Cave Story (Dokutsu Monogatari)

Cave Story (Dokutsu Monogatari)

Cave Story is a 2D platform/action video game, originally developed by Daisuke Amaya, known by his nickname Pixel. It follows a robot, Quote, who awakens in a cave with no memories and has to defeat an evil doctor named Fuyuhiko Date.
Cave Story (Dokutsu Monogatari) image
2d platformer action adventure indie pixel-art

Cave Story: 2D Platform Action Game

Cave Story is a 2D platform/action video game, originally developed by Daisuke Amaya, known by his nickname Pixel. It follows a robot, Quote, who awakens in a cave with no memories and has to defeat an evil doctor named Fuyuhiko Date.

What is Cave Story (Dokutsu Monogatari)?

Cave Story (Dokutsu Monogatari) is a 2D platform/action indie video game, originally developed by Japanese game developer Daisuke Amaya, known by his nickname Pixel. Amaya both wrote and programmed the game over a 5 year span, and released the original version as freeware for Microsoft Windows in 2004.

The game follows the story of an amnesiac robot named Quote who awakens in a cave with no memories. As he explores the area and fights enemies using weapons he finds along the way, he discovers a plot by an evil scientist named Fuyuhiko Date to dominate the world with an army of powerful monsters. Quote must make his way through intricate cave systems and defeat Date and his henchmen to stop this plan.

Cave Story combines elements of action platformers and shooters, offering non-linear gameplay with upgradeable weapons, large open levels to explore, NPCs to interact with, challenging boss battles, and a storyline with multiple endings based on player actions. It was created almost entirely by Amaya alone over 5 years. The game received critical acclaim upon release and influenced many other indie games.

It has since been ported to many platforms, including Nintendo consoles, mobile devices, and spawned sequels like Cave Story+. The game stands as an iconic example of what a single developer can create and its significance in driving indie game development.

Cave Story (Dokutsu Monogatari) Features

Features

  1. 2D platformer gameplay
  2. Action-adventure elements
  3. Nonlinear progression
  4. Upgradable weapons
  5. Multiple endings

Pricing

  • Freeware

Pros

Addictive gameplay

Great music

Interesting story and characters

Challenging but fair difficulty

Retro pixel art style

Cons

Somewhat repetitive enemies and environments

Can be frustratingly difficult at times

Minimal guidance or tutorials


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