Last month, developer Robot Invader announced on their blog that a sequel to their 2011 hit Wind-up Knight (Free) was in the works. They’ve since updated that blog with some new information about the game, the most recent entry coming today. It discusses a new feature in Wind-up Knight 2 that wasn’t in the original: Checkpoints. If you aren’t familiar with the first Wind-up Knight, it’s an auto-running platformer similar in style to the Rayman Jungle/Fiesta Run games on iOS. Your little knight plods along on his own, and your job is to make him jump at just the right times to traverse the cleverly-designed levels. Add to that the need to shield yourself from falling objects, slash away at impeding enemies, and roll under head-height hazards and you have yourself one very fluid–and very difficult–little platformer.
We loved Wind-up Knight in our original review, and part of that love was due to just how satisfyingly difficult it could be. As mentioned, it didn’t have any checkpoints, so one slip-up meant starting a level over from the beginning. That sort of difficulty can be an acquired taste though, so Wind-up Knight 2 has been built from the ground up with a checkpoint system in mind. I don’t expect this will make it a cakewalk though, as the levels in Wind-up Knight 2 look to be much lengthier and more complex. And of course, if you’re truly hardcore, there will be an option to turn off checkpoints altogether. Here’s a screen cap of the knight crossing one of the new checkpoints.
If you missed out on the first Wind-up Knight when it launched back in 2011, I absolutely recommend you check it out if you’re looking for a challenging platformer, especially if you’ve found yourself enjoying the more recent Rayman games on iOS. We’ll be keeping tabs on Robot Invader’s blog for more news about Wind-up Knight 2, such as pricing and a release date, and we’ll let you know once more information is available.
