Celeste Devs Release Retro Celeste Mini-Sequel To Celebrate The Game’s Third Anniversary

Celeste is a beautiful, heart-wrenching platformer that takes skill, patience, and wrists that won’t quit on you. It’s hard, but that’s kind of the point – it wants to teach you a lesson about never giving up, even when you don’t believe in yourself.

Celeste Classic 2 is a free PICO-8 platformer in a similar style, made by Maddy Thorson, Noel Berry, and Lena Raine – two of the developers and the composer, respectively – to celebrate the three-year anniversary of Celeste’s release. And it’s hard.

PICO-8, if you were wondering, is a downloadable “fantasy console” that anyone can make games for. All the games on PICO-8 are 16 colours, and a display of only 128 x 128 pixels, lending the library of games a unique, chunky pixel look that goes great with retro-inspired design.

If you’re actually wondering why the game is called “Celeste Classic 2”, then you’ll be pleased to know that the original, called “Celeste 1.0“, is also available on the PICO-8 website. The game, which was the precursor to the full Celeste we know and love, was made in just four days back in 2015. A version of Celeste 1.0 can be found in Celeste, inside a hidden room in Celestial Resort Side A.

Although it features similar, if pared-down mechanics, Celeste Classic 2 features a new grappling hook instead of the air dash, as well as a character that isn’t Celeste protagonist Madeline, named Lani. There are at least 16 new strawberries to collect, and according to the people in the comments, it’ll take anywhere between five and sixty minutes to complete. You can also listen to the beepy-boopy soundtrack on Lena Raine’s bandcamp!

Have you beaten Celeste? What’s your Celeste Classic 2 high score? Let us know in the comments!