Cave Story: Afterthoughts

So on a whim, I downloaded Cave Story for the Wii two nights ago. I beat it last night, and while it wasn't what I expected, it was very, very good.

First of all, before I played it, I thought Cave Story was a regular platformer, with a focus on stomping on guys heads and stuff. But it's not! It's more like a cross of Mario and Gradius (which is odd, then, since I've been playing a few "shmups" lately - Castle of Shikigami III and M.U.S.H.A. in particular). You acquire guns, and then use them to kill whatever enemies stand in your way.

Okay, so it's more like Contra. Having never been particularly fond of Contra, there's a particular reason why I like Cave Story so much:

It's a Metroidvania.

You acquire new items and weapons, and then use them to get to new places. You can find health and missile powerups throughout the game, as well (I didn't find too many, though, but it's possible I missed areas).

Whenever you acquire a new gun, you have to power it up, by collecting the goofy little triangle things enemies drop when they are killed. Collect enough, and your weapon will level up - but be careful! If you take damage, your weapon level may drop. It doesn't take too long to level your gun back up, of course, but this may prove hard while fighting bosses who don't drop the triangle things.

Anyway, I really like this mechanic, and some of the subtleties in this game really blow me away as well. The game never, ever tells you this is possible, but a fully powered up Machine Gun will actually allow your little guy to float if you shoot it down towards the ground! It serves as a sort of jetpack way before you actually get one in the game, and really augments it when you do.

I had heard the story was pretty good before playing the game, and while it certainly wasn't crap, I wasn't that impressed by it. It was told sparingly, sure, so it wasn't like I had much to latch on to, but I never really cared about Sue or any of the other characters. I just wanted to shoot crap and get to the next boss fight.

And man, is that last boss ridiculous. Four fights in a row where you don't get to heal or save in between? It was as if I was playing a Final Fantasy game or something.

Anyway, I hope Pixel makes another game. He probably is, but I really think people should support him by buying Cave Story on Wii. It's one of the best WiiWare titles for sure (right up there with the likes of Mega Man 9!).