UPIXO in Action: Mission in Snowdriftland

UPIXO in Action: Mission in Snowdriftland (or simply Mission in Snowdriftland) is a Flash-based platform game created by German studio Extra Toxic and sponsored by Nintendo of Europe.[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. A remaster of the game was later released on Steam on December 1, 2021.

UPIXO in Action: Mission in Snowdriftland
Developer(s)Extra Toxic
tons of bits
Publisher(s)Nintendo of Europe
tons of bits[1]
Designer(s)Steve Welz
Programmer(s)Steve Welz
Artist(s)Bogac Sariaydin
Composer(s)Fabian Del Priore
Platform(s)Browser
Release
  • Adobe Flash
  • December 1, 2006
  • Adobe Flash Re-release
  • December 1, 2010
  • Steam Remaster
  • December 1, 2021
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Storyline

El Pix, an evil penguin, has stolen game files from the Human 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, the UPIXO boss's assistant, Professor Schwabbel, spots Chubby Snow, a living snowman, who is complaining at the front desk because all his video game roles have been bad so far, and asks him to get back the game files. Every day in December 2006, a new level in Chubby's adventure becomes accessible, leading up to the final showdown with El Pix on December 24.

Gameplay

The game is divided into 4 areas: floating chunks of ice, a forest, an iceberg, and El Pix's lair. Each area has 6 stages (The stage's number corresponds to the day in December 2006 it was released), for a total of 24. Each stage contains 24 snowflakes, which the plater could collect to unlock rewards for the game/console files that they managed to retrieve during that level. The player does not have to beat a stage to access the next one, however there is a reward for getting all snowflakes in every stage, and the final battle cannot be accessed until they have finished all stages. 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

While the game was no longer available due to limited accessibility, the game was still playable on ExtraToxic's website after January 16. The site was meant to be password protected,[4] however this was non-functional due to a programming bug.

The 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.[5][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.[6]

See also

References
  1. "tons of bits". Twitter. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. "extra toxic - online entertainment". www.extratoxic.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  3. "Spotlight on Indie Issue #3: Interview with Indie Game Developer tons of bits". www.alteredgamer.com. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  4. 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.
  5. van Duyn, Marcel (26 November 2010). "Mission in Snowdriftland Returns this December". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  6. Robinson, Nick (December 24, 2020). Mission in Snowdriftland: Nintendo's forgotten Flash game (video). Retrieved October 19, 2021 – via YouTube.
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