Easy to learn, tough to master
Celeste brings the retro challenge to mainstream gaming. The game is unforgiving and even cruel at times, but it should be a breath of fresh air to gamers looking for harder titles to dive (or climb) into.
Ascend the mountain
A journey into the unknown takes you to a huge mountain in Canada. You’ll need to climb to the peak and face challenges along the way.
From the onset, you’re given the ability to name your character. It appears that this is only to differentiate between save files, so it’s otherwise pointless. You’ll see a view of a mountainside and the various areas dotted across it. You’ll need to traverse these to complete the game. The visual style of the game is, at first, alarming. The mountain map is rendered in a flat-color 3D style, but the game itself is drawn in 2D pixels. While this is jarring for a moment, you’ll quickly settle into the game’s graphical style, but it isn’t going to be good for everyone.
Death has no meaning here. There’s no “you died” screen, which is good considering how difficult it can get. You’ll also find that the strawberries don’t provide any bonuses or benefits at all. They seem to be there only for fun. That’s typically fine, but if you’re going to tempt players to try and collect them all, the least a developer should do is give them some meaning.
The music in this game is awesome, bringing to mind the classic games from Atari or Nintendo in the early 90s. The 8-bit tracks sing with such beautiful precision that you can’t help but be a little bit taken by them.
Where can you run this program?
The game runs on Windows 7 and later.
Is there a better alternative?
No. Celeste is a solid game, but it may not be for everyone. If you are looking for something with a bit more action, then Super Meat Boy or Hollow Knight are packed with adventure.
Our take
This is a good game with a great set of challenging levels that evoke that retro feel a lot of players are looking for.
Should you download it?
Yes. Fans of the original Nintendo or Atari games will find a home in the difficulty and visuals of this title.
