Cave Story, or Doukutsu Monogatari in Japanese, probably the most well known doujin game of all time. It was developed solely by Daisuke Amaya from Studio Pixel for over five years. When the game released in 2004 for PC as a freeware, it slowly gained popularity among players.
While using retro pixelated graphics it received positive reputation for excellent combinations both gameplay and storyline. Currently, the original version has been translated into multi languages which can be downloaded for free.
In 2010 the independent developer Nicalis ported the game to WiiWare and DsiWare. The PC version titled Cave Story+ was released in November 2011 on Steam and Mac App with many features such as remastered graphics and soundtracks, several new game modes, new interfaces and Steam achievements. A 3D remake of the game titled Cave Story 3D was published by NIS America for Nintendo 3DS with updated 3D graphics, 3 game modes and remastered music.
Ten years ago, Quote and Curly Brace were sent to the island during the conflict of Demon Crown. Unlike the other robots sent there, Quote and Curly were ordered to destroy the crown rather than claim it. However, since they had arrived later than other robots, only death and destruction were seen everywhere. By the time they found the crown, a human named Miakid had already found it first and unleashed it power. Quote and Curly were successfully defeated him, but were incapacitated for the next ten years.
Quote awakens ten years later in a cave with no memory of how he came to be there. He shortly finds Mimiga Village, a place inhabited by species similar to a cross between a rabbit and a dog. Quote finds the villagers were being persecuted by the Doctor, the Crown's newest holder. Quote allies himself with those who resist the Doctor’s tyranny, and from there the adventure begins…
Cave Story plays very similar to early SNES action game in which player progresses by jumping, shooting enemies and navigating through platform and puzzles. The optional weapons can be linearly auto-upgraded to a third level. Fallen enemies sometimes yield triangular objects, which give experience points to weapon when collected. Taking damages or losing health causes weapon downgrade.
The game split into a number of areas, connected by direct passages and or teleportation devices. Through close exploration player can collect various items such as optional weapons, health capsules and missiles. Health restoration machines and save points can be found at certain points. While the game does not emphasis on player choices or branching storylines, certain decisions often have impact to the game plot. For example, if player succeds in following a specific sequence of side quests and decisions, an extra area and the happy ending will be unlocked.