The Basement Collection, the previously announced ensemble of Edmund McMillen’s work prior to his more popular releases, has been further illuminated by the man himself in a recent post on his blog. Despite having already announced a rather substantial handful of games and improvements, it appears that there are further treasures to be found within the dark of the basement.
Achievements were the first thing to be addressed. Much like The Binding of Issac, both Steam’s own achievement system and the one within the collection itself will be used. Each game will make use of this feature, and milestones such as beating individual games or achieving 100% completion on the entire collection will be rewarded with unlockable “things”.
Despite his propensity for wearing his heart, and every other organ you could care to mention, on his sleeves, McMillen has added yet another secret game to the mix, giving us at least two surprises when The Basement Collection releases. This date, whilst still unknown, will apparently be “ready to announce early next week”.
Other additions include a 33 level 2nd chapter to Time Fcuk, which has also been updated with “a more in depth level editor that will allow you to share level codes”, and updated and improved controls for both Meat Boy and Triachnid.Â
The most exciting updates, for me at least, aren’t to do with gameplay refinement but concern some of the other media that will be included in the package. Danny B, whose work on both The Binding of Issac and Super Meat Boy is simply incredible, will be contributing an additional soundtrack to Aether. Similarly, the team behind Indie Game the Movie have gifted 10 minutes of previously unreleased footage that sees McMillen talking in-depth about many of the games featured.
The Basement Collection becomes more of a bargain each and every time I hear about it. The new Aether soundtrack from Danny B will likely be worth the $4 price in an of itself, and this collection is something that I would like to see more developers compile – though I am struggling to think of one that could be more memorable that what McMillen is putting together.
