The Grinch on the Sega Dreamcast was developed by Artificial Mind & Movement and published by Konami in 2000 – to coincide with the film “How The Grinch Stole Christmas“, starring Jim Carrey, which was released the same year. The film is based on the Dr. Seuss book, first published in 1957, which criticises the commercialisation of Christmas.

You play as The Grinch, a cranky, solitary creature who attempts to ruin the Christmas plans of the people in the nearby town of Whoville (who are called “Whos” for some strange reason). The game is a 3D, third-person action game with jumping and climbing, item manipulation, weapon-use and vehicles.

The first level is a training area that familiarises you with controlling The Grinch. He can do a ‘butt-smash’ to “pancake” boxes to break them open; his bad breath will knock people down and can also be used to show hidden laser beams; he can grab and move objects, pull levers, and – most importantly – he can switch and take control of Max the dog, his canine companion, who can fit into small spaces that The Grinch can’t.

The Grinch then travels to Whoville to wreak havoc among its inhabitants, by destroying snowmen, breaking gift boxes, and wearing disguises to hide his identity and then sneaking around the town’s key buildings. The Grinch can creep quietly past sleeping policeman (and other guards) by holding down the ‘sneak’ button. Caution must be taken, though, to avoid being caught (or snowballed by patrolling children), or being seen by any security cameras.

A key part of the game is finding blueprints that allow The Grinch to build various gadgets that enhance his abilities, like the Rotten Egg Launcher, the Rocket Spring, the Octopus Climbing Device, the Slime Shooter, the Marine Mobile, and the Grinch Copter. Each blueprint requires four parts that allow The Grinch to make each gadget back at his mountain lair. Here he can also use weird suction devices to travel between his lair and various locations.

Graphically, The Grinch on the Dreamcast is relatively plain-looking, but the animation of all the characters is excellent, as are their modelling. Environments are colourful and atmospheric, with snow, Christmas trees, and coloured lighting adding to the seasonal aesthetic.

The music in the game is also superb, with snippets from the film soundtrack mixed with bespoke jazzy, foot-tapping numbers.

Initially I didn’t expect much from The Grinch, but after playing for a number of hours I found myself really liking it. It’s by no means a classic, but it is a decent movie license and a fun Christmas game with plenty of secrets and unlockables and a meaningful message behind it – just like the classic Dr. Seuss book.

The game was also released for the Sony PlayStation and is pretty much identical to this. The Game Boy Color version, however, is a completely different game and is arguably even better than this one.

Happy Christmas from The King of Grabs!

More: The Grinch on Wikipedia