Cave Story: is it REALLY a Metroidvania?

I hear Cave Story being described as a metroidvania/castleroid type game all the time, but I've never really thought of it as such. Metroidvania is the term given to games similar to 2d metorid games, and Symphony of the Night style 2d Castlevania games. These games generally have a big emphasis on exploration, and the powers you gain help you explore the area. This does not seem to be a real good description of Cave Story, which is mostly advanced through plot instead of faining new abilities. Lyle in Cube Sector, Untitled Story, and La Mulana seem to fit this description much better.

 

Lol, Castle plus hemorrhoid equals castleroid. XD

And honestly, it's just a reaaaaally vague categorization for purpose of advertising. One of the catches for Cave Story with me was originally that it was a "Metroidvania" style game, which happened to be two of my favorite franchises.

Cave Story itself is totally it's own game. I can't say I've played one like it before.

 

Yeah, Cave Story is quite unique. The fact that you need abilities to reach certain areas/items is what makes the exploration IMO. Of course it's not as free as Castlevania/Metroid in terms of exploration, cause Cave Story has a linear plot while the other two have "background plots".

In both Castlevania and Metroid you're given an objective and the only part where story plays is in the beginning and at the end. This makes them free-roaming games, go wherever you want etc. Cave Story, unlike them, has a linear plot, a certain place you need to go to progress etc.

 

Personally, I think the label's very misleading: Not counting keys or the exit to first cave, the only instance in the game where a new item/ability allows you to reach new areas is the jetpack (or machinegun if you get it early), and all the items that can only be reached by backtracking with the jetpack could be classified as "secrets"--the arms barrier, the spur and ma pignon's room, with that last technically being part of the plot anyways. Moreover, the jetpack isn't even what lets you progress past the point you get it--other than that one jump in Outer Wall, which is considerably later than you obtain it, you can go through the game without turning it on. All the health and missile upgrades are reachable when you first see them, and you progress in the game by reaching plot points. But hey, the label seems to work, in the sense that a lot of people apply it naturally and it attracts players.

 

Yeah, Cave Story is quite unique. The fact that you need abilities to reach certain areas/items is what makes the exploration IMO. Of course it's not as free as Castlevania/Metroid in terms of exploration, cause Cave Story has a linear plot while the other two have "background plots".

In both Castlevania and Metroid you're given an objective and the only part where story plays is in the beginning and at the end. This makes them free-roaming games, go wherever you want etc. Cave Story, unlike them, has a linear plot, a certain place you need to go to progress etc.

Even though there are not as many rewards for free-roaming exploration and backtracking, they are still present, and there are still plenty of rewards for exploration while following the main storyline. Cave Story is a Metroidvania title in my opinion.

 

In my opinion, castlevania and metroid are cave story titles.
=D

 

Personally I've always thought of it more as a low-key run-and-gun platformer, with metroidvania and occasional puzzle/quest/RPG elements, except that it's driven by the plot as opposed to the lack thereof. There's some similarities to Mega Man too, dunno if that counts as a run-and-gun or something more specific.

 

To quote the "game info" section of the site:

The gameplay plays like a combination of various NES/Famicom games. Some that come to mind are Metroid, Castlevania, Megaman, Blaster Master and Monster Mash.

Has anyone here played Blaster Master or Monster Mash?
I'd like to know if they are really influences to Pixel...

 

Has anyone here played Blaster Master or Monster Mash?

Monster Mash, I haven't played, but as for Blaster Master, yes. Both Cave Story & Blaster Master have exploration of a non-linear world, but one of the other reasons that Cave Story made me think of Blaster Master was the "lava" in Final Cave.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff238/Bad_Beholder/RedPoolsofDeath320x240.png- Cave Story's red pools of death compared with...

http://pnmedia.gamespy.com/classicgaming.gamespy.com/images/oldsite/clusterimages/bm3.gif- Blaster Master's own version of it

Though not entirely identical, both harmful substances do about the same thing in each game... Cave Story's version is much easier to get out of, however.

 

Interesting. I looked for Monster Mash on Google but I failed to find anything related to a game. Also Wikipedia only has a musical article with the name...
I wonder if it actually exists or if it's a VERY underground game...

 

Err, I've played a game called Monster Bash. I wonder if that was just a typo or a translation thing. Though honestly, the game's not really similar at all. It's a platformer and there is combat, but that's about it.

 

Interesting. I looked for Monster Mash on Google but I failed to find anything related to a game. Also Wikipedia only has a musical article with the name...
I wonder if it actually exists or if it's a VERY underground game...

Could be "Monster Bash" from "Apogee"/"3D Realms"?

 

Actually I wanna know where Skyewelse (or whoever wrote that intro in the site) found out that these games influenced Pixel...
Of course it can be pure guessing, but who knows.
At least artistically, Monster Bash doesnt't resemble CS in any way. But it's a side-scroller platformer, so the mystery remains...

 

Actually I wanna know where Skyewelse (or whoever wrote that intro in the site) found out that these games influenced Pixel...
Of course it can be pure guessing, but who knows.
At least artistically, Monster Bash doesnt't resemble CS in any way. But it's a side-scroller platformer, so the mystery remains...

Well we know Metroid was an influence. Besides that though... *shrug*

 

Oh please. Castlevania sucks.end

 

^ Please die. Castlevania is as good as Metroid. Unless you are talking about the VERY OLD ones.

 

*sigh*
that. is. not. true. at. all.
(then again, I've never even played castlevania, so....)

 

I disagree, I like both the side scrolling ones and the metroidvania style. I actually prefer it to Metroid.

 

I found a part of the nintendo power interview with Pixel:

“The graphics and music of that era are very memorable and priceless to me. Looking back now, it was a really carefree time — at the time, I didn’t have to worry about the future.

All I had to worry about was playing games on my Famicom.”

— Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya, Cave Story’s creator, talking about classic NES games with Nintendo Power.

His favorites include Super Mario Bros., Dragon Quest II, Metroid, Chubby Cherub, Star Soldier, and Gradius.

Maybe some of these games are influences...

 

"His favorites include Super Mario Bros., Dragon Quest II, Metroid, Chubby Cherub, Star Soldier, and Gradius. "

There is not a game on that list I don't love.
o_o
And yes, I can see the DQ2 influences on Cave Story.