UPIXO In Action: Mission in Snowdriftland

UPIXO in Action: Mission in Snowdriftland
Developer(s) Extra Toxic
Publisher(s) Nintendo
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Designer(s) Steve Welz (level designer)
Bogac Sariaydin (graphic designer)
Christiane Fritsch (project manager)
Composer(s) Fabian Del Priore
Platform(s) Online/Web
Release date(s) 1 December 2006, 1 December 2010 (indie games edition re-release)
Genre(s) Platformer
Mode(s) Single Player

UPIXO In Action: Mission in Snowdriftland (or simply Mission in Snowdriftland) was a Flash-based platforming game created by Extra Toxic, with help from Nintendo. Doubling as a game and an advent calendar advertising different Nintendo products, every day from December 1 to December 24, 2006, an extra level was added to the game. Each level is filled with enemies and 24 snowflakes. Collecting every snowflake in a level unlocked secret downloads. The game was supposed to be taken offline on January 14, but was delayed until January 16 - it is now no longer available although the site is still online (thanking the players). The game was scored by Fabian Del Priore. It was recently announced that the game would be revived as an Indie Games edition for December 2010.[1]

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 videogame 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, that you can collect to unlock rewards for the game/console files you managed to retrieve during that level. You do 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 you have finished all stages. At first, Chubby can only take 3 hits before he dies. A few levels contain hidden powerups such as extra heart containers, which will add a permanent extra heart to Chubby's life meter.

Game/System Files

Nintendo

Ice Floes:

Forest:


Iceberg:

El Pix's Lair:

After beating all other stages:

Indie Games

Ice Floes:

Forest:

Iceberg:

El Pix's Lair:

After beating all other stages:

Rewards

Nintendo

Game/Console/Requirement Wallpapers Ringtone(s) Desktop icons
Yoshi's Island DS Yes Yes Yes
Metroid Prime Hunters Yes Yes No
Super Princess Peach Yes No No
42 All-Time Classics Yes No No
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team Yes Yes No
Sudoku Master Yes No No
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Yes Yes Yes
Wii Yes No No
Trauma Center: Under the Knife Yes No No
Animal Crossing: Wild World Yes Yes Yes
Another Code: Two Memories Yes No No
Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training Yes No No
Nintendo DS Lite Pink Edition Yes No No
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Yes No Yes
Wii Sports Yes No No
English Training Yes Yes No
New Super Mario Bros. Yes Yes Yes
Nintendo DS Browser Yes No No
Tetris DS Yes No Yes
Wii Play Yes No No
Nintendogs: Dalmatian and Friends Yes No No
Big Brain Academy Yes No No
Mario Kart DS Yes Yes Yes
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves Yes Yes No
Collecting all 576 snowflakes Yes Yes Yes
El Pix Yes No Yes

Enemies

Ice Floes:

Penguins: These relatively harmless critters will wander back and forth aimlessly, hoping to bump into Chubby. One jump on them will defeat them. They come in a variety of colours, each having a different moving speed. Blue penguins are the fastest, being much faster than all others.

Penguin Mother: Large female penguins that charge at Chubby if he gets close to them. While larger than a normal Penguin, one jump on them will get rid of them.

Polar Bears: Large bears that will remain stationary, running in place in order to create snowballs, which will then roll at Chubby in order to hit him. Simply jumping into the Polar Bear kills him, hitting his body does not damage Chubby.

Orca: Seemingly friendly, the Orca lies still in the icy water, but if Chubby gets too close, it will charge at him. A pretty rare enemy. Invulnerable.

Skullfish: These bony fish will jump out of the water in order to hit Chubby. Simply wait for them to go back underwater, then jump over them. Invulnerable.

Robby: Friendly seal which lies in the water. If you jump on him, you'll get an extra bounce. Robbies are the only things that cannot hurt you.

Forest:

Squirrel Penguins: The Forest equivalent of the Penguins, these Penguins in a squirrel getup will wander around in the trees, in much the same way as normal Penguins. They also come in a variety of colours.

Evil Trees: Large trees that will walk left and right to hit Chubby. They can just be cleared with a well-timed jump. If you jump on them you will be hit, however, you will be able to stand on them during your temporary invulnerability. They are invulnerable.

Baby Spiders: Small red spiders that scurry along the ground fairly fast, in an unpredictable path. While seemingly harmless, they can still damage Chubby, so caution is advised when dealing with them.

Net Spiders: Waiting in their webs for Chubby to arrive, these adult Spiders are slow, but can prove to be deadly if you come too close. If you climb up their web, they will give chase. Invulnerable.

Big Spiders Huge spiders that hang from branches, descending to attack Chubby whenever he passes underneath them. Invulnerable.

Fire Bumblebee: Fireflies that are literally on fire. They will swoop up/down/left/right in a set pattern to try and hit Chubby. Easy to avoid, however, they are fairly large. Invulnerable.

Spider Snowmen: Spider-esque Snowmen that walk along on the ground from left to right. Will damage Chubby when it hits him, however, it doesn't go after him. If Chubby jumps on them, he will get a gigantic jump boost, but the Snowman will become mad and chase Chubby for a bit before calming down again. Invulnerable.

Iceberg:

Flying Penguins: Penguins with a fake bird beak and wings that try to fly. However, they cannot really accomplish this, so all they do is hop around. They still come in a variety of colours.

Ice Bumblebee: Frozen Fireflies with large ice crystals on their head. Unlike their fiery cousins, they do not fly around, they hover in one spot. Invulnerable.

Mammoths: Gigantic brown mammoths with a completely flat back. As is to be expected, you can stand on their back to get an extra platform. They will move left and right continuously. If they walk over you, you will be hit. Invulnerable.

Eagles: Big green and white eagles that swoop left and right to try and hit you. They can be jumped on in order to kill them, however, they are quite fast, so this might prove hard to pull off.

Spider Snowmen: They make a repeat appearance in the Iceberg stages.

El Pix's Lair:

Cave Ur-Penguin: This Penguin, dressed like a cliché circus strongman (Though unfortunately lacking a moustache), carries 1 to 3 Penguins on his back, and will walk around with them as if it were a totem pole. Each Penguin takes one jump to kill.

Beycnakes: Multicoloured small scorpions that, unlike the adults, are easily killed with a jump. They move quite slow.

Cave Scorpions: Medium-sized yellow scorpions that scurry along the ground in El Pix's Lair. They are invulnerable, attempting to jump on them will get you hurt.

Baby Spiders: They make a repeat appearance in the El Pix's Lair stages.

Net Spiders: They make a repeat appearance in the El Pix's Lair stages, with different colours.

Huge Spiders: They make a repeat appearance in the El Pix's Lair stages, with different colours.

Fire Bumblebee: They make a repeat appearance in the El Pix's Lair stages.

Spider Snowmen: They make a repeat appearance in the El Pix's Lair stages.

Final Battle:

El Pix: The final boss of the game! He flies around in his penguin-shaped UFO, from which he drops Penguins. After hitting him 5 times, he'll stop dropping Penguins, and start dropping Beycnakes, Cave Scorpions, and Baby Spiders. He comes down every now and then, and when he does you have to jump on the dome on top of his UFO. He has 6 hearts, so you'll have to hit him 7 times.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2010/11/mission_in_snowdriftland_returns_this_december