PC Gamer - March 2012

If you fancy yourself a purist, you can always revert to the original art.

Even mutant bunnies like to wear fancy ties.

They should really put up a railing or something.

Spelunkier

You’ll rediscover your love for floppy disks when they refill your health and let you save.

An underground hit about underground hitting gets
an HD upgrade with CAVE STORY+ by Chris Donlan

Over on a Cave Story message board, user X-Caliber has a problem with Cave Story+. It’s to do with Balrog, a recurring boss who resembles a suitcase. In the old days, his catchphrase was “Huzzah!” But thanks to the HD upgrade’s alternate translation, it’s changed to “Oh yeah!” Cool beans to you and I, perhaps, but X-Caliber is livid.

If you’re wondering how a game could ever inspire the levels of devotion needed to power criticism of this granularity, you probably haven’t played Cave Story. You really should, though—and, all controver-sies aside, Cave Story+ is a good place to start. Nicalis may have instigated a contentious dehuzzahification of Daisuke Amaya’s homebrew charmer, but it’s also delivered a remixed soundtrack that’s both perky and stirring, with new art that evolves the retro stylings of the original design without lapsing into over-cute indulgence.

It’s the sensitive reworking Cave
Story deserves. Studio Pixel’s classic
is a uniquely polite adventure that
drops you into a subterranean world,
where a villainous doctor threatens a
group of bunny people. You save
the day by exploring, shooting
weird animals, fighting bosses, and
collecting items that—more often
than not—open up new parts of the
environment, where the whole thing
repeats itself (wonderfully).

Delightful derring-do

Cave Story’s levels manage to be intricate without appearing confusing, and they retain a clear sense of forward momentum even as the storyline branches and the hidden Easter eggs pile up. Meanwhile, an orderly series of unlocks brings shape to the game’s wayward narrative, and each new gadget you’re handed genuinely broadens your options. You can double-jump with the use of special boots, for instance, or use the kickback from the machinegun to pogo your way from one ledge to the next.

There’s a leveling system in place,
but it focuses on your weapons
rather than your character. Skillful
players will be rewarded with more
powerful attacks, while the careless
will be punished through regular
downgrades if they take too many
risks. It’s a reminder that, while
Cave Story’s sugary on the surface,
it’s pleasantly tart underneath.
Even before you turn to Nicalis’
new bonus challenges (a boss rush,
some pitiless platforming gauntlets,
and the option to repeat the cam-
paign with a different lead) seeing
everything on your first play-
through is nigh impossible.

Need to know

What is it? A retro-tinged platformer with great upgradable weapons Influenced by Metroid, Castlevania Play it on Dual-core 2.0GHz CPU, 512GB RAM Alternatively Aquaria (81%) Copy protection Steam

◆ Price $10 ◆ Release Out now ◆ Publisher Nicalis◆ Developer Nicalis, Studio Pixel ◆ Multiplayer None ◆ Link www.nicalis.com ◆ ESRB E