Cave Story 3D | Review

By: Ryan Seiler
Posted: September 9, 2012

Indie games have become an integral part of the gaming industry. It’s where up-and-coming developers show the world what they’re made of, and an increasingly more profitable career choice to boot. But it didn’t start out that way. It started with basement programmers building the games they wanted to play, floppy disks being sold to friends, and very small audiences. Nowadays we have a little something called the internet, where someone in Moscow can play a game made by a developer based out of a hut in the Amazon. It’s the future man! Yet back in 2004, indies were still struggling to gain a foothold in the industry, no consoles supported small downloadable games, and releasing one as a stand-alone disc copy would only get you as far as the bargain bin. Luckily PC’s were there for small developers, allowing anyone with internet access to not only be informed about small titles but download and play them as well.

One, Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya, fan of classic platformers like Metroid, Castlevania, and Blaster Master, in a move that would make indie movie and music snobs cream their pants, designed, composed, and programmed Cave Story, by himself and distributed it for free online. In a time where ‘free’ and ‘download’ meant small flash game, Cave Story, as vast in scope and design as The Legend of Zelda and Super Metroid, was ahead of its time, creating a massive cult fan-base, heralding a time when a little guy like Sudio Pixel could compete with the big boys like EA and Activision. There’s no question about it, Cave Story is a stellar example of not just what an indie game can accomplish, but what video games as a whole can accomplish.

Studio Pixel’s modest platformer has been given two makeovers since its release. The first, developed by Nicalis, remade the 16-bit style of the original and upgraded to a more recent – yet dated -- 32-bit appearance for the Wii eShop, leaving literally everything else about the game unchanged. In 2011 Nicalis with the help of NIS America decided that Cave Story needed a true modern overhaul. Thus Cave Story 3D for the Nintendo 3DS was developed, giving the classic 2004 version a new 3D coat of paint. Buy hey; if that paint has cracks, the whole house looks ugly.

Story/Design

Long after the surface world was engulfed in war, a floating island home to the Mimigas, a race of rabbit-like humanoids, was at peace. That is, until the evil doctor showed up and had his own plans for the adorable fluffy denizens. By using the island’s red flowers he plans to turn the peaceful Mimigas into hulking killers to unleash on the surface, where humans still reside. Meanwhile an amnesiac android awakes from a ten year slumber just in time to hear out the plight of Mimiga Village, whose townsfolk have been preyed upon by the Doctor, until just a handful are left. The android must not only save the Mimigas, and prevent the Doctor from destroying the surface, he must also find out who he is along with his place in the world. It’s a fairly traditional premise, especially once you recognize the game’s anime inspired undertones. 

What make’s Cave Story’s method of storytelling stand out among other 2D platformer’s is the variety and depth of its characters. Yes the main character is a mute amnesiac, and yes you’ve seen that a million times but that’s where the game shines; its combination of classic cliché story tropes thrown together and added to with such detail make the overall plot truly unique and enjoyable. After meeting the first few characters in Mimiga Village, you’re already in love. Each sprite has only a few lines of dialogue and very little animation, yet so much personality is packed in that it put’s most modern game’s, with all their expensive voice actors, to shame.

If you’ve ever played a Japanese game before, you’ve noticed the differences in storytelling across hemispheres.  Characters get thrown in left and right, plot twists are a common occurrence and the game’s universe seems to grow exponentially from the time your character leaves the opening room. It can be a little hard to follow at times, but I’m hard pressed to knock points off for it. The oddball characters and frantic story fit perfectly well with the fast paced action of the gameplay and even give it a certain charm that few games can claim to have. The hardest mission in the game just has to be putting the damn thing down.

On multiple occasions throughout the story you will be presented with decisions that will affect the characters, gameplay, and even the game’s ending. While I do find the depth this gives certain gameplay choices, it can be fairly cryptic in its delivery. During my first playthrough, one of the main characters, Curly, died. It seemed to be a scripted event so I continued on my way – very sad I might add, (see characterization above). Little did I know, I could have saved her!  Had I just picked up a certain item and tried speaking with her, the outcome of the end-game would have been completely different. So I kept playing through to get the mediocre ending. To the game’s credit, that bad call on my part resulted in a second playthrough later to get the best ending and its accompanying levels; partly out of frustration I might add.
Story/Design  9/10

Gameplay

Like the classics that inspired it, Cave Story is a non-linear run-and-gun platformer. The island and its caves you play through are linked by Mimiga Village which serves as a hub world. Each level is bridged through a teleporter which can be traversed at will. As with most shooter platformers, a wide variety of guns are at your disposal; from the traditional pistol-like Polar Star to the shield-esque Bubbler. Each weapon serves a particular role and has a unique use that will come in handy during certain situations, while never being absolutely necessary; try playing through the whole game with only the Polar Star, it’s... impossible possible. Additionally, every weapon has three levels. Each of which increase its power, damage, and distance fired. Each enemy killed will drop either health or a golden triangular power-up which level-up weapons, so grab them while you can. I found this mechanic to be highly engaging. Having to battle enemies to gain health as well as power-up weapons makes what would have been a slog through a repopulated room instantly worthwhile.

