Cave Story Review by GearStrike

This is me being honest

Release Date - 2004

Made by Studio Pixel

10 words or less - Totally Fucking addicting to the max0rz

Review Time:

Okay, after watching Cloud8745's video on Cave Story, I got interested in it, so I looked it up on Google and played that game for about...2 months

Here's what grabbed my attention, it was all about gameplay, not graphics, which made my day(s). The graphics are fairly simple, just little characters made from simple pixels. But the animation (being a few frames for each) is not bad at all. The areas look cool (especially Balcony), and the simple graphics give it a nice old-skool look.

The sheer thrill of playing this game was shooting the hell out of everything!

The weapons you get in this game are insane! The best being Spur, the worst being Snake. I found myself liking all the weapons due to the differences with their handling.

I was having the time of my life playing this, the story amused me (despite the cliche), the characters ranged from funny to serious to stupid to weird. I think Blarog might be my favorite (since he's a toaster that shouts Huzzah and turns into a frog AND fires missles).

However...the flaws I have found are far and wide between.

First off, the game's difficulty turned me off, it was way too easy to start way to friggin' hard to finish.

The boss fights were nice, but the best ones were so short (Blarog, and the hardest/annoying ones (Ballos) being the longest.

Also, the game's choices (where you could change the endings) was almost impossible to figure out, it was madness!

But if you got to Hell, you deserved the last battle, Ballos was the hardest boss, and Hell was the hardest level.

But the ending wasn't worth it, it really wasn't...I mean...

-SPOILER-

Quote and Curly and Balrog all living together in peace, leaving one of the biggest cliff hangers I've seen since Star Wars.

-/SPOILER-

Grade:
B

Pros: Great gameplay, amazing weapons, simple graphics, Balrog, and it's free.
Cons: Crazy difficulty switches, annoying bosses, bullcrap endings, and a cliche storyline.

 

Ya...I'll say finding about the "other" ending is like finding a needle in a haystack...there are like NO CLUES to it at all...and at most you only know if you did it right by a single dialog box around the halfway point...

The cliche storyline IMO allowed the player to enjoy the platforming elements without having to trying to keep track of a convoluted plot to take over the world...

The "extra" ending though is like a cherry on top...like you were SUPPOSE to do the other one, yet you took the hard path...so here, happy end for all! ( thats still living anyway... )

 

Ya...I'll say finding about the "other" ending is like finding a needle in a haystack...there are like NO CLUES to it at all...and at most you only know if you did it right by a single dialog box around the halfway point...

The cliche storyline IMO allowed the player to enjoy the platforming elements without having to trying to keep track of a convoluted plot to take over the world...

The "extra" ending though is like a cherry on top...like you were SUPPOSE to do the other one, yet you took the hard path...so here, happy end for all! ( thats still living anyway... )

There are clues... if you're observant.

Like Booster's note in the Prefab room... about if he could only live long enough to complete the booster... and wondering what that red mark on the ground is for, since it must do SOMETHING... and what it says when you talk to the teleporter, that an "engineer of some talent could fix it" or whatnot...

Just exploring the Core room enough should lead you to the tow rope, it's not exactly well-hidden, I mean, it's a sparkling item. That in turn should make it pretty obvious how to take Curly with you. As for saving her, well the computer in the Waterway Cabin basically walks you through it! "Why don't you take a rest?" "You know I often recorded what I learned in that notebook over there" etc. As for Ma Pignon, well you should have been curious about that door in the Graveyard your first runthrough, and checked it out once you had the booster or MG... and so if you do save Curly and you see her again in the Plantation, that Cthulu fellow telling you about the mushroom should ring a bell.

I found the clock room my first runthrough out of sheer luck, and 'cuz there was a big ol' clock sign, wasn't too hard. I figured out the Spur my first runthrough as well; after MGing back up to the first cave ("Hey cool! I can get back here?") I found the Hermit Gunsmith and he said that he wasn't finished working on the Polar Star.

It is difficult to figure out, but not unreasonably so. After all, it is a secret ending... and there are games with far more well-hidden secrets to them.

