Exciting Winter Retro Games

The holidays may be over but, for those in the northern hemisphere, winter is still going strong! In celebration of the season, this month at Emuparadise we would like to share some of the great winter-themed games out there. So stoke the fire, sip some hot cocoa, and bundle up with these "cold" classics!

Twisted Edge Extreme Snowboarding

System: Nintendo 64 Year: 1998 Every fan of both snowboarding and the Nintendo 64 knows about the stellar 1080 Snowboarding. However, most people are unaware that only a few months after 1080's release we got another incredible title in the form of Twisted Edge. The great thing about this game, in contrast to the more serious approach of 1080, is that it's much easier to pick up. The trick system is a great deal more accessible, and the gameplay has a more lighthearted feel. You'll race against multiple opponents instead of just one, finding shortcuts and strange objects (like a crashed UFO) out on the mountain. There's even a plethora of secret characters to unlock for those willing to take up the challenge.

Max Payne

System: Sony Playstation 2 Year: 2001 Shortly after the massive success of the film "The Matrix" slow-motion shootouts were all the rage, and no game did it better than Max Payne. Set in a film-noir style vision of a cold New York winter, you play a cop with nothing to lose seeking to find vengeance for the murder of his wife and baby daughter. This game is chock-full of strange nightmare-sequences, action packed shootouts and some truly insane in-game TV shows. Not only that but it has a disturbing range of characters that include drug-addicts and worshipers of the occult. This entry spearheaded a trilogy of games, that was helped along and eventually fully transferred to Rockstar Games where the series now stands as one of the best third-person shooters of all time.

Daze Before Christmas

Systems: Sega Mega-Drive, Super Nintendo Year: 1994 If you lived in the United States, you no doubt missed this holiday gem. Originally released only for the Mega-Drive in Australia, the game was eventually ported to the SNES and released in Europe as well. Daze Before Christmas has you playing as the one and only Santa Claus, fighting to rescue your elves and reindeer. You must get back the presents and ultimately save Christmas from an evil snowman. There's even an in-game power up that lets you play as "Anti-Santa", who wops enemies over the head with his present bag. Dripping with holiday charm and some simple but entertaining gameplay, this is a sure-fire retro Christmas classic!

Fahrenheit ("Indigo Prophecy")

System: Sony Playstation 2 Year: 2005 If you want a winter-themed game, look no further than this entry. Fahrenheit, known in the U.S. as "Indigo Prophecy", is a story driven thriller set in a cold, harsh winter that only gets more bleak and dark as the game goes on. It was one of the first games to really showcase how cinematic gameplay could realistically work, and it did it fantastically. The gameplay mechanics and the dark, supernatural story by themselves are quite entertaining. However, this is a game that beckons you back time and time again because the choices you make in the game reflect how the tale plays out.

Artic Thunder

System: Sony Playstation 2 Year: 2001 One sport that never gets much attention in video games is snowmobile racing. If you're not familiar, this is a dangerous high-speed activity that basically amounts to racing specialized motorcycles that look like they have skis attached to them in heavy snow. Luckily the folks over at Midway felt this event needed some attention and released Arctic Thunder as the 4th entry in their "Thunder" series. Playing a little bit like a kart-racer, you race snowmobiles against multiple opponents, snagging power-ups and blasting your way to first place though crazy locations like a Chernobyl nuclear meltdown.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

System: Nintendo Gamecube - Disc 1 & Disc 2 Year: 2004 If you are a fan of Metal Gear, you have no doubt played Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation. Taking place on the cold and snowy Alaskan Island "Shadow Moses", the game was a masterpiece of stealth action, and served as a fantastic revival of the Metal Gear series for the then-modern era of 3D games. What you may not have played however is the remake of that game titled "The Twin Snakes". Released exclusively for the Nintendo Gamecube, this update of the game was built on a version of the Metal Gear Solid 2 engine. As such, it brings with it not only the graphical updates but Snake's got some new moves this time around as well. They even updated that 'spooky' battle with Psycho Mantis to reflect the change in platform, as well as some other Nintendo themed Easter-eggs sprinkled about.

Have you played any of these games before? Share your experience with us on Facebook and Twitter! While others may be freezing out in the cold snowy weather, we hope whatever you play this season that you are set up next to the warm glow of a good TV, playing your favorite retro-classics.