Cave Story, also known as Dōkutsu Monogatari, is a platform-adventure game that was initially released in 2004 for Microsoft Windows. The game’s creator, Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya, spent five years developing it in his free time. A newer and more advanced version of the game, called Cave Story+, was released in November 2011.

Gameplay

In order to progress in the game, the player must control the character on the screen using a keyboard or gamepad, navigate through platform game puzzles, and shoot enemies with the weapon they are equipped with. As the player collects multiple weapons, they have the option to switch between them with the press of a button, and defeating enemies sometimes yields yellow triangular objects that increase the weapons’ experience points. These weapons can be improved up to level three, but taking damage causes them to lose experience and levels. Throughout the game world, there are upgrades for health and missile capacity that the player can collect. In order to complete the game, the player must interact with various non-player characters and objects.

Story

The story of Cave Story is set in a floating island’s vast caves, which are inhabited by Mimiga, a species of intelligent creatures that resemble rabbits.

The playe character wakes up in a cave and has no recollection of how he ended up there. He stumbles upon a group of Mimiga in a nearby village, who are facing persecution from someone known as the Doctor. Two of the Doctor’s servants, Misery and Balrog, are searching for a girl named Sue Sakamoto, who was turned into a Mimiga. However, they mistakenly abduct another Mimiga named Toroko instead. While exploring the Egg Corridor, the player meets Sue, who has found a Sky Dragon egg that could help her escape the floating island if it hatches.

How long is Cave Story?

When it comes to the main goals, Cave Story typically takes around 7½ hours to complete. However, if you’re a dedicated gamer who wants to experience every aspect of the game, it may take you approximately 15 hours to achieve 100% completion.

Reception

When initially released under the name Dōkutsu Monogatari, the first Cave Story game was highly praised and received critical acclaim. According to 1UP.com, the game was so extensive that it matched the scope and play time of contemporary Castlevania and Metroid games designed for the Game Boy Advance.

According to data from July 2018, Cave Story+ has achieved sales of approximately 590,104 digital copies on the Steam platform.