The past week’s gaming had a retro platforming vibe, mostly due to two games: Cave Story and Spelunky.
More (or download ‘em) after the break…
- Cave Story -
Not sure if it was a metroidvania search or a browse through of Destructoid’s (apparently old) Indie Nation that unraveled this little gem for me.
Daisuke Amaya (aka Studio Pixel) spent 5 years working on Cave Story (洞窟物語) on his own. It’s a labor of love, and it shows in every blip, blop and pixel. Although it was released in 2004, everything about the game holds up well with time.
Cave Story title screen. Don't let the plainness fool you.
The graphics are retro; the gameplay, old-school. This little metroidvania-type game managed to unearth the joys of my videogaming childhood, something rarely evoked in the current fare. It’s not just because of the pixel style graphics and chip sounds/effects, it’s the platforming experience. The goodness of old school, Japanese Famicom/Genesis era platforming was successfully crafted and implemented. The character designs and the sci-fi-ish fantasy story -that only manga and anime can appear to mix properly- are endearing, with the retro aesthetic giving a timeless appeal.
Ummm... Curly... 'little help here...
After a mere few minutes of playing this title on the PC with a keyboard, I immediately set out to buy a USB controller in an attempt to evoke the sublime gaming experiences of my childhood. Aside from Street Fighter, which simply mist be played with an arcade stick, no game has ever compelled me to do this. Controller in hand, I was suddenly back in grade-school. Amaya-san’s labor of love delivered in spades.
It is no exaggeration when I say that Cave Story has joined the ranks of my “greatest games of all time” list. If you love platformers, or miss the old-school platforming vibe of the bygone NES/SNES era, I guarantee you’ll love this!
- Spelunky -
The search for a similar retro gaming experience, inevitably draws one to a somewhat more current title by Derek Yu. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve passed over this title before. Spelunky sports a similar retro pixelated aesthetic on top of a reportedly difficult platforming experience, the interesting twist being all levels are procedurally generated.
It was difficult. The environment was littered with danger every seven tiles, and half the things around could kill you in an instant. There was never enough rope to reach all that treasure way up. There were never enough bombs to blow one’s way through. The levels, being randomly generated, never afforded you a means to learn trap positions. Then there’s your whip… the starting whip was so pathetic that it only reaches one tile forward. I’m all for a difficult platformer, but all this confused the hell out of me.
I was ignorant. I simply didn’t get it.
Spelunky title screen
Upon re-discovering this game, I was hesitant to give it another go. Two words, however, managed to change my perception of the game: rougelike platformer.
Perhaps after playing Desktop Dungeons my mind was finally able to grasp the subtleties of the genre. “rougelike platformer”… what an ingenious concept!
Gold, rubies, treasure chest, girl... what to do... what to do...
With two magic words, every level transformed into an adventure! The restrictions became options, the dangers became avenues of excitement, and every seven tiles of a level would be a new puzzle for extemporaneous analysis and solving. To top this off, with every level being randomly generated, each adventure would never be the same!
I have since grown to love Spelunky, though it remains insanely difficult. This time, however, I understand why I die; and I learn. So I guess in a way it “builds character”. Perhaps after a couple’la hundred more deaths I’d be halfway decent at it.
- Get ‘em NOW! -
There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t give these wonderful games a try since they’re both FREE on the PC! You can download Cave Story here. You can download Spelunky here.
For console peeps, Cave Story is already available on the Wii, and Spelunky will soon be on XBLA. These ports, however, will need payment.
Here I come to save the daaaaayyyy!
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Eto pala yung spelunky nakuwento. cool. download ko sya within the month. wala pa time ngayon maglaro pro maganda sya. favorite ko sya before.