Celeste’s B-Sides are alternate, harder versions of every chapter — accessible only by finding a cassette tape hidden in each chapter’s regular version. The tapes are not in obvious locations; they require exploring areas that the game’s flow discourages visiting, sometimes by going backwards, sometimes by ignoring the apparent exit.
The B-Sides remix each chapter’s visual aesthetic and music into something darker and more abstract. Chapter 2’s B-Side turns a haunted hotel into something closer to a fever dream. Chapter 6’s B-Side — the most mechanically demanding — features a wall of light that pursues Madeline continuously through a level that requires near-frame-perfect dashes to navigate.
What most players do not discover: completing all B-Sides unlocks the Heart Gate in the game’s final zone, which leads to the epilogue. The True Ending of Celeste requires collecting all Crystal Hearts — including the B-Side Hearts, earned by completing the B-Sides — and is structurally similar to the main game’s conclusion but musically and tonally complete in a different way.
The C-Sides, unlocked after all B-Sides, are shorter but the hardest levels in the game. Each is a gauntlet distilled from the hardest moments in both the A and B versions of that chapter. Celeste hid difficulty escalation behind difficulty escalation — each layer requiring the skills of the last.
The environmental storytelling in this game is on another level. Thanks for documenting it so clearly.
The detail work the devs put into areas most players never visit is what separates great games from good ones.