When Cave Story was released a few years ago on the PC it became a cult classic overnight. Fast forward a few years later and a major English speaking audience can now play this title with the Wii Ware release of Cave Story. For those unaware, Cave Story is a game that borrows its game play roots from the Metroid series. Where it differentiates is the upbeat music and complex characters, the latter being one of the Metroid series weakest points to date.
You play as Quote, a humanoid robot who has just been reactivated in a cave without any memory. As you exit one cave, you fall into another and meet the Mimigas; rabbit like race who is facing extinction from the murderous “Doctor”. Your path becomes intertwined with the Mimiga's, particularly one named Sue who is seeking to find her family and leave the Caves. The story goes deeper than that but the games possession of such a silly yet serious story warms the heart. A Character like Balrog is a toaster or lunch box shaped character working for the evil Doctor who acts as a rival in the game challenging you many times and always losing serving as great comic relief.
As said the game play is very much a Metroid clone scattering upgrades like Jet Packs and Missiles throughout the game. There is also a number of guns to get but the biggest game play difference from Metroid is the EXP system. When you defeat most enemies they will drop yellow crystals and you can gather them to upgrade your guns up to level 3. It doesn't take long to upgrade them to the max level but taking damage will cause you to bleed EXP out and start to lose levels of your guns. Each of the three levels for the weapons make it more devastating rewarding your collecting.
The music is completely remastered for this version and although it has some issues where the music no longer starts at cued points like the PC version would, it still sounds great. For the purists you can listen to the original soundtrack, a smart inclusion on the developers part. Likewise the Graphics are made sleeker and Quote no longer looks like he has a stretched head instead having a smaller compact but still detailed sprite. The graphics also feature an original mode inclusion, and both the graphics and music can be mixed for those that enjoy new of some and old of another.
For those seeking challenge off the bat is a start point in Sanctuary which serves as the game's extra dungeon and its prize of the best ending. This mode essentially seems to give you an even harder time through literal Hell as you get less health and equipment to navigate the dungeon.
Another feature new to the Wii Ware port is Curly Story, where you play as a female robot Quote meets early on in the game. Unlike Quote, Curly speaks and sometimes will not shut up talking to herself. It's still a refreshing change of pace for those seeking a new paint coat on the old established wall. It should be warned to new players not to see Curly Story as a character select difference as Curly Story can only be played in Hard mode.
Cave Story is available on Wii Ware for $12 (1200 Wii Points) and is worth every penny of it. The game was a masterpiece before and this improvement cements its place as an all time adventure. Its shortcomings are tiny and are outweighed by the positive that is exploding at the seams.
Graphics | Audio | Gameplay | Replay | Genre | Final |
