Double Eleven bringing PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate HD to Vita

Double Eleven, the studio behind LittleBigPlanet and Limbo for PS Vita, will bring an upgraded version of Q-Games' PixelJunk Monsters to Sony's handheld, according to a post on the PlayStation Blog from studio COO Mark South.

The announcement comes a day after the two studios announced a partnership to work on new video game projects. PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate HD will be an updated, high-definition version of PlayStation Portable title PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe. South writes that Double Eleven is working closely with Q-Games on the port, and notes that the title was chosen "at the end of development" — suggesting work on the game is complete.

Ultimate HD will be the "definitive" version of PixelJunk Monsters, and will include more than 30 hours of gameplay across story-based and additional challenge levels, as well as the Encore expansion for PSP featuring more enemies, levels and towers for players to master. Double Eleven has also added touchscreen controls, Trophy support and a new coat of paint to the graphics.

South noted that Double Eleven initially discussed adding save points in between waves of attacking enemies in order to "reduce the game's legendary difficulty that, at times, made us want to rage quit by hurling our PS Vita across the development room." But after speaking with Q-Games, Double Eleven decided removing this difficulty would result in a less satisfying game, and the remake should focus squarely on updating the visuals and controls for the Vita.

"We've been big fans of Monsters and the other PixelJunk games for some time; the sharp, colorful graphics and addictive gameplay had us hooked," South wrote. "Monsters is one of those games that is super casual, but incredibly difficult at the same time: a quality which made us — and many others — keep coming back for more. The tower defense premise is very familiar, but Monsters' effortless execution sets it apart from other games in the genre. We realized that if Monsters were remade today, it would still stand out amongst other games in the genre."