While no one is promised a break during the holidays, certain phases of our lives tend to come packaged with time off for Christmas and New Year’s. As kids and young adults, school and university provide that, and with a little bit of luck and privilege, our duties as adults can at least afford us some time off on or around the end of December. From a young age, a lot of gamers will form bonds and associations with certain series, styles, or even entire eras as they wile away the vacation days diving into their game collections.

While I was growing up, my dad, brother, and I would always take in a couple of game rentals, or dedicate time to mastering a new title someone received as a Christmas gift. Over the years, certain holiday playthroughs stick out for me for their strong connection to family holiday gatherings: Turok on N64, the Onimusha games on PlayStation, and tons of Mario Kart. But the game I revisit this time of year out of an established tradition is Mega Man 2. Way back in Christmas 1990, the three of us struggled our way to the end, loving every minute of it. We repeated the feat for Mega Man 3 which I received for Christmas the following year.

Once the Mega Man Legacy Collection became available a few years back, I couldn’t help but reestablish that tradition each Thanksgiving or Christmas since. Sometimes both my brother and Dad are there. Sometimes only a couple of us have just enough time to take on one or two Evil Robot Masters. And these days we can include any number of our growing families. But no matter how small the hit of Mega Man we can squeeze in, it is the best surrender to nostalgia I can think of.

What is it for you? Do you revisit any gaming traditions with your family and friends around the holidays? Tell us all about it in the comments below or the Boss Rush Discord.