With a depressing year almost behind us, it’s important to celebrate this holiday season and spread some of that festive cheer that we so desperately need. To that end, here are five game tunes that will get you in the holiday mood!

“Snowdin Town” by ThunderScott

This introductory town in Undertale is adorned with decorations and lights that would make any monster shed a happy tear. ThunderScott brought a magical cover of this area’s theme song with a delightfully played melody and percussion that brings a cheerful atmosphere to the piece. The implementation of the bells and the electronic piano round it off to make a wonderful cover that any Undertale fan should listen to.

“Snowflakes” by The Consouls and Sapphire

The Consouls and Sapphire are like peanut butter and jelly—the calm, cool jazz of The Consouls is solemnly embraced by Sapphire’s stunning vocals. This Persona 4 track is elevated with some awesome riffs. Also, the double bass provides a colorful backdrop, the piano plays the charming melody, and then there’s the subtle, but effective use of drumming driving the piece forward. Sapphire did an incredible job at riffing, and it’s so satisfying how the track slows down when she speaks to the audience at the end. You can imagine yourself in a jazz lounge in the 50’s when these two come together.

“Cool, Cool Mountain” by The Game Brass

Cool, Cool Mountain’s lively theme from Super Mario 64 is represented perfectly in The Game Brass’ cover. The brass instruments give a warmth to the track, and there is a lovely accompaniment of sleigh bells in the background. This track gives a ton of dimension to the original composition. It welcomes you to the melody we all know and love from the classic 3D platformer, and then slows down to let you reminisce about this winter-themed level. It’s relaxing, and as you get accustomed to the slower tune, surprise! Here comes a bombastic crescendo that excites you once again. Excitement and sincere moments of calm are kinda Christmas in a nutshell (the rush of making Christmas dinner and then the food coma), and this cover delivers that in spades. You gotta love that Super Mario Bros. reference at the end too. 

“Ice Climbers Theme” by  テンドウ

Ice Climbers! They’re the duo that most people recognize as Super Smash Bros. characters, but in fact, they originate from the NES classic of the same name. Tendo (テンドウ) provides a sweet bluesy version of the theme song that makes the originally chiptune track shine. The riffing in the middle is sublime and takes you on a journey. The guitar sounds so good with this theme too. If Ice Climbers is ever revisited by Nintendo, I hope they take this as inspiration! 

“Christmas Town” by The Game Boys

The Game Boys delivered a great acoustic version of the Christmas Town track from Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix. All three guitarists came together to create a really solid version of the song. The main melody successfully gives that holiday cheer with an upbeat tempo and tone, and the secondary guitar is a great partner to the main performer as it helps to accentuate the highlights of the track. The backing musician did a fantastic job too at keeping up the pace, and you can tell he’s worked very hard in the video with a concentrated look on his face.