Edoropolis Emporium

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= Someone's Transmission ...                                             =
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Kazuma : I'm so hungry that, that...
Kazuma : I even ate a cockroach
Kazuma : LOL just kidding!!!
Kazuma : but, just so you know, if I get to that point I'll do it
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Aside from work and other things this past week, I've been playing a game I've just downloaded to my Nintendo Wii.
It's called Cave Story.

You may be wondering why then I chose to put Doukutsu Monogatari up on top as well. ... Yet you already may know why, so if you do you can skip this part.
The game was originally a Freeware PC game made by 1 dude by the art name Pixel. He's from Japan.
That's all the back story on the game's history I'm giving at the moment.

As always, here's the skinny...

The game starts off humble enough. Some dude in a room with a PC is trying to talk to someone through an Instant Messenger program.
Our hero, Quote, wakes up in a dark, wet, smelly cave. No memory, no idea what's going on, why he's in a cave, or anything.
Things get progressively better / worse as Quote begins his journey.

Cave Story is a 2-D only game. You only can go up, down, left, or right. Ahh... classic. The music is also simplistic, sounding like something you'd hear from a NES, SNES, and even a Sega Genesis. The best way to describe it would be Metroid, yet not as evil as the classic NES game. The catch however is that your weapons vary in intensity. As you kill enemies they drop experience point crystals. You need to pick these up to get your weapons to their maximum potential. The issue is that when you take a hit, you loose HP and the currently equipped weapon EXP. While it's not too bad, there are areas where you will need as much firepower as you can get. ... Learning how to dance is a good thing in this game.  ;)

The overall size of the game is small, however it's got definite replay value in the fact that decisions you make during game-play can affect future outcome as the game progresses along. My first play-through clocked in at around 9.5 hours. My second play-through clocked in around 4.5 hours. My third play-through (still in progress) is now going on 7.5 hours.

The difficulty has a nice incline. You know it's not impossible, yet at the same time there are moments where you'll find yourself cussing at the TV because of that one stupid thing you did not do.
Rinse, repeat, and you'll persevere.  ;)

The graphics are a combination of 8 and 16 bit goodness. It does my heart good to see this game, because it's a clear example of everything coming together in an awesome blend.

The Good : (Multiple items listed below.)
- A story that is simple, yet as you keep going, has more to offer than at first glance. If you like a good story, you'll want to keep playing to see how it ends. 
- The Music that is catchy, and above all NOT ANNOYING.
- The game-play, for it's nostalgic value.

The Bad : The WiiWare version has a few issues. The map system is goofed up where the right side of the screen get stretched to infinity. Not horrible, but it's still bad. :(
Also, whenever you shoot enemies they drop experience crystals. These things ding until you pick them up, or they disappear. One is ok, but when you get a chorus of them, ... it's not pretty.

The Ugly : Another WiiWare issue. Near the middle / last parts of the game you need to be sure to keep saving. The game sometimes decides it doesn't want to play anymore. When you enter into a new area, it may just fade to black and stay there.


Overall, I highly recommend this game.
Now... I'm going to be honest with you folks. You have three options before you.

=== OPTION 1 ===
The original PC game (which has a fan translation patch) is still available for download to my knowledge.
In fact it's on multiple platforms & OS-es.

http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/index.php (http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/index.php)

You should be able to find it in the download section of the site.
Please note, I have not tested any of the files from that site. While I do not anticipate foul play, you're on your own scanning those files for Viruses & such if you go that route.

=== OPTION 2 ===
The WiiWare game.

You'll need a Wii, and 1200 Nintendo Points loaded on your Wii Nintendo Shop account.

=== OPTION 3 ===
Don't play the game


It's now up to you what you do.
If I had the choice to either purchase or just free-download the game again, I'd still purchase it.
It's more than worth it to me, and I plan on playing this thing into the ground! ... In a good way of course.  ;)