Glad you liked it. Good choice watching the ending on YouTube.
The alternate ending made sense for me because I was playing it a second time with CS+ so it felt like a new game in a way. Maybe they will continue to update it and give you an excuse to go back. It’s relatively timeless so there’s no rush.
Just played through this over the weekend. I’ve been meaning to try out the plus version for ages but you know how backlogs are.
The remastered graphics annoyed me, I turned them off before the first boss fight. The chunkyness of the sprites didn’t seem right at that resolution.
jsnell is right about the trash mobs, but I never noticed it in my previous plays. Taking damage on the way to a boss fight rarely matters since there is almost always a life refill and save point right very close to the boss.
I was aiming for the secret ending but messed up one of the steps and didn’t realize it until much later. Pretty annoying, and makes me wonder why the console style save system. I remember enjoying the bonus level but I don’t think I’m going to put in the time to play through again just yet. Maybe in a few more years.
This play through I got 3 star things that circled me after fully charging the Spur, is that new or was it in the old freeware version and I just never collected it before? I’m not sure it’s really good for much, but it was nice to see something new.
I admire you guys.
Platformers just aren’t my thing. I can only play this in extremely short stints, because I quickly lose all will to play on if something goes wrong.
The game appears to be very well done for it’s genre, with conveniently placed save spots and