The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge is a video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms. It is set after the events of the 1993 Tim Burton film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. This game was released at the same time as The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King. The game was released October 21, 2004 in Japan, September 30, 2005 in Europe, and October 10, 2005 in North America.
==Plot==
A town meeting announcing awards gives Jack Skellington an award "for most spines tingled by a non-corporeal being". After the curtains close Jack, secretly, once again, gets bored and he talks with Doctor Finklestein about a "new Halloween", with new scares and discoveries. The doctor gives Jack the "Soul Robber", a green, whip-like weapon that Jack can make change shape. He then leaves Halloween Town and goes and looks for new Halloween frights, feeling disappointed with this year's work. After Jack leaves Halloween Town, Lock, Shock, and Barrel bring Oogie Boogie back to life by sewing him together. He seizes control of Halloween Town, tricks its citizens into making traps (saying that Jack left Halloween Town because it was not dangerous enough), brainwashes Dr. Finkelstein by switching his brain with a green brain that has eyes, kidnaps and imprisons Sally in a crypt that holds a giant spider, and captures five of the seven Holiday World leaders (excluding Santa and Jack Skellington). Oogie plans to become the "Seven Holidays King" once he takes control of Christmas Town. But on December 23, Sally manages to send a magical paper airplane to find Jack to warn him of what has happened.
Jack returns to Halloween Town on December 24, Christmas Eve, to see a group of skeletons running around. He then stops the skeletons, just to find Oogie's shadow. After defeating Oogie's shadow, he's given the Halloween Holiday Door and finds everyone has been deceived by the newly-resurrected Oogie, who have all made dangerous booby-traps. Jack has to save the citizens of Halloween from Oogie's rule while also trying to uncover his demented plans to become the "Seven Holidays King".
Jack manages to defeat Oogie Boogie's skeleton and ghost minions (apparently created by Dr. Finkelstein). He then goes to the graveyard. The hanging tree tells Jack his hanging men have run away. Jack quickly finds them and goes off to save Sally from a giant spider in the crypt she was imprisoned in by Oogie Boogie. Halfway there, he runs into Lock. Lock sends a lot of skeletons to stop Jack, but Jack defeats them and Lock. Jack then runs into a crypt to find Sally. Once he walked inside, spiders and ghosts randomly jumps out of coffins till he gets to the center of the crypt. He finds Sally and they both run to each other when a giant spider clings Sally to the ceiling and attacks Jack. Jack defeats the spider and saves Sally and receives the Valentine's Holiday Door. When Jack and Sally walk out of the crypt, Sally says to Jack, "We're all safe, now that our pumpkin king has returned" giving Jack an idea to use his pumpkin king powers to defeat Oogie's monsters.
Sally then tells Jack that she's worried about Dr. Finklestein and Jack goes to find him. He gets close to the doctor's lab when Igor tells him that he can't pass under strict orders from doctor Finklestein. He tells Jack that if anyone passes, then Igor gets no bone biscuit. After beating back Shock and some ghosts, Jack finds that the Witches' store is out of bone biscuits; Corpse Kid gives his box to Jack. Jack gives Igor the box of biscuits, allowing him to pass. Inside, Shock tries flatting Jack will large orbs rolling down the ramp, but Jack manages to overcome the obstacle, scaring her off. Jack reaches the lab, where he is able to switch the doctor's brain back after a long fight with his latest invention.
Jack is then given his Santa suit by Sally, gaining access to various presents with abilities - surprise, freezing and explosion. He uses these to get into the pumpkin patch, where Barrel and some skeletons are eating some of the crops inside of the giant jack-o-lantern. Jack punishes Barrel, who runs off to join up with Lock and Shock; this leaves him unhindered except by the lesser foes.
Noticing that the Mayor is missing, Jack heads to find him. He saves Clown from a rocket attached to his unicycle by Shock, and is gifted with the key to the Mayor's courtyard. Unfortunately, the stone picture in front of the Mayor's house needs four pieces to be completed and the Vampire Brothers who have the pieces have been turned into their bat forms by Oogie. Jack takes each bat back to their coffin, freeing them from the spell and earning each piece. Jack manages to enter the Mayor's house and free him from a cafe before heading up to the roof. There, Shock, Lock and Barrel are waiting for him; they fight Jack with everything they have, but still fail.
