Cave Story
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| Cave Story | |
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| Developer(s) | Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya |
| Publisher(s) | Independent |
| Designer(s) | Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya |
| License | Freeware |
| Engine | Custom |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Sony PSP, Xbox, Game Park Holdings GP2X (Nintendo DS version currently in development) |
| Release date | December 20, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media | Free download |
| System requirements | Windows 98, 2000 or XP, DirectX 5.0+, Mac OS X 10.3.9, or Linux (by fan conversion) |
| Input methods | Keyboard or Gamepad |
Cave Story (洞窟物語 Dōkutsu Monogatari?) is a freeware videogame released in 2004 for PC, designed and created over five years[1] by Daisuke Amaya, art-name Pixel. The game is a traditional action-adventure game, reminiscent of the Castlevania and Metroid games. It has been fan-translated to English by Aeon Genesis.
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[edit] Gameplay
Initially, the player may only run and jump, but a variety of weapons and items may be acquired throughout the game. Most items are plot-oriented, having no impact upon normal gameplay, although a few, such as the Booster (a type of jet pack) and the Life Pot, are useful. Weapons include various beam weapons, a machine gun and a bubble gun, and can be obtained from treasure chests or traded for at various locations in the game. Though there are 9 different weapons, the trading system limits the player to a maximum of 5. Most weapons can be upgraded by collecting weapon energy dropped by enemies, and will lose weapon energy if the player is hit.
[edit] Plot
[edit] Characters
[edit] Protagonists
Quote (クォート Kwōto?): The player character of the game and a largely silent protagonist. He is named after the quotation mark.
Curly Brace (カーリーブレイス Kārī Bureisu?): A friendly and feisty female robot who tries to protect Mimigas. She is named after the curly brace.
Sue Sakamoto (坂本 数 Sakamoto Sū?): The daughter of Momorin Sakamoto, Sue never wanted to come to the island. She was turned into a Mimiga by Misery.
[edit] Antagonists
Dr. Fuyuhiko Date ("The Doctor") (伊達 冬彦（ドクター） Date Fuyuhiko (Dokutā)?): The Doctor is the current master of the Demon Crown. He takes Mimigas away from various places in order to feed them red flowers, which turn them into killer monsters, and unleash them on the Surface.
Balrog (バルログ Barurogu?): Misery's "punching bag". A goofy minion of The Doctor who looks like a toaster, briefcase or lunchbox. 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 (ミザリー Mizarī?): 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 (ボロス Borosu?): 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
Kazuma Sakamoto (坂本 数馬 Sakamoto Kazuma?): Kazuma is the "occasionally reliable" brother of Sue, as known in the credits.
Jenka (ジェンカ?): An old witch who has lived on the island for a long time. She resides in the Sand Zone and raises puppies. She is Ballos's sister and Misery's mother. She is named after the letkajenkka.
King (キング Kingu?): 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. He dies trying to save Toroko, but gives his powerful sword to Quote, requesting that the robot avenge him.
Jack (ジャック Jakku?): The village's second-in-command. He wears goggles and an ushanka hat with a wing emblem on it.
Toroko (トロ子?): 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. Balrog forces her to eat some red flowers, transforming her into a frenzied version to fight Quote, but she loses and dies.
Momorin Sakamoto (坂本 百鈴 Sakamoto Momorin?): 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 (ブースター博士 Būsutā-hakase?): Head of the research team and a specialist in jetpacks, Professor Booster is Sue and Kazuma Sakamoto's grandfather figure, although they only address him as "Professor Booster".
Itoh (伊藤 Itō?): A shy engineer of "considerable talent" who specializes in control systems. He was also turned into a Mimiga by Misery. He eventually picks up courage and helps Momorin Sakamoto to finish a rocket for Quote to fly up to face the final enemies.
Arthur (アーサー Āsā?): 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.
[edit] Backstory
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
In game world, thousands of years ago before events of the game, there existed a powerful magician named Ballos. As he used his powers to help and guide the people, they trusted him more than their King. The King, jealous, had Ballos imprisoned and tortured. Under the torture, Ballos went insane, and his magic destroyed the kingdom of its own accord. His sister Jenka, also a witch, learned that her brother had gone mad and confined him to an island floating in the sky, as she loved him 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, rabbit-like creatures who also lived in the island. Her power exhausted by this, she retired to the desert-like Sand Zone within the Island.
Her daughter Misery, thinking that Ballos' powers should not be wasted, forced him to create an object called the Demon Crown which would channel his powers through its wearer. Unexpectedly, the Crown's curse forced Misery and a giant, box-shaped demon named Balrog to remain in stasis until it gained a wearer, who they would have to serve forever.
Ten years before the game begins, the countries of Earth sent robots to the Island to bring back the Demon Crown. The robots killed indiscriminately, and many of the native Mimiga population were slain. In defense, they searched for Red Flowers. The flower 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.
Finally, a man from the surface gained possession of the Demon Crown, and the robots were defeated, mostly by the core of the island which was under the crown-bearer's control. The Mimigas, however, were still frenzied from the Red Flowers, and the master of the Crown turned them loose upon the Earth. The game's protagonist Quote, and his companion Curly Brace, were two other robots sent to the island to destroy the Crown. However, during the battle with its wearer they were rendered unconscious and separated.
Shortly before the beginning of the game, a human research party came to the island by helicopter. It consisted of scientist Momorin Sakamoto, her children Sue and Kazuma, Professor Booster, an engineer named Itoh, and a medical doctor named Fuyahiko Date. The doctor joined the party only for the opportunity of finding the Crown, and the opening sequence of the game shows him finding it along with Misery and Balrog.
Once the Doctor had the crown, he forced Mimigas to cultivate Red Flowers, hoping to turn them into monsters and tell them to attack Earth, which is simply called the Surface in-game. 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, and Kazuma disappeared. 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. Not having fallen all the way, she hid out in an underground laboratory in the plantations.
Sue stayed at the Mimiga Village, whose inhabitants were being taken one by one by the Doctor. She befriended a Mimiga named Toroko, whose brother Arthur, the leader of the vilage, had been killed while fighting against the Doctor's minions. The new Mimiga leader, King, disliked Sue, regarding her as an outsider.
As the game begins, Quote awakens near the Mimiga village, without knowledge of any of the previous occurrences.
[edit] Story
The protagonist awakens in an underground cavern with no memory of how he came to be there and without weapons of any kind. He stumbles across a village populated by rabbit-like creatures called Mimigas who are being persecuted by an evil Doctor. Two of the Doctor's servants, 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. There are three different endings for the player.
[edit] Reception
Cave Story 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."[2] InsideMacGames ascribed the game's popularity to its "polished feel, engaging storyline, and compelling artwork".[3] In July 2006, "Cave Story" was claimed "the best freeware game ever" by the Swedish game magazine Super PLAY.[citation needed]
[edit] Versions and ports
A homebrew port of Cave Story has been released for the PlayStation Portable [2], the Gamepark Holdings GP2X [3] as well as for the Xbox[4]. There are also homebrew ports of the game in progress for the Nintendo DS (previously destined for Game Boy Advance). All four of these ports are based on the game's original source code[citation needed].
[edit] References
- ^ The Independent Gaming Source: The PIXEL Interview
- ^ Freeloader: Doukutsu Monogatari from 1UP.com.
- ^ Doukutsu Monogatari Freeware Available at InsideMacGames
- ^ The official announcement[1] at Xbox-Scene
