Cave Story+
When Addition Doesn’t Add Much
Like aging child stars, video games strive to remain relevant and remembered. With the glut of games released these days, most will fade into obscurity when they leave the “New Releases” sections of their platforms. Unless you use ROMs or maintain your old consoles, retro games become memories rather than entertainment. To combat time and bring the spotlight to their games (and generate easy cash), the gaming world churns out remakes, ports, remasters, and all the other “re-things.”
Super Mario Bros and Pac-Man are two such games that seem to grace every system, ensuring every generation has a chance to question why anyone ever thought they were good. Games like Space Station Silicon Valley and Cubivore are ignored by the Rerelease Gods despite their quality, and because of these missed gems, I generally am in support of rereleases. Sure, I may be sick of seeing each reproduction of Super Mario 64, but the game is not for me. It’s for someone who has yet to enjoy it or hasn’t for a long time. As long as the price is right, I welcome a game’s return.
This brings us to publisher-developer Nicalis and its darling, Cave Story. The original Cave Story was created solely by Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya and was released as freeware in 2004. Nicalis later came onboard and produced an enhanced port with Pixel—updating the graphics and sound and creating new game modes—releasing it on WiiWare in 2010 for the nice price of 12 bucks. Nicalis has since brought the game to other Nintendo systems and Steam. For introducing Cave Story to a broader audience, Nicalis certainly deserves praise, but with the Switch’s recent port and its $30 price tag, the indie champion appears more like a sellout and less like a hero.
What is it?
Regardless of its price tag, Cave Story is a fantastic game. I’ll happily say that before we even get to the “What’s good about it” section. In this 2-D action-platformer, you are Quote, a robot with the jumping capabilities of Mario and the shooting prowess of Samus. Apart from its inventive level design and masterful boss battles, Cave Story creates its own unique identity through its weapon system. Quote has a variety of projectiles at his disposal, but each one is rather anemic from the get-go. However, most enemies drop experience, and collecting these can pump your gear to level 2 and 3, each of which carries a substantial heft in power. That said, these upgrades are not permanent. Take damage, and your equipped weapon will lose experience. In conjunction with your limited health, each weapon’s fragile state will encourage you to avoid taking damage whenever possible.
The main game follows you and Quote as you combat the tyrannical Doctor who threatens the indigenous rabbit-like Mimiga. There are four endings to discover, and Cave Story adopts the old-school approach of giving you as few details as possible regarding how you attain the “special endings.” Your first play-though is for you to master the weapon system and bosses while progressing toward the normal ending. Your subsequent play-throughs will need the added help of online guides to steer you to special weapons and endings. Aside from your main game playthroughs, Cave Story features some grueling challenges which throw you into an original level with a predetermined loadout.
What’s good?
- Each weapon carries its own playstyle, and each shines against certain enemies and in particular environments. In addition to juggling your weapons’ strengths and weaknesses, rotating between your weapons becomes further necessary as they lose and gain experience. Due to these factors, gameplay feels more varied, and each weapon feels relevant to your adventure. This is a refreshing difference from other games in which you find your favorite weapon and ignore all others.
- Multiple play-throughs bring unique experiences, largely in part to the different weapons and upgrades you will encounter. Although bosses and locations are largely the same, you will need to employ new tactics to overcome them with your augmented arsenal. For those seeking a maliciously difficult challenge, the path to the true ending features a special location full of insta-death spikes, swarms of enemies, and a soul-crushing boss.
- Music and sound are masterful. Cave Story’s soundtrack manages to invoke both nostalgia and novelty, creating tunes that are catchy and atmospheric. There are four variations of the soundtrack, all of which are worth a listen.
What’s bad?
- Nicalis has appeared just outright lazy with this port. Cave Story+ was originally released on Steam back in 2011, so it is absurd that Nicalis has brought nothing new to the table with this game (cue comparisons to Skyrim). A co-op mode was added three months after the game was first released, but co-op alone doesn’t justify a $30 price tag either.
- Challenges don’t hold up as well as the main game. These challenges live up to their name and generally task you to complete timed sections with weapon restrictions (for instance, you can only use the machine gun). Although some gamers will certainly enjoy the challenge, I personally have found the amped pace to warp the gameplay I enjoyed so much in the story mode.
- Without outside help, you will have a hell of a hard time searching for the game’s secrets. Cave Story technically leaves you little hints about each secret, but your patience with trial-and-error better be immense. For one sequence, if you forget a specific action or mess up, you can no longer pursue the secret ending. I learned that one the hard way. With online guides, this issue is only a minor complaint, but don’t be an idiot by believing you need only a quick glance at the guides.
What’s the verdict?
For anyone who enjoys action-platformers, Cave Story+ is an easy recommendation. For Cave Story veterans, you’ve already played this game. For any player, there is very little justification for buying this on the Switch. If you want it, Steam has it for half the price. If you want portability, the game is available on the 3DS for a third of the Switch’s price. It is disappointing to see a game as stellar as Cave Story be ported so lazily, especially when Nicalis has shown so much effort in the past to improve it. Regardless, Cave Story remains a polished piece of fun, even if its publisher has gotten grubbier with age.
Arbitrary Statistics:
- Score: 9
- Score for Nicalis’ level of effort: 3
- Time Played: Over 5 hours
- Number of Players: 1-2
- Games Like It on Switch: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack