Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, it’s socially acceptable to play Christmas music. Want something more than the same old classics we hear year after year? Fan of video game music? Scarlet Moon Records has you covered with the release of Scarlet Moon Christmas, Vol. IV. The album has six songs, with three songs from various games remixed to sound a lot more Christmas-y and three classic Christmas songs remixed to sound a lot more… erm, video-gamey. It’s a win-win mashup for fans of both genres.
If you want to hear video game songs become Christmas songs, there are three covers for you to enjoy. “First Steps” from Celeste, “Main Theme” from Fallout 4, and “H’annit’s Theme” from Octopath Traveler have all been covered here. While Celeste and Octopath Traveler may make sense, considering the snowy nature of both games, Fallout 4 is the odd one out here. I guess there’s no winter quite like nuclear winter.
Additionally, a few classic Christmas songs have reworks of their own. “My Favorite Things,” the classic song from The Sound of Music, receives a cover from chiptune artist Coda. “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” is getting its own cover from guitarist Grant Henry, better known as his stage name Stemage. Finally, “Carol of the Bells” has gotten a cover from game composer Osamu Kubota, best known for his work on the Beatmania series.
This isn’t the first time Scarlet Moon Records has put out a video game themed Christmas album. They’ve been doing one every year since 2016, with all of the albums including several fun remixes. If you’ve wanted a Christmas version of Final Fantasy IX‘s “Melody of Life,” Mario Kart 64‘s “Rainbow Road,” F-Zero‘s “White Land,” Mega Man‘s “Ice Man Theme,” and more, then this collection is for you. Vol. III also contains an absolutely hilarious cover of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” done in the style of a Pokemon battle theme, so it’s entirely worth it for that alone. Scarlet Moon also has the upcoming Prescription for Sleep: Shovel Knight album that turns 20 of the game’s tracks into light jazzy songs.
