whole feel of the artwork, but I think the easiest way to describe it is “Itchy & Scratchy meet Santa Claus”. The characters have a unique style about them and are very nicely animated. When they get blown up, however, is when the visuals take a turn towards Mortal Kombat. It’s not uncommon to see brains flying or bloodied skulls lying in the snow. And yeah, I know in the end it’s all cartoony, but it still goes a little overboard for my tastes. Overall, though, I’m quite pleased with the quality and detail of the art, especially when it comes to subtle things like the different expressions on Santa’s face.

The sound effects are okay. They’re your pretty typical weapon noises, followed by your pretty typical squishing as elves get mutilated. What I’m a bit disappointed by is the fact that the elves themselves make no noise, and neither does Santa. How about some witty or sarcastic remarks from the man in red? Maybe a grunt or groan from a demented elf? I think they missed some good opportunities there. On the other hand, I really like the music. Not only is it good, but while at times there are definitely holiday overtones, it’s more of an action movie theme, and it fits the mood of the game quite well.

Hopefully I don’t have to spell this out for you, but Trigger Happy Christmas is not a holiday game for little kids. In fact, if you have the least bit of an aversion towards the perversion of cherished holiday icons, you probably won’t enjoy this game. However, if you can look past the theme and take the game for what it is – a unique variation of the Zombieville USA genre – then the game is quite enjoyable. It’s also quite tough as the elves get bigger and more numerous. It’s visually detailed, the music is fun to listen to, and as is always my favorite part, there are lots of things to blast. This is definitely a Christmas game that will transcend the holiday season.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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