Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Amateur Surgeon: Christmas Edition largely retains the frantic, button-mashing appeal of its predecessor, tasking players with performing makeshift surgeries on a variety of holiday-themed patients. With the mouse as your primary instrument, you’ll wield everything from a carving knife to sever tissues and carve precise incisions, to a Bonesaw 3,000 for those… more robust extractions. The introduction of Mincer the elf as a “reconstruction challenge” spices things up, forcing you to scavenge for unconventional prosthetic parts—everything from candy canes to toy wheels—to rebuild a body that’s been through quite the traumatic sleigh ride.

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The core loop is simple but addictive: identify the foreign objects buried beneath skin with your Etchy Sketchy scan, slice and extract with your blade, clean and seal wounds with Pixie Dust and sellotape, and finally restart any cardiac standstills with a well-aimed Tazer shock. The pace is brisk, and each stage throws a new twist—whether it’s a reindeer tangled in jet engine debris or Santa’s mysterious injuries—keeping the tension high and your reflexes tested.

Where Christmas Edition shines is in its playful tool upgrades. The Leaf Blower, originally a gimmick, becomes a lifesaver when you need to clear away excessive “fluids,” while the flamethrower is as much about spectacle as it is about cauterization. There’s a genuine sense of creativity in the improvisation: you’re not just following a surgical guide, you’re MacGyvering solutions with everyday items you’d find under the tree.

Although sessions are relatively short—befitting the game’s holiday vibe—each level presents a distinct challenge that ramps up quickly. The addition of timed objectives encourages speed runs, and hidden “gift boxes” scattered throughout levels give the completionists among us an extra carrot to pursue. For anyone who enjoyed the first Amateur Surgeon’s madcap sense of experimentation, the Christmas Edition feels like a festive yet fitting extension.

Graphics

Visually, Amateur Surgeon: Christmas Edition embraces a cartoony aesthetic with bright, festive color palettes that contrast comically with the grisly subject matter. Characters and environments are rendered in chunky, low-polygon 3D, giving the whole affair a retro charm that recalls early 2000s PC titles. Sprites and textures are simple but effective, and the cartoon gore never feels overly realistic—blood splatters and detached limbs look more like red paint and plush toys gone wrong than the real thing.

The holiday theme is woven into every nook of the grotto setting, from twinkling fairy lights draped across stalactites to piles of discarded presents that double as surgical tables. Even the background reindeers and elves have just enough detail to be amusing—each victim’s facial expression is memorably over-the-top, conveying shock and horror in equal measure as you rush to save (or rebuild) them.

Animation is surprisingly fluid, given the indie roots of the series. Tools swing with satisfying arcs, wounds open and close with believable elasticity, and characters flinch or twirl when stunned by your Tazer. While top-tier AAA visuals aren’t on the menu, the game runs smoothly on modest hardware and the stylized look reinforces the comedic tone rather than detracting from immersion.

Occasional visual flourishes—like little snowflakes drifting onto the screen or Santa’s sleigh silhouette passing across the moon—add seasonal flair without feeling tacked-on. In short, Christmas Edition’s graphics do exactly what they need to: create a festive, playful backdrop for your surgical shenanigans without demanding the latest GPU.

Story

Amateur Surgeon: Christmas Edition picks up a decade after the original caper, finding Alan Probe comfortably ensconced as a high-flying surgeon with a family. Of course, his brilliance in the operating room hasn’t cured his trademark cluelessness. The plot kicks into gear when Alan’s private plane collides with Santa Claus’s sled on Christmas Eve, sending him—and the North Pole’s inhabitants—into disarray.

What follows is a darkly comedic rescue mission. You’ll uncover a little elf impaled on a Christmas tree, a reindeer mangled by your jet’s engines, and a mysteriously absent Santa whose whereabouts must be deduced through surgeon’s skill rather than detective’s wits. The premise is ridiculous, but it works: players who relish absurd, over-the-top scenarios will find themselves chuckling at the sight of torn holiday stockings, pilfered presents scattered across an ice cavern, and Alan’s own smug commentary as he ignores any sense of medical ethics.

Despite its brevity, the story is surprisingly coherent. There’s a clear sense of progression—starting with basic wound closures and ending with full-body reconstructions—and small bits of banter between Alan and his “off-screen” family lend emotional stakes to the proceedings. It’s less about heartfelt narrative and more about setting up each surgical tableau, but in that capacity Christmas Edition excels.

While the writing leans heavily on toilet humor and slapstick gore, it also sneaks in moments of genuine charm—particularly when Alan reflects on saving Christmas or when the injured elves break into tiny carols as you cauterize a bullet wound. The juxtaposition of yuletide cheer and surgical carnage is exactly the kind of twisted holiday treat fans of the series have come to expect.

Overall Experience

Amateur Surgeon: Christmas Edition is a concise, festive spin on an already popular indie franchise. Its blend of frantic point-and-click surgery, wacky toolset, and holiday-themed mayhem make for a memorable—even if brief—gaming session. The game’s bite-sized levels and intuitive controls ensure that newcomers can jump right in, while the hidden gift-box collectibles and timed challenges provide replay appeal for veterans.

Given its modest price and short runtime, Christmas Edition delivers plenty of bang for your buck. It’s not a deep simulator or a AAA Christmas epic, but it doesn’t pretend to be. Instead, it leans into its strengths: goofy storytelling, creative improvisational tools, and an unapologetically absurd premise. If you’re looking for a quick, festive diversion that doesn’t take itself seriously, this sequel is right on the money.

On the downside, some players may find the repeated gore visuals a bit desensitizing after several runs, and the absence of multiplayer or extended stages can make the package feel slight. However, for what it sets out to do—deliver holiday-themed, slapstick surgical hijinks—it succeeds admirably.

In the end, Amateur Surgeon: Christmas Edition is a delightfully deranged stocking stuffer for gamers with a macabre sense of humor. It’s quick, it’s clever, and it’s just festive enough to earn a place in your holiday gaming rotation. Just remember: keep the Tazer on standby and maybe lay off the eggnog just before you operate.

Retro Replay Score

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