Cave Story

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Cave Story
Screenshot from Cave Story.
Developer(s) Daisuke Amaya "Pixel"
Publisher(s) Independent
Designer(s) Daisuke Amaya "Pixel"
Engine Custom
Release date(s) December 20, 2004
Genre(s) Action-adventure game
Mode(s) Single player
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS X (Handheld versions are in development.)
Media Free download
System requirements Windows 98, 2000 or XP, DirectX 5.0+
Input Keyboard or Gamepad

Cave Story (洞窟物語 Dōkutsu Monogatari?) is a freeware PC game designed and created by Daisuke Amaya, art-name Pixel. The game is a traditional action-adventure game, reminiscent of the Castlevania and Metroid games. After being fan-translated to English by Aeon Genesis, the game has received praise from gamers worldwide.

Contents

[edit] Overview

At the beginning, the game's story is a mystery to the player; the plot is revealed as the game progresses.

The player awakens in an underground cavern with no memory of how he came to be there and no weapons of any kind. He stumbles across a village with rabbit-like creatures called Mimigas who are being persecuted by the evil Doctor. Two of the Doctor's lackeys, Misery and Balrog, are looking for a Mimiga named Sue, but mistakenly abduct a Mimiga named Toroko. The player's main quest is to rescue Sue, save the Mimigas from the Doctor's evil grasp, and escape the floating island on which the game is set.

The game features alternate endings and multiple paths to explore.

[edit] Gameplay

Initially, the player may only run and jump, but acquires a variety of weapons and items as the game progresses. Most items are plot-oriented, having no impact upon normal gameplay, except for a few such as the Booster (a type of jetpack) and the Life Pot. Weapons come in an exotic variety, ranging from simple beam-weapons to a machine gun to a bubble gun, and can be obtained in treasure chests or traded for different weapons at various locations in the game; although there are 9 different weapons, this trading system limits the player to a maximum of 5. Most weapons can be upgraded by collecting the weapon energy dropped by enemies, and lose weapon energy when the player is hit. The max level for the weapons is 3 and no higher.

[edit] Backstory

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Thousands of years ago, there was a powerful magician named Ballos, whose powers were far beyond those of ordinary mortals. He used his powers to help and guide people, and so the people loved and trusted him more than even their own king. Over time, the King became jealous, and had Ballos imprisoned. Subjected to horrific tortures, Ballos was finally driven to madness. The magic inside him ran wild, and the King and the castle were destroyed instantly in a wave of fiery destruction. Ballos was unable to regain control of his magic, and, under its compulsion, murdered his wife and children and burned the kingdom to ashes. There remained but a bare trace of his sanity, and as he watched his family die, he was horrified even as he laughed.

When Ballos's sister, Jenka, a witch who possessed powerful magic as he did, learned that her brother had gone mad, she confined him to an island that floated in the sky. Even though Ballos could not be freed from his magic and his insanity - except through death -, Jenka loved her brother too much to kill him.

The floating island was held aloft by its Core, which lived deep inside the island. To defend the Core, Jenka constructed a labyrinth around its entrance and sealed the entrance itself with a large boulder. In the labyrinth she imprisoned the Gaudis, a race of giant insects, both as guardians and so that they would not be able to attack the Mimigas, a race of flower-eating anthropomorphic, rabbit-like creatures who also lived in the island. She retired to the Sand Zone, a desert-like cave on the island, her powers exhausted, and began to raise dogs.

Jenka had a daughter named Misery. Misery, who gained magical powers of her own, forced Ballos to create the Demon Crown, which would channel his power to the wearer. However, as the unwitting creator of the Crown's curse, she was bound for all eternity to serve those who would wear the crown.

Ten years before the game begins, the countries of Earth sent robots to bring back the Demon Crown. The robots killed indiscriminately, and many of the Mimigas were slain. To defend themselves, the Mimigas sought out the Red Flowers.

Although the Mimigas rely on flowers for sustenance, the legendary Red Flowers are toxic to them. The flower itself contains two chemical compounds, one to incite massive muscular growth and mutation, and the other a deliriant that causes total loss of the faculties of reason. This second compound has shown to form a crystalline substance when purified — the Red Crystal — and it is believed that this is what gives the flowers their distinctive red colour.

Finally, a man from the surface gained possession of the Demon Crown. The robots fell silent. The Mimigas, however, were still frenzied from the Red Flowers, and the master of the Crown turned them loose upon the Earth.

Quote (the protagonist, whose name is only revealed through special effort on the player's part) and Curly Brace were two 'special' robots sent to the island to assassinate the master of the Crown and destroy it once and for all. Their superior skill and strength allowed them to wound him, but before they could defeat him they were rendered unconscious and scattered throughout the island's network of underground caves.

Shortly before the game begins, a research party of humans came to the island by helicopter. It consisted of research scientist Momorin Sakamoto, her children Sue and Kazuma Sakamoto, Professor Booster, an engineer named Itoh, and a medical doctor named Fuyahiko Date. The doctor knew the Crown existed and joined the party merely for the opportunity to find it. After the party landed, he immediately began to search for it. The opening sequence of the game shows the Doctor finding the Crown with Misery and Balrog, the two imprisoned servants of the Crown, floating in the background.

