Cave Story+ Finished!

My first victory! Finished Cave Story+ today at lunch. Hit the jump for a full rundown.

Well, where do we start? Cave Story began it's life as a freeware game, and has blossomed into a cult hit. It centers on the adventures of a young robot names Quote. His task is to stop the evil Doctor from using a village of peaceful Mimagas (bunny creatures) to fulfil his murderous goals. The player progresses by finding new items and weapons, advancing through a series of cave areas. The levelling up system sets it apart, with experience points used for weapons rather than Quote himself.

Right, boring stuff done, down to business! Cave Story is, quite simply, fun. It hearkens back to an a simpler age in game design, a purer age. Its plot is simple, but filled with enough mystery to keep you interested. The environments and enemies are wonderfully designed, with each stage unique in look and feel. The retro look works perfectly with the retro gameplay, Quote being limited to pretty much just jumping and shooting. It can get pretty hard near the end, but its worth sticking with, just to see what you get to shoot up next!

Like some sort of cat ghost guy who shoots sperms, for instance

You get the feeling that had been released in the days of the Megadrive, we would have a legacy of games akin to Metroid or Megaman. Everything about Cave Story has been crafted with love and care, and as a pure retro experience, it just doesn't get better than this.

Its fair to say that I loved Cave Story, but it would be sloth of me to ignore the few niggles I had. A few times during the earlier sections, I found myself wondering what I was supposed to be doing. I never spent more than a couple of minutes working out what I was supposed to do, but it irked me a little. The only other complaint I could register was near the end. There is a particular conversation that can end the game if you are just hitting 'Yes' to everything. It could be my fault for not paying enough attention, but it was quite annoying to see the "End?" screen along with the bad ending. Really though, these concerns are minor, and were probably my fault, so I can't be too harsh on it.

In summation: I love this game. Its a modern classic, and just deserves to be played. Go buy it. GO!

My Rating: 9/10

Next Game: Discworld

Its probably not going to go well...