Mission in Snowdriftland is a Flash-based platformer starring a snowman named Chubby Snow made available thanks to Nintendo of Europe. A Nintendo-sponsored game on a non-Nintendo platform is a nice surprise. Developed by German media company Extra Toxic, the game includes 24 full levels. Levels are selected from an Advent calendar, with one new level made available each day from Dec 1st to 24th.

The game features a fully animated story in English, Dutch, German, and French. The sinister penguin, El Pix, has stolen video game files from the Human World and has taken them to Snowdriftland in the Video Game World. As the only one able to stand the cold temperatures, Chubby Snow is sent by the United Pixel Heroes Organization to locate El Pix and retrieve the stolen game files.

The platforming itself is reminiscent of early 90s PC platformers and includes some pretty nice music and clean sprite graphics. In each level, Chubby must navigate through enemy infested terrain in order to retrieve a stolen game file. Upon retrieving the file, the game will appear in the laboratory and a bonus will be unlocked. Each level contains 24 snowflakes besides the stolen game file. Collection of all 576 snowflakes will unlock a special bonus.

Each game file advertises a different Nintendo game or system such as Yoshi's Island DS or Wii. Situated next to the Snowdriftland level is an ad for the Nintendo title. Even though the Flash game is meant to advertise Nintendo products, the ads aren't intrusive.

The game is a nice little diversion, and is even somewhat challenging. Mission in Snowdriftland is the type of game I wouldn't mind seeing as a Virtual Console download in the future. Best of all, it's free, so check it out.