Once the Doctor had the crown, he began a plan to take over the world: he would force the Mimigas to cultivate and ultimately eat the Red Flowers, and use an army of enraged Mimigas to attack the "surface" (Earth). The other members of the research party did not want to cooperate, so he ordered them to be destroyed. Sue Sakamoto and Itoh were turned into Mimigas by Misery before escaping. Kazuma Sakamoto teleported away, but found himself trapped in a room with no exit and a broken teleporter. Reluctantly following the Doctor's orders for fear of her life, Momorin Sakamoto was eventually thrown off the edge of the island once the Doctor found the Red Flower seeds. Hiding out in the plantations, she planned in secret for a way to defeat the Doctor from the security of an underground laboratory.

Sue hid out in the Mimiga village. The village was at one point very large, but had only six inhabitants after the Doctor began abducting Mimigas for use in his experiments, his army and on the plantations. In the past, Toroko's brother and hero of the Mimigas, Arthur, had slain the previous master of the Demon Crown, but was killed by the Doctor during his rise to power. The new Mimiga leader, King, disliked Sue, and attempted an exchange her for Toroko after Toroko was kidnapped, with disastrous results.

When the game begins, Quote awakens in a cave near the Mimiga village.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

  • Quote: The player character of the game and largely a silent protagonist.
  • Curly Brace: A friendly and feisty female robot who tries to protect Mimigas.
  • Sue Sakamoto: The daughter of Momorin Sakamoto, Sue never wanted to come to the island. She was turned into a Mimiga by Misery.
  • Kazuma Sakamoto: Kazuma is the "occasionally reliable" brother of Sue.
  • Jenka: A very old witch who has lived on the island for a long time. She resides in the Sand Zone and raises puppies. She is Ballos' sister and Misery's mother.
  • Dr. Fuyahiko Date ("The Doctor"): The Doctor is the current master of the Demon Crown. He abducts mimigas in order to feed them red flowers and unleash them on the Surface.
  • Balrog: A goofy minion of The Doctor who looks like a toaster or briefcase. Because of the Demon Crown's curse, he is forced to fight for the Doctor, but actually helps the player on several occasions after asking Quote and Curly "Not to tell a soul" about it. His battle cry, "Huzzah!", is always shouted out before a fight, and has become a catchphrase among fans.
  • Misery: A witch who is a minion of the Doctor, and also the daughter of Jenka. Because of her role in creating the Demon Crown, she has been forever cursed to follow the orders of whomever bears it.
  • Ballos: Jenka's brother and an extremely powerful sorcerer. He was tortured into insanity and corruption and let his magical powers run wild, and thus was sealed inside the island by Jenka for the rest of eternity.
  • The Core: A living entity that somehow holds the island aloft. If the core is destroyed, it is said that the floating island will fall to the ground.

[edit] Supporting characters

  • King: The leader of the Mimiga Village since the death of Arthur. He feels he is responsible for anything that happens to Toroko. King dislikes Sue because she is an outsider and her appearance coincides with the Doctor's attacks on the village.
  • Arthur: The legendary hero of the Mimigas. He fought against the evils of the island, driving them back, but was eventually killed by the Doctor and his servants prior to the beginning of the game.
  • Jack: The village's second-in-command. He wears goggles and an ushanka hat with a wing emblem on it.
  • Toroko: The Mimiga who accepted Sue and was unafraid to make friends with her. She is mistaken by Misery and Balrog for Sue and is abducted.
  • Momorin Sakamoto: Sakamoto is a rocket scientist and the mother of Kazuma and Sue. She did not want to bring them to the island, but could not leave them on their own.
  • Professor Booster Sakamoto: Head of the research team and a specialist in jetpacks, Professor Booster is Sue and Kazuma Sakamoto's grandfather, although they only address him as "Professor Booster".
  • Itoh: A shy engineer of considerable talent who specializes in control systems. He was also turned into a Mimiga by Misery.

[edit] Trivia

  • The main character, Quote, and his ally, Curly Brace, are named for two common programming elements, especially found in Curly brace programming languages such as C++.
  • The game took five years to be completed.[1]
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Reception

Doukutsu Monogatari has been very well-received by critics. 1UP.com described it as "so massive that it rivals modern GBA Castlevania and Metroid games in terms of scope and play time."[1] InsideMacGames ascribed the game's popularity to its "polished feel, engaging storyline, and compelling artwork".[2]

[edit] Handheld versions

Variant Interactive announced on 27 March 2006 that they were developing a version of Doukutsu Monogatari for the PSP.[3] A graphical overhaul will be included in the new version as well as the original game.[4] The game's current Mac and PC versions will remain freely available online.

There is also a homebrew port of Cave Story in progress for the Nintendo DS, which has received Pixel's official blessing to go forward.[5] Originally, this port was intended for the Game Boy Advance, though as of October, 2006, the author moved the port to the Nintendo DS hardware.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Freeloader: Doukutsu Monogatari from 1UP.com.
  2. ^ Doukutsu Monogatari Freeware Available at InsideMacGames
  3. ^ http://variantinteractive.com/forums/index.php?topic=25
  4. ^ http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/cave-story/variant-interactive-clarifies-cave-story-psp-208948.php
  5. ^ http://community.livejournal.com/doukutsu/27249.html
  6. ^ http://community.livejournal.com/doukutsu/61296.html

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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