Santa Claus no Takarabako: Possibly the strangest release from Data East evar. It’s actually two things in one; a computerized christmas card, and that great staple of every traditional christmas, gambling games.
The card section allows you to choose from three different backgrounds, three songs, and you can type in your own scrolling message, and even redraw the walking Santa to whatever you want. Basically, this offers you 10 to 20 minutes of semi-enjoyable time killing.
Sadly, this is the pinnacle of fun for the game. The gambling, or “Party Games” as they’re called, require basically no skill whatsoever to play. You hit A, and the cards fall as they may. You have a Slot Machine, Roulette Wheel, some strange Bingo game, and a dice game I can’t comprehend.
All of these games are hard as hell, too; I think ol’ Santa’s got his casino rigged. After 10 minutes of getting the worst luck ever, I finally just quit. Santa’s pretty greedy when it’s money on the line, I guess.