Running with Santa 2 is a lighthearted endless runner game where you have to help Santa save Christmas. The game has you running Santa ragged around the village, through caves and other venues to collect all the presents that have been scattered about.
The game includes plenty of power-ups and a handful of characters to choose from that include a snowboard Santa, an elf and your traditional Santa figure. Available for low-memory Windows Phone, Running with Santa 2 comes across as a decent game well suited for your Windows Phone Kid's Corner or even your main gaming library.
Running with Santa's main menu offers your standard options to play the game, access the game's settings and choosing your gaming character. There is also a gift icon in the upper right corner of the main menu. This will launch a scratch card game where you can win daily prizes such as bonus gaming tokens, presents, etc.
Settings for Running with Santa covers turning on or off the game's sound and vibration. You begin the game playing the traditional Santa character but as you earn gaming tokens, you can unlock two additional characters - a Santa with snowboard and an Elf.
Along with unlocking characters, the game store also offers opportunities to buy upgrades with the presents you collect as well as buying presents and stars through in-app purchase.
Game play is not very different from any other endless runner game. Controls are handled with a series of screen gestures. Swipe left or right to move Santa in that direction and swipe up to jump. There is no sliding with Running with Santa though.
The course Santa runs has snowy streets to navigate, gaps to jump across, caves to explore and plenty of power-ups and bonus items to collect. Speaking of collecting things, your primary mission is to collect all the presents that are scattered throughout the game. The further you go and the more presents you collect, the higher your score.
Should you hit a wall, miss a jump or have Santa meet his fate through other means, you can revive him by using stars (earned through game play or bought through game store).
Overall Impression
Running with Santa 2 is a fun, casual endless runner game for your Windows Phone. It's not at the same level of Temple Run or Subway Surfers but has its own level of appeal as a Holiday game.
There is room for improvement with controls that can be a tad spotty at times, mainly with your left and right movements. There were a few instances where I had to swipe at the screen several times to get the Santa to move and often he moved too late. Waiting until the last possible moment to move out of harm's way may not be a good idea with this game until the side-to-side controls are more responsive.
All in all, Running with Santa 2 has the potential of being a fun Kid's Corner game or a game to have in your main library to pick up from time to time over the Holiday Season. At last check Running with Santa 2 is pulling down a 3.5 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store, which is about right with the control issues.
