I’m alwayson the hunt for a Christmas video game, but it doesn’t really seem like we have any. We have cold and snowy games,we have games set at Christmas, and we even have a few games featuring Santa Claus. But none really get me in the Christmas spirit the way movies or music do.
I can blast classics like Step into Christmas and Last Christmas, deep cuts like Ribbons & Bows or Snow Globe, and modern hits like Christmas Tree Farm or Buy Me Presents and it will feel like Christmas. It’s the same when I watch A Muppet Christmas Carol, Little Women, or Remember The Night. They all have ‘the feeling’. Most of Little Women isn’t even set at Christmas, and yet it has the feeling all the same. Now, Astro Bot has joined the party.
Astro Was Already Full Of Christmas Spirit
Astro Botis one of the most joyful games I have ever played. Gaming has earned a cynical audience in recent years, and many (myself included) were wary of Astro Bot’s cameo fest. Then we got our hands on it, and even the coldest hearts were melted by its sweet nature. It leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. It feels, maybe a little, like Christmas.
But not enough. The spirit of the season needs to be backed up by something tangible. There are a couple of frosty levels in the game, but not really enough for it to represent Christmas. It might outweigh something likeHow The Saints Stole Christmasfor cosy vibes, but the other Christmas games have the advantage of actually being Christmas games, not just making you feel vaguely happy.Miles Morales, taking place over Christmas, letting Miles wear his Santa hat, and with the typical wholesome vibes ofInsomniac’sSpider-Mansaga, isstill in first place.
Or rather, it was. Hot on the tail of the first five speed running levels, Astro Bot has given us one more gift before 2024 is out.Winter Wonder, the latest addition to the game, is a Christmas level through and throughand gives gamers everywhere the justification (as if they needed it) to play Astro Bot over every year.
Astro Bot Has Us Walking In A Winter Wonderland
This is not just another winter level. You could probably convince yourself that levels like Creamy Canyon, Frozen Meal, or the speedrunning course Let It Slide counted as Christmas anyway thanks to their icy demeanour. That’s why everyone watches Snowpiercer and The Grey every Christmas while listening to traditional Christmas tunes like Ice Ice Baby and Tenth-Avenue Freeze Out. This is truly, utterly, a Christmas level. Astro Bot got us the gift gaming has badly needed.
When you fly into this level, Santa soars alongside you, reindeer pulling his sleigh. The level platforms themselves are decorated in red, green, and gold, wrapped up like presents. The buildings are gingerbread houses decorated with candy canes. In Astro Bot’s typical display of physics prowess, pulling loose wires unleashes hundreds of individual bells that jingle and jangle when raced through. There’s a Christmas tree at the level’s centre, topped with a star and decorated with baubles.
It makes me feel Christmassy just thinking about it - and that is the imperceptible feeling that other so-called Christmas games just don’t have. This is where the comparison to movies comes back in. Bad Santa is clearly a Christmas film, but it doesn’t make me feel Christmassy. Miracle on 34th Street, which is highly similar in more ways than you’d think, does generate that feeling. It doesn’t only come from schmaltz - Die Hard has a similar effect on me - but it needs to feel like a tradition. Something you can imagine doing every year while Christmas is in the air, just because. I’m probably going to play Astro Bot’s level each year, just because.
Every year when we decorate our tree, we put A Muppet Christmas Carol on in the background. This is Christmas. Next year, it’s easy to imagine booting up Astro Bot afterwards, just for a quick dart through Winter Wonder. I’m never going to replay the Saints Row DLC, and don’t even bother to install Miles Morales just to swing around in the snow. But Astro Bot is the sort of game I’ll probably keep installed forever, just because. And now, I’m going to play it over at Christmas. You know, just because.
