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Cave Story (PC)
Topic Started: Jul 24 2010, 04:56 PM (361 Views)
Arayvenn
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Stirred, not shaken.
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Quick Notes

I am reviewing the PC version of the game. There have been many ports of it, most popular is the wiiware version. There are some differences, the english translation on the wiiware is different, and in my opinion more stale, the graphics are also upgraded in the wii version.

This is an opinion based review, I am not a professional critic.




A few facts

Title: Cave Story (Dōkutsu Monogatari in Japan)
Developer: Daisuke Amaya (Yes, one person)
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PSP, Xbox, Amiga OS, GP2X, Wii (WiiWare)
Release Date: December 20th 2004.
Genre: Action-Adventure
Modes: Single-Player



Story

Since I'm going to try to not spoil anything major, I've limited myself to talking about the first 3 hours of the game. So yes, there will be some minor spoilers.

Cave story starts you off in a cave on a floating island with no prior knowledge to why you're there or what's going on. You get a few cut scenes of a man looking for someone names Sue. Sue seems to be important to him since he constantly asks where she is and says he is hungry. A short bit into the game you will meet the mimiga's. A species that kind of look like bunnies or Snoopy from Charlie Brown. Their race is in peril. The mimiga's eat flowers, but a certain species of red flowers has started to grow and when a mimiga eats this kind of flower, it goes into a vicious frenzy. There is also a "Doctor" who is kidnapping and killing the mimiga's. Overall the story is pretty solid and it makes you care about the characters and what is going on.

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Gameplay

Although Cave Story is defined as an action-adventure, I say it also fits the description of side scroller, Platformer and RPG. The game is rather simple. You have 2 buttons to start out with. Z to jump and X to shoot. You can shoot straight ahead aswell as vertical. You go through the game killing a variety of enemies. They will often drop EXP which will help you level up the weapon you are currently using. A weapon can level up to max of 3, but taking damage causes you to lose EXP points. This is a nice touch. Platforming is also a huge part of the game, as you will need to make a number of tricky jumps and find some good places to kill enemies from, this is very important in certain boss fights. Apart from the side-scrolling killing you also find towns and villages. These are usually safe points that have no enemies and where you can solve some side-quests. This is where the RPG element comes in. You will often have to talk to inhabitants of the town to find out what or where to go next. It also pays off to explore as more often than not you will find a life capsule or something useful.

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Graphics

The PC version of the game has less than good graphics. It looks like a blocky GBA game or old SNES sidescroller, which by todays standards is bad. However, the graphics work for this game. The game is pretty much an old SNES sidescroller, at least it has that feel. So in my opinion, the graphics are great for what the game is.

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Sound

I have mixed feelings on the sound of cave story. The soundtrack is pretty catchy, but it's also very repetetive. The sound effects are less than good, but once again it has a sort of feeling that it's perfect for this game. It's hard to describe. Overall this game has a pretty impressive soundtrack for a freeware game made by a college student. I'll provide a few links to some of the games music.


Cave Story Music - Cave Story Title Theme
Cave Story Music - On to grasstown
Cave Story Music - Moon Song




Enjoyment

I had an absolute blast with this game. Easily my favourite freeware game of all time. When I had this reccomend to me by a friend a few weeks ago I had some doubts, but it is just so fun. If you are a fan of Open world Side-Scrollers, or Action-RPG's this is a must play, it sucks you in, and keeps you in till the very end. There are loads of secret items, weapons, boss fights and even multiple endings keeping replay value very high. It's one of those games that gets you sad when it's all over, and in time, the characters will seem like old friends. While it has it's flaws, and maybe is a little out-dated, it still doesn't stop me from reccomending it to any gamer out there.



Final Score - 9.8/10 (.2 taken off for outdated graphics and repetetive music)
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UnrealOdin
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Hmmmm, it is for mac so I will give this game a try. I have only heard good things about it.
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Arayvenn
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Stirred, not shaken.
UnrealOdin
Jul 24 2010, 05:23 PM
Hmmmm, it is for mac so I will give this game a try. I have only heard good things about it.
You can find the mac version here http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/downloads_1.php
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UnrealOdin
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Officially addicted.
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