Cave Story Review I'll like to take a short break from retro reviews to give credit where credit is due for what I think is a truly great game.
There are two different types of games. “Brand” games, which have popular company names on them, are pretty much everywhere. These equire 20, 50, or even 100 people to create graphics, music, coding, etc. They create some of the best (or in rare cases, worst) games out there. The other type is an “indie” game, which only have one or two people working on to create music and graphics. These are normally found on an iPhone and are quite not uncommon They have a certain charm to them that either makes or breaks them. The feel of these kinds of games are surprisingly different to Brand games. Sometimes, though, the creator can create something so magnificent that only brand games can only dream of. And one of these games stands out like a shiny diamond in a field of stars. The game: Cave Story.
Created by one man, Pixel, this game has gained huge popularity. He started making the game back in 1999, and worked on it for 5 years, releasing in 2004. It was once overseen, but after a few years, this game was, and still is known as pone of the best indie games ever, if not the best game ever. Now, I don’t entirely agree with that *cough* Ocarina of Time *cough*, but it is defiantly the best indie game by far, and is indeed better than half the games out today. Just what is it about this game that makes it so….great? Well, your about to find out.
The story is that you wake up in a dark and gloomy cave with no memory of whom you are, or were you are. You try exploring the cave and come across someone sleeping. Your going to “borrow” the gun for a while, he won’t mind. After you kill a few things, you notice that the enemies drop pieces of triforces….I mean gems, that’s right…..gems. These power-up your weapons, going up to three levels. But if you get hit, then you lose some of that power, so this new game play makes you think twice about defeating enemies. You can also fire in four directions: up, down, left and right.
After you leave the cave, some rabbit like creatures known as the Mimigas are talking. The mention someone called the Doctor (not that Doctor), saying that he’ll be back to take one of them away if they don’t get Sue back. Then you fall on one of the Mimigas. Toronko, the younger Mimiga protesting of handing over Sue, runs away. You find out that the one you fell on was called King. He’s like the leader, but there are only six left, no thanks to that Doctor. After following Toronko around, you meet a recurring enemy known as Balrog, who works for the Doctor, a lunchbox toaster thingy. Or is he a bar of soap? And then a witch called Misery (also works for the Doctor) comes in and kidnaps Toronko, mistaking her for Sue, despite her complaints that she wasn’t Sue. So I guess you have to stick around and help save these Mimigas from certain doom and stop the Doctor from what ever he’s planning.
As you progress in the story, you’ll become heavily attached to all the characters you meet. So fast it’s surprising. In fact, this game has one of the best stories I have ever heard from in an 8-bit game, and possibly one of the best stories full stop. Everyone is so full of character, and everything blends in so well to suit their behavior. Balrog has little common sense and acts that way, Misery has smooth comebacks and works her words well, making an admirable yet hate-able character, the Doctor is just some jerk you would hate full stop, and the Mimiga's all have different roles that portray a helpful environment, yet some can still show it's not all sunshine and rainbows. One man created all this, he is a genius. There are also those moments where the old heart strings are tugged, coming in places you would hardly expect. This is one of those games that has a naturally great story, and a great story in a game will have several theories on things that were never explained properly. This game has that, and at one point even a secret forth ending was made up with very possible out comes that it seemed like it should have been in the game.
The graphics might be in 8-bit, but they are incredible charming and life like. More perfect graphics could not be asked for. The Mimiga's are cute (and some of the enemies are as well ^^), the bosses are intimidating, and the backgrounds give amazing detail that surpasses Double Dragon, and are worth paying attention to. Every background gives an immense sense of mystery, and so much more could be said on the background of this world if you could explore those backgrounds, even if they lead to places that are completely pointless. Myths, rumours and legends could be thought up and theorised here and many could be very plausible. It is very rare to have graphics that give a sense of history to them, and the amazingly deep story for such a short game enhances them even more. Pixel took great care in the story and graphics, and wasn’t afraid to try something different in the game play, which worked very well, but surely he can’t have made good music….right?