However, Jack then falls into a portal, which leads to a huge maze full of booby traps and lava. Jack follows the path to an area with prison cells for each holiday leader, including him and Santa Claus; the other five have been captured. Jack heads further into, finding a casino room with Oogie waiting. After the fight, it turns out to be Oogie's shadow in disguise; it blows up, after telling Jack that the real him is in Christmas Town, ready to take revenge on Santa Claus. Jack returns to the surface, tasking the Mayor with releasing the holiday leaders.
Jack travels to Christmas Town, which has suffered major destruction from Oogie's attack. Luckily, Jack rescues Santa from a train-contraption by changing the tracks, but Oogie, having become enraged by Jack constantly foiling his plots, leaves in Santa's sleigh full of Christmas presents; however, an elf tosses a Halloween Jack-in-the-box into the sleigh before it takes off. Having foreseen that Oogie may do this, Sally arrives on Jack's Halloween sleigh to help, and Jack and Santa chase after Oogie. Oogie Boogie falls out of the Christmas sleigh into a world of garbage after being frightened by the jack-in-the-box. With the presents retrieved, Jack lends his sleigh to Santa.
Unfortunately, Oogie becomes so enraged that he absorbs all trash and insects from the environment, turning to the gigantic monster "Mega Oogie". Everyone sees the battle through the fountain, except for Sally, who's locked in her room. Jack faces Oogie one-on-one, using his Pumpkin King, Santa and Soul Robber powers. Oogie is left to say "Not again..." as all the insects in his body fall out, leaving him a lifeless shell again. Though expecting anger from Santa again, Jack is left surprised when Santa Claus actually thanks him instead; this time, he actually helped save Christmas.
After this adventure, Jack realizes that his home and loved ones are something more important than new discoveries. The story ends nearly the same way as the film does, with Jack and Sally on top of Spiral Hill sharing a kiss.
===Gameplay===
Gameplay in the game is very similar to the action horror game Devil May Cry, with the exception of it being easier for younger and less experienced players. Both titles were developed by Capcom. Jack can transform into Santa Jack and, later in the game, the Pumpkin King. Santa Jack can lay down three types of presents to thwart his enemies, while the Pumpkin King form can set them aflame or lay down a bomb.
The gameplay consists of 25 Chapters (excluding two secret chapters). Players must fight numerous enemies, perform platforming tasks, and occasionally solve puzzles to progress through the story. The player's performance in each mission is given a letter grade of A, B, C or D, with an additional top grade of S. Grades are based on the time taken to complete the mission, the longest combo preformed, the damage done to Jack, and the amount of enemies you surprised.
There are doors of the holiday worlds obtained when you complete a certain level. However, they are simply plot items and do not grant the player access to other Holiday themed towns. However, later Chapters allow the player to enter Christmas town.
===Costumes and abilities===
Each of Jack Skellington's costumes have different abilities. For example, Santa Jack (which is obtained once Doctor Finklestein is defeated) can throw out presents to stun enemies or freeze enemies in ice, and the Pumpkin King (which you get after saving Sally from a large spider) can burn enemies, open doors by burning them etc.
Additionally, there are several unlockable costumes, however, they do not grant any additional abilities.