Also, I think the Snake tends to be underrated and the game is only difficult the first time and maybe the second. I'm up to the point now where I can beat the entire game without saving once, though I haven't actually done so yet due to time constraints and freakin' falling off the Outer Wall STUPIDEST WAY TO DIE EVER but I know I can do it since I've played off a friend's savepoint right before Monster X all the way through Hell and the end without saving, and I've also played from the start to the Outer Wall w/o saving... so just put the two together...

Anyway... this post has become way tl;dr so I'm going to stop now.

 

I disagree about the snake being the worst weapon – its ability to shout through walls can be very handy. The worst weapon is the Polar Star, which is logical since it's the first you find. Or you could argue that the Bubbler is the worst, though I personally like it.

 

I disagree about the snake being the worst weapon – its ability to shout through walls can be very handy. The worst weapon is the Polar Star, which is logical since it's the first you find. Or you could argue that the Bubbler is the worst, though I personally like it.

I can understand that

I actually find the Polar Star to be one of my favorites since it's the first weapon you get and I go trigger-happy when i use it

 

There are a ton of clues, the most intriguing ones being the undecipherabe message in the waterway cabin, the seemingly inaccessible door to the Corridor, and the inpenetrable chest which actually contains the Nikamaru Counter.

I disagree about the snake being the worst weapon – its ability to shout through walls can be very handy. The worst weapon is the Polar Star, which is logical since it's the first you find. Or you could argue that the Bubbler is the worst, though I personally like it.

Polar Star is fun. B)

I found the Spur to be the most boring weapon.

 

But lvl 0 Spur = lvl 3 Polar Star. You just choose your style(I prefer lvl 0 than charging)

I kinda agree on the B grade. CS is a real damn motherf-ing astounding astonishing conquistadorizing nicely greatly awesome win game, may currently be the best game in the world, but it's just that no game up to this day has ever deserved an A or S.
Nice review, why not post it at acid-play?(which would be dumb)

 

There are a ton of clues, the most intriguing ones being the undecipherabe message in the waterway cabin, the seemingly inaccessible door to the Corridor, and the inpenetrable chest which actually contains the Nikamaru Counter.

clues != Hints

To be honest, I NEVER saw the tow rope doing my first 3 runs...someone had to point it out to me...

The red mark? I though it was a part of boosters broken glasses...

Ya...The shroom kinda tells you "Hey! I'm needed but you didn't do what was needed for me!"...He gives no clue on WHAT uses him..so for 3 runs I'm looking at him going "You do SOMETHING..but what I'm lost at..."

the computers while they say stuff like "Take a rest" does kinda mean "I need to use the bed here"...if you don't do everything before it your at a complete lost...

I never found the clock room till I used a guide...Nor did I even know about hell...THEN AGAIN...I COMPLETELY missed the hole "CLIMB THE WALL!" part and got a bad end because I couldn't find a way to continue the story for my first run...


Ya..I know there are other games with WTF hidden stuff ( The Tower of Druaga anyone? ) but to know to enter a house to find an extra passage, more less doing everything right to unlock said passage came off a bit more harder then it needed IMO.

 

I never found the clock room till I used a guide...Nor did I even know about hell...THEN AGAIN...I COMPLETELY missed the hole "CLIMB THE WALL!" part and got a bad end because I couldn't find a way to continue the story for my first run...

That real sucked.... I thought Kazuma explained what you have to do, didn't he? But that real sucked, no offense. How long until you found out how to proceed?





[highlight]*googles for druaga*[/highlight]

 

He tells you to "Find the core" but has no clue on even where to start...
I decided after getting that ending and restarting to ask a friend how to get a "Good end"...he told me after the egg area was trashed to go outside and climb the wall...and all I could say was "Wait...I can climb that?"

Druaga mind you IMO is the hardest, most insane game peroid...It has NO CLUES AT ALL....and once you see how to unlock the treasure in each stage...you'll scream bloody murder ( also some of them HURT you )....also the final boss can set you ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE START LOSING EVERYTHING.

It makes stuff like "I want to be the guy" easy...

 

I never got stuck at the Outer Wall. You have a Booster, and likely the Machine Gun. The route was pretty obvious IMO, and so was the crack in the wall which was the location of the Counter.