heavenly was one of the most acclaimed games of 2018, but what you may not know is that the well-designed platform game was an expanded version of a smaller project developed over four days in a game jam. Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry created the original heavenly for the Pico-8 platform, and now this version has a sequence called Celeste 2: Lani’s Journey.
The developers, including now composer Lena Raine, say this game took just three days to make. The launch is to commemorate the third anniversary of heavenlylaunch of.
We said we probably wouldn’t do a Celeste sequel, but we never said anything about Celeste Classic
– Maddy Thorson (@MaddyThorson) January 26, 2021
If you are not familiar with Pico-8, it is a “virtual console” that provides developers with a framework for building games as if they were real hardware with defined technical capabilities. The games are limited to a resolution of 128 x 128, for example, and a specific palette of 16 colors, which results in a distinct appearance. The games can be accessed through the Pico-8 front end or distributed separately.
Inside Celeste 2In this case, you can download the versions for Windows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi for free at Itch.io or reproduce them in your browser at this link. (I strongly recommend using a controller, since the keyboard controls are … complicated.) The soundtrack is also available on Bandcamp.