My eyes! They burn!

Well, I was randomly browsing YouTube and I came upon this video (while searching for Cave Story Speedruns) of a game called Underside.
At first, I thought it was just a random mod of (the most exalted, beloved) Cave Story, so I Googled it and found it's home page.
I downloaded it.

...

It ain't a mod, but it is about the cheesiest rip of CS I've ever seen.

List of commonalities:

• Both games are sidescrolling RPG platformers (Green alert)
• Both games feature amnesia (Yellow alert)
• Both games have enemies that drop bouncing crystal things (Red alert)
• Both games have signs that provide information (Green alert)
• Both games have deathtrap spikes (Green alert)
• Both games feature those little red damage numbers (Red alert)
• Both games have save points and life refilers (Green alert)
• Both games have destroyable blocks (Green alert)
• Both games are set on a floating location (Yellow alert)
• Both games have enemies that drop hearts (Green alert)
• Both games feature near identacle controls (A/S weapon change, Z/X Jump/Shoot, D-pad) (Red alert)
• Both have a life-capsule type thing (though in US, it's called "Life Toast") (Green alert)
  
  However, there are some differences:
• Cave Story has a remarkable physics engine that shows inertia very well
  (Underside lacks this)
• Cave Story is a full working game.
  (Underside isn't, it's a preview)

Also, in the readme, it (though not explicitly) claims to be better than Cave Story!

To Arms, Comnrads!

So, with all they have in common, and so little difference (apart from graphics, though similar... Very...), I have to call Underside a clone and a Red-level threat to Cave Story-dom.

But, this is just a 4:30 AM rant.
If you want to try it, do not click here.

...

No need to point out I'm biased, I just love Cave Story...
More than you could understand...

 

I completely agree. Someone had already pointed this out earlier, but I didn't click on the linque then. The best game anyone could make is by ripping stuff off the best game that exists.
But trying to make a retail game out of what's supposed to be free is the height of cheapness(they ARE trying to make it reatil, right?).

 

the underside is an exploration based action platformer in the vein (it's a pun~) of games like castlevania, metroid, and cave story. however, unlike most other games in this genre, the gameplay is driven more by plot than by free-roaming exploration (though the world is fully explorable).

the game's graphics and engine are (believe it or not) completely original. the game's engine is written in clickteam's multimedia fusion 2, while the graphics are done in humanbalance's graphicsgale.

the music is written by both me (arthur lee), and my close friend, j. michael brown. done in fruityloops using the 3xosc plugin as well as tweakbench's toad and peach vsts, the game's soundtrack has a real retro feel to it.
the game's plot revolves around a character named 'ip' who must escape from the underside, and maybe prevent the world from being destroyed while he's at it. the game's world, characters, plot strands, and dialogue are heavily inspired by earthbound, and are quirky, whimsical, and sometimes a little strange.

the gameplay is very fast based -- a lot more akin to games like megaman or metal slug rather than metroid or cave story in terms of pacing.

the underside has been under development since early 2005, and is worked on in the spare time of this fellow:

Who cares?

 

Who cares?

No one really.
But I just haaaad to rant.
Cause it's like...
Too similar.

 

No one really.
But I just haaaad to rant.
Cause it's like...
Too similar.

Those were the only 2 words of that post I typed lol.

 

In two words, here's why (IMHO) underside sucks: WINDOWS ONLY.

 

I like the game.
It's pretty fun and if you're a Cave Story fan you should like it.
For me it's more like a remake or a fan game.

You should stop posting things like "To Arms, Comnrads!".
This is not a flaming forum.

Both games are sidescrolling RPG platformers (Green alert)

No, are you serious? Platformers which use health, weapons and a textbox aren't rare.

Both games feature amnesia (Yellow alert)

Posted by Osmose:

"Waking up without memory isn't really a Cave Story thing, though. I've played several games where the main character has no memory - Galuf from FF5, for example. Saying it's just like Cave Story because of that is stupid."

Both games have enemies that drop bouncing crystal things (Red alert)

I'm sure Cave Story is not the only game where enemies drop bouncing crystal things.

Both games have signs that provide information (Green alert)

Again: Cave Story is NOT the only game. Look at Pokemon, Zelda and so on.

Both games have deathtrap spikes (Green alert)

Nearly every platformer has got spikes.

Both games feature those little red damage numbers (Red alert)

Posted by Nator:

"So what if the numbers are the same, alot of NES games used the same number graphics."

Both games have save points and life refilers (Green alert)

I guess every game has save points lol
And life refilers are also nothing special, you ever saw a game without anything that cures you?

Both games have destroyable blocks (Green alert)

Again, that's nothing special? Did you ever played old video games?

Both games are set on a floating location (Yellow alert)

That seems to be a thing.

Both games have enemies that drop hearts (Green alert)

Drop hearts are in a shitload of games actually.

Both games feature near identacle controls (A/S weapon change, Z/X Jump/Shoot, D-pad) (Red alert)

Z, X, A, S, Arrow Keys are controls who are preffered by often used by japanese games.

Both have a life-capsule type thing (though in US, it's called "Life Toast") (Green alert)

Just a thing that makes your max health go's up? Look at Zelda, heart containers...

That are actually nearly all things that platformers (spikes, weapons, drop hearts) or rpgs (Zelda is a nice example) use.

The levels are a hint tough, you start in a First Cave like area, then you go to a Grasstown like area and don't forget the boss

In two words, here's why (IMHO) underside sucks: WINDOWS ONLY.

Then Cave Story sucked too for atleast 8 years.

No need to point out I'm biased, I just love Cave Story...
More than you could understand...

I understand you're upset but...

I try to work on every Cave Story project, I'm 2 years on the forum here and a moderator, made several hacking FAQ's, help threads/posts and so on. I think I should know how much you can love a game. Actually I saw much people and got to know to much people, I was here from the start, we can talk again after you were on the forums for 1 year without leaving, because most people leave it after half a year.

Any further discussion will be here: http://www.cavestory.org/forums/threads/319/

You should search next time before starting a thread, "The Underside" won't give much search results

~ Closed ~