Cave Story | |
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English title screen of Cave Story, depicting (from left) Balrog, the Doctor, and Misery
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Developer(s) |
Studio Pixel (PC) Nicalis (Wii, DSi, 3DS, Cave Story+) NIS America (Cave Story 3D) |
Publisher(s) | Studio Pixel (PC) Nicalis (Wii, DSi, 3DS, Cave Story+) NIS America (Cave Story 3D) |
Designer(s) | Daisuke Amaya |
Writer(s) | Daisuke Amaya |
Composer(s) | Daisuke Amaya (all versions) Yann van der Cruyssen Nicklas Nygren (WiiWare, Plus) Danny Baranowsky Dustin Kulwicki (3D, Plus) |
Platform(s) | |
Release |
December 20, 2004
Nintendo DSi
Cave Story 3D
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Genre(s) | Platform-adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Aggregate score | |
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Aggregator | Score |
Metacritic | 90 of 100 (WiiWare) 82 of 100 (3DS) |
Review scores | |
Publication | Score |
1UP.com | A (WiiWare) B+ (3DS) |
Destructoid | 9.5 of 10 (WiiWare) 8.5 of 10 (3DS) |
Edge | 8 of 10 (WiiWare) |
Eurogamer | 9 of 10 (WiiWare) 8 of 10 (3DS) |
Famitsu | 30 of 40 (3DS) |
Game Informer | 8.75 of 10 (WiiWare) 8.00 of 10 (3DS) |
IGN | 8.5 of 10 (WiiWare) 8.5 of 10 (3DS) |
Cave Story (洞窟物語 Dōkutsu Monogatari) is a platform-adventure video game released in 2004 for the PC. It was developed over five years by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya in his free time. Cave Story features 2D platform mechanics and is reminiscent of the classic games Amaya played in his youth, such as Metroid (1986) and Castlevania.
After its initial self-published release, Cave Story slowly gained popularity on the Internet. It received wide critical acclaim for its compelling story and gameplay. Independent developer Nicalis worked with Amaya to port the game to WiiWare and DSiWare in 2010. An enhanced version, Cave Story+, was released for Steam in November 2011, with a Nintendo 3DS release in October 2012. A 3D remake of the game, titled Cave Story 3D, was developed by Nicalis and published by NIS America for the Nintendo 3DS in November 2011. A release for the Nintendo Switch was announced on April 5, 2017 by Nicalis, and released on June 20, 2017.
The game focuses on an amnesiac protagonist who awakens in a cave. Through his explorations, he discovers a plot by the Doctor, a megalomaniac who intends to force the inhabitants of the cave to fight for him in his bid to conquer the world. The protagonist is thrust into the position of savior as he endeavors to defeat the Doctor.
The player controls the on-screen character directly using the keyboard or gamepad. The player progresses by navigating platform game puzzles and shooting enemies with the equipped weapon. When the player collects multiple weapons, they may be toggled at any time with the press of a button. Defeating enemies sometimes yields yellow triangular objects, which give experience points to weapons when collected. Weapons may be improved up to level three, but taking damage causes weapons to lose experience and levels.Health and missile capacity upgrades are scattered throughout the game world. The player must interact with a variety of non-player characters and objects to complete the game.