==Chapters==
*Jack's Return: Boss: Oogie Boogie's Shadow Door Obtained: Halloween Door
*The Witching Hour: None
*The Hanging Tree: Boss: Lock
*Grave Danger: None
*The Crypt Creeper: Bosses: Lock and Mega Spider Door Obtained: Valentine's Day Door
*The Doctor's Hunch: Boss: Shock
*The Lightning Round: Boss: Shock
*Deadly Nightshade (Secret Level): Item Obtained: Sleeping Soup
*Changing Brains: Boss: Dr. Finkelstein Door Obtained: St Patrick's Day Door
*Pumpkin Patch Possession: Barrel
*Barrel's Maze: None
*Peril in the Pumpkin Head: Boss: Barrel And Army of Skeletons, Door Obtained: Thanksgiving Door
*Runaway clown: None
*Bone Biscuit Burglary (Secret Level): Boss: Mega Spider Item Obtained: Igor's Bone Biscuits
*The Vampire Brothers: None
*The Mayor's Madhouse: None
*Rooftop Rumble: Bosses: Lock, Shock, and Barrel Door Obtained: Independence Day Door
*The Grizzly Gauntlet: Boss: Mega Spider
*Casino Clash: Boss: Oogie Boogie's Shadow (Disguised as real Oogie Boogie) Door Obtained: Easter Door
*Spiral Hill: None
*The Hinterlands Pt. 1: None
*Fire and Ice Frenzy: Bosses: Fire King and Ice King Skeletons Door Obtained: Christmas Door
*The Hinterlands Pt. 2: None
*Christmas Town: None
*Saving Sandy: Boss: Oogie Train
*Taking out the Trash: Boss: Mega Oogie and dance battle
===Doors===
There are doors of the holiday worlds obtained when you complete a certain level:
*Halloween Door - Defeat Oogie Boogie's Shadow in "Jack's Return."
*Valentine Door - Defeat Mega Spider in "Crypt Creeper."
*St. Patrick's Day Door - Defeat Doctor Finklestein in "Changing Brains."
*Thanksgiving Door - Defeat Barrel in "Peril in the Pumpkin Head."
*Fourth of July Door - Defeat Lock, Shock and Barrel in "Rooftop Rumble."
*Easter Door - Defeat Oogie Boogie's Shadow (Disguised as real Oogie Boogie) in "Casino Clash."
*Christmas Door - Defeat the Fire King Skeleton and the Ice King Skeleton in "Fire and Ice Frenzy."
===Enemies===
Here are the enemies that Jack has to fight in the game:
*Blue Skeletons - The Blue Skeletons are the easiest to defeat. They are slow and have short reaches unless they are mad and spinning.
*Heat Skeletons - The Heat Skeletons are the most annoying of the enemies Jack fights. They have short reaches, but they can throw boomerangs.
*Orc Skeletons - They are like the Blue Skeletons except the mad ones wield clubs. Just like the Blue Skeletons, they are slow and have short reaches unless they are mad and spinning.
*Troll Skeletons - The Troll Skeletons are big and wield big clubs. They can only be grabbed when the Soul Robber is Level 3. If they drop their clubs, use the Soul Robber to throw the clubs at them.
*King Skeletons - The King Skeletons are also big and wield big axes. The attack on the King Skeletons are the same as Troll Skeletons, with two exceptions. They cannot be grabbed at all, only turned around. They can be only hit while they are growling, or from behind.
*Halloween Ghosts - The Halloween Ghosts are very fast and great at dodging. Tricking them to come near Jack and sending them into the ground is an easy way to defeat them. They are seen in "Jack's Return" in the Oogie Boogie Shadow battle
*King Ghosts - They are stronger than the Halloween Ghosts, but require the same tactics to defeat them.
*Tricks and Treats - They are cowards like the Halloween Ghosts, but enjoy dodging and throwing traps at Jack. Over all, their appearances are much like the Vampire Teddy bear, but Treat's head is a Jack-o-Lantern, while Trick's head remains the same as seen in the film.
*Baby Spiders - They are mostly seen in any Mega Spider battle.
===Bosses===
Here's a list of the game's bosses and how to fight them. Some battles will have Dance Battles:
*Oogie Boogie's Shadow - Fought in "Jack's Return," he will throw dice at Jack. and attack with Halloween Ghosts that come up next to him. When he is finally beaten, he taunts Jack to find him only for Jack to fight him again in "Casino Clash" disguised as the real Oogie Boogie. Song: Oogie Boogie's Song (remixed)
*Lock - Fought in "The Hanging Tree," he will use an army of skeletons against Jack. Also fought in "The Crypt Creeper," he will fight you alongside an army of skeletons. Song: Hail to Mr.Oogie
*Mega Spider - Fought in "The Crypt Creeper","The bone biscuit Bunglery" It will shoot cobwebs at Jack and even charge. Its weak spot is the pumpkin shape on its abdomen... If successfully attacked there it will go underground and launch Baby Spiders at Jack. It will get smaller for every Baby Spider defeated. Song: Sally's Song
*Shock - Fought in Both "The Doctor's Hunch","Rooftop Rumble" and "The Lightning Round." She first summons up a number of ghosts to her command. Next, she will use metal balls against Jack which he has to evade. Song: Hail to Mr.Oogie
*Dr. Finkelstein - Fought in "Changing Brains," Jack has to remove the green brain placed in him by Oogie Boogie and replace it with the real brain while fighting four machine-gun spheres, four knife machines and a laser beam. When you complete the secret level "Deadly Nightshade", Dr. Finkelstein will be asleep for a few seconds at the start of the level and it will be easy to open his head. Song: Dr. Finkelstein's Song.
