Daze Before Christmas

Daze Before Christmas is a platform game for the Super Nintendo where the player controls Santa Claus. His mission is to restore Christmas after antagonists including an evil snowman and the Timekeeper have disrupted the preparations.

The adventure spans 24 distinct areas, such as workshops and caves, each populated by hostile creatures. Progression involves navigating these stages, confronting enemies, and locating a spinning star to advance. Periodically, the gameplay shifts to a flying sequence over several countries, where the objective is to drop presents into chimneys for points.

Santa's vitality is shown by a set of Santa hats, which are depleted by enemy attacks. Losing all hats costs a life, requiring a restart from the area's beginning or from a collected gold bell checkpoint. Scattered presents can be collected, but they carry risk, potentially granting extra lives or helpful elves, but also possibly containing bombs or foes.

Combat primarily involves throwing magic at enemies. A temporary power-up, obtained from hot cocoa, transforms Santa into an invincible, horned "Anti-Santa" armed with a hammer for a brief duration. The game employs a password system, allowing players to resume progress from specific areas.