The enemy item drops aren’t the only Metroid style gameplay mechanic to make it into Cave Story. Throughout the game there are a slew of save areas accompanied by a recharge station. These become invaluable as the game progresses; and like most games, if you see a health recharge near a save station, it’s probably a good idea to utilize them; a boss battle is likely around the next corner.

Speaking of enemies and bosses, Cave Story’s bestiary is something to behold; rivaling some modern MMO’s. Along your way to same Curly or to stop the Doctor you will encounter a huge variety of creatures and combatants. Each mob has a particular attack or movement and in-turn has a unique strategy for defeating it – reminiscent of Castlevania.  Be prepared to face a few dozen bosses as well, each having its own method of attack and weaknesses to exploit. Additionally the difficulty level presented by enemies and bosses is extremely welcoming and expertly balanced with weapon progression. Towards the end, however, you will encounter difficult battles which may cause a few frustrating deaths. Thankfully the game’s save stations are never too far behind, serving as a good incentive to stay alive while never straying into frustration territory.
Gameplay 9/10
 

Presentation

Even in 2004 Cave Story wasn’t what you would call a ‘looker’. Its simplistic approach towards aesthetic and art styles was meant to be a nostalgic throwback. Surprisingly these simple graphics exemplified the characters and storyline. When you have to rely on writing instead of visuals you can get a lot of information through to the player without being too flashy. This isn’t saying the art of Cave Story wasn’t good. In fact, it serves as a great example of what can be done using 2D sprites and backgrounds. Everything in-game is easily distinguishable at a glance due to using only a few colors in every model, serving to make gameplay less stressful and more enjoyable. Studio Pixel created a cute little aesthetic all its own which played its part behind the scenes adding subtly to what was happening on screen without really catching your eye.

For whatever reason Nicalis decided to throw subtly out the door and remake Cave Story in 3D. A move so counterintuitive it’s baffling. What once was an art style giving the player a nostalgic ride through the games of olde has become exactly what causes remakes like Titanic 3D and Finding Nemo 3D so disturbing; the removal of emersion. While other 3DS games utilize its 3D capabilities by giving the games depth, Cave Story 3D tries to make certain objects sick out of the screen like a bad ‘80s movie.  The only difference being this is on a screen 80 feet smaller. The resulting effect of a small screen that sinks in and has depth as well as jumps out at you is migraine inducing. The 3D effect is even poorly developed, causing me to have to turn the 3D off occasionally. Objects that should stick out evenly, since they’re right next to each other, sometimes have different depths; which is, again, enough to cause a headache.
 

I will say however, that the new color scheme is an improvement from its predecessor’s monotonous greys and tans. Strange thing is, I never noticed the need for this change until I held the two up for a comparison.

Cave Story 3D is complete with a “Classic” mode. I was hoping this meant a 3D redux of the original game. What I got was a Cave Story that switched all its in-game characters from their 3D models to their 16-bit 2D counterparts. The environment remains 3D, so classic is hardly the word that comes to mind. I’m not exactly sure what this was supposed to accomplish.

Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya is quite the game developer everything he did right with story and gameplay is matched only by his game’s score. Luckily the track list received the subtle remastering it needed. While the chiptune songs worked extremely well in a pixelated game, their new synth versions serve a more modern three dimensional world. Their atmospheric tones and sounds give the labyrinth inside the island an ominous feel, yet one full of life; while the more frantic paced tunes give action sequences the punch they need to pump the player up for the battle ahead. Thankfully the main theme “Cave Story, Plantation” remains one of the best in-game audio tracks of all time, even after its makeover; a true testament to its composer’s abilities.
Presentation 7/10 (Graphics 5/10 Audio 9/10)
  

Overall

Cave Story 3D is a flawless game encased in a deeply flawed wrapper. The perfection its components once served each other is thrown out the window when the new graphics break the emersion. My recommendation? Go download Cave Story online for free right now. It deserves to be played! Better yet, go buy it on the 3DS or Wii eShop;  give Pixel your money! Play the game the way it was designed to be played. New isn’t always better.  Like the Star Wars Prequels, it’s better off forgotten. Relive the classic.
Cave Story 3D  8.7/10

Game Info

Platform: 3DS
ESRB:E 10+

PEGI: 7

Publisher: NIS America

Developer: Studio Pixel, Nicalis

Release Date: November 8, 2011