*Barrel - Fought in "Peril in the Pumpkin Head," he will fight you alongside the mad Heat Skeletons. Song: Hail to Mr. Oogie
*Mega Spider - Fought in "Bone Biscuit Burglary" (secret level), use the same tactics as before to defeat it. Song: Sally's Song
*Lock, Shock and Barrel - Fought in "Rooftop Rumble," they will fight you in their walking tub and on foot throwing exploding pumpkins at you. Song: Hail to Mr. Oogie
*Mega Spider - Fought in "The Grizzly Gauntlet," use the same tactics as before to defeat it. Song: Sally's Song
*Oogie Boogie's Shadow (Disguised as real Oogie Boogie) - Fought in "Casino Clash," he will attack you with sword-wielding cards and gunman slot machines. He will start bringing out exploding dice and suck air in (throw the exploding dice into him to damage him). When Oogie's shadow is defeated, he will explode and leave a big hole in the middle of the floor of Oogie's casino. Song: Oogie Boogie's Song
*Fire King Skeleton and Ice King Skeleton - Fought in "Fire and Ice Frenzy," these two big skeletons appear to fight Jack after he replaced the Oogie-Doors with the real Holiday Doors. Use the Santa Jack costume to fight the Fire King Skeleton and the Pumpkin King costume to fight the Ice King Skeleton.
*Oogie-Train - Fought in "Saving Sandy," always change the train tracks to keep this scissor-tipped train from going on the track leading to the rope that is holding Santa Claus up. Keep attacking the Oogie-Train while evading skeletons disguised as snowmen. Song: Oh No!
*Mega Oogie - Fought in "Taking out the Trash," Oogie Boogie has his bugs load him with fabrics and junk to become Mega Oogie. His battle will be both an Attack Battle first, then a Dance Battle next. In the Attack Battle, he will try to puke trash at you or attack you with his arms. Use the Soul Robber on his face or the Fire Bomb on him five times to make him fall. Use the gas pipes to double the fire attack on Mega Oogie. In the Dance Battle, you must push 124 buttons. Once he is finally beaten, his bugs fall out.
Song: Oogie Boogie's Song
==Tracklisting==
*This is Halloween: Performed during fight scenes in the Fountain Area, Pumpkin Patch, Hinterlands and the Credits.
*Oogie Boogie's Song (Oogie's Revenge version): Performed during Oogie Boogie Shadow battle in Jack's Return.
*Sally's Song (Oogie's Revenge version): Performed in the Mega Spider Battles.
*Dr. Finklestein's Song: Performed during Changing Brains.
*Take our Town Back (Making Christmas): Performed during battles in The Vampire Brothers and The Mayor's Madhouse.
*Hail to Mr. Oogie (Kidnap the Sandy Claws): Performed during Lock, Shock and Barrel battles.
*Casino Clash (Oogie Boogie's Song): Performed during Casino Clash.
*Spiral Hill (Finale): Performed at the end of Spiral Hill.
*Oh No! (What's This?): Performed during Christmas Town.
*A Filthy Finale (Oogie Boogie's Song): Performed during the Mega Oogie boss battle.
==Reception==
GameRankings gave The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge a score of 66.46% for Xbox and 65.08% for PlayStation 2. On Amazon, the game has a 4.7/5 rating with 43 reviews for the PS2 version, though a 4/5 for the Xbox version with 26 reviews.
==External Links==
*
*The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge on the Capcom Database (Wikia)
Category:2004 video games
Category:2005 video games
Category:Xbox games
Category:PlayStation 2 games
Category:The Nightmare Before Christmas
Category:Disney games by Capcom