8-Bit Christmas (2021)

Cartridges, Crap Jokes, and a Christmas Lump in the Throat - 8-Bit Christmas review by griggs

Nostalgia’s a slippery little thing: a small dose feels cosy, a big one makes you check your watch. This one floods the screen with ’80s detail and still works, partly because it understands what the console stands for: not just a toy, but a badge of belonging.

8-Bit Christmas runs on pure kid-brain obsession. One shiny idea turns into a full moral crusade, and every half-baked scheme feels, to a ten-year-old, like a heist movie. It’s properly funny too — plenty of poop jokes for kids, and a few jabs for any adult who’s ever queued, begged, or bartered for the “right” present.

Then it quietly tightens the knot. Under the gags and consumer longing, it’s about the stories families tell, and how small kindnesses harden into legend. It’s a bit glossy and a bit engineered — but it’s got a pulse, and it nearly got me misty-eyed.