Gladly, I am very wrong. The music….I can’t describe it in words. It’s almost as good as the music in Ocarina of time….no….it’s almost better than Ocarina of Time, Castlevania and Legend of Zelda all rolled into one. Almost every song tells a story, but these stories can’t be told with words or pictures. They are told with emotions. Only those emotions can bring the true meaning of the song, and the only way to experience them is by listening to the songs. It's got the meaning of Ocarina of Time, the style in which you can listen to it over and over without getting bored from Legend of Zelda, and the awesomeness of Castlevania. It’s very rare that you have songs like these, and to have just one man create all this is just…superbazinly fantasitic. Pixel is one talented man. With all the character attachment you go through the entire game, when you reach the end the music reflects what you desire and what you want, and that will not be to just beat the game, you want to legitimately save the Mimiga's, to put and end to all of this hardship that is happening at where you are, and if that means you sacrifice your own life to make it happen, then so be it. Most of the music means so much to me in this game, and the situations it is portrayed in makes it all the more meaningful, especially during the last boss (it just depends what ending you get).
There are a big variety of different weapons to use, each unique with different outcomes at level three. You start off with the humble Polar Star, but you'll later get weapons such as the Rocket Launcher, the FireBall, and even a sword. You want to find out what each weapon does and what it does at level three, so you grind for a bit to get them up. This is a good way to get used to a weapon and decide weather you should use it or not. You don't need that weapon to defeat a boss or get passed a door to to break some rubble, it's there to give you more choice, not there so you can use it once, like other games do making it pretty much useless for battle. Every weapon is unique, and every level is interesting to explore and experiment with. The sword makes an interesting close range weapon, but at level 3 it does more than close combat. The Nemesis on the other hand, gets weaker as you level it up, only for the experts! Sometimes, you can trade weapons for other weapons. But be careful, because when you trade it, you can't get it back. And that can be really annoying if you need that weapon as a certain point....and not just to shoot things!
The level design is fresh and challenging. It teaches you everything you need to know in the first cave. You start off in a cave with some water, and a save point. Now, some people might think that they should go in the water. When you do, there is a message stating you have a certain amount of air left. This teaches you that water is bad if you don't get out of it soon enough. If you run out of air, you die, stating quite bluntly "you downed". But there's a save point so that doesn't matter. Then there are these blocks which can only be destroyed by a Polar Star, which makes you go the other way. You see red spiky things, you want to be their friend, but they kill you. So you know to avoid those. Again, near a save point so it doesn't matter. A life thingy to increase your life so you know their good, even though they are red =P And there's some water before your first weapon, in which you know water makes you jump lower and can kill you. This level design, although blatantly obvious to gamers, gives new gamers a great idea on how to play the game. Although it is a little odd to press down when you go through a door (due to being able to shoot in four directions, pressing up as you shoot to shoot up would be annoying if you went through a door). All the over levels makes you want to explore the entire place, get involved with the structure of the game and the history of this strange and wonderful world. What is around the next corner? Why is that farm there? So many things that could make for a great sequel on the past of this fascinating world.
Overall, I give this game a 9.7/10 This game offers a great replay value, with charming graphics, superb music, incredible game play, and a gripping story line. The game will make you cry, it'll make you want to let everyone you know play it. And when you find out that it's possible to get another ending....well, follow the clues and after that, explore every inch. You might find something that wasn't there before. When you follow a different path, there are subtle changes in the story that make a huge impact on the game play, and at the same time make you feel eerie if you played it once before. It's available as a free PC download to play. It's completely safe. It also make a release on the Wii and DSi for 1000 points. With the 3DS game released (only online, for some bizarre reason), people are sure to know more about this amazing game. One man created all this (ok, not the Wii, DSi or 3DS versions, but the PC one was all his), so give him a little credit and give it a go. Something I really wish is if someone made a NES hack of the game to be uploaded onto Vizzed, so people can play it there. You shall not be disappointed by this game, that I can guarantee.
Seriously though, play this game. It's amazing, superb, incredible and every other nice word in the dictionary. If you like a game that has a good story, perfectly fitting music, graphics that ache with untold mystery, addicting and unique game play that is riveting every second of the way and a game that has a ton of charm in, then this game is for you. There is no reason not to play this game.
Graphics
10 Sound
10 Addictive
10 Depth
10 Story
10 Difficulty
9
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