While I might not think back on it so much anymore, it’s certainly true that a lot of my core, formative, gaming experiences come from platformers. The big two, plumber and hedgehog, are definitely the greatest culprits. It’s a simple formula that doesn’t need much innovation to remain fun and interesting for its audience; even when you’ve exhausted the game, extra challenges like speedrunning or deathless runs naturally arise, completely expanding the sandbox.
This is something that applies to many types of games, but platformers are where it really hits its stride for me personally.

I first played Celeste at a time where I felt like I hadn’t experienced a good one in a long time. The only game system I’d had for years was an Xbox One, and my older systems with more platformer games had been sold off. Xbox definitely had a fair amount of variety on their store, contrary to what people might have you believe, but none were pure enough to have me as hooked and often leaned into the metroid-vania side of things. I would spend a huge amount of my free time for years watching streamers play kaizo mario world hacks and difficult mario maker levels, because it was the epitome of why I admired platformers. I didn’t want combat or special abilities, I wanted a no-nonsense trial of pure mechanical skill, that ups itself in difficulty over time and feels great to overcome exactly in the way that is asked of you, I wanted it over and over again.

Just a month after release, Celeste found its way to me. It feels like a chance occurrence since the game wasn’t exactly over the radar at that time and I wasn’t very aware of new games generally. Regardless, it was the best 15 quid I have ever spent. Lovely art style and music, perfect platforming physics and a movement system that never stops feeling fun. Top this up with a straightforward yet touching story of Madeline’s journey with self-acceptance, you’ve got yourself a pretty perfect game. Never does Celeste drop the ball.

It was a wonderful time through and through, and was never afraid to supply more challenge than would be naturally expected. I often recall how I would wake up early to play it before my 7:30am bus to school because it was that awesome and the content never seemed to end. Finding all the secrets, beating all the C-sides, watching the speedrun evolve, playing super hard custom maps, and dumping a couple hundred hours into all of those fabulous golden berries; Celeste always had me coming back for the better part of 5 years. It feels like the game in a way, and has transcended itself in my mind at this point in time.

For how much status I place on Celeste, there’s an itch telling me that I should have more to say, but I don’t. I simply wanted to jump, and this game provided some of the best damn jumps, more than I ever could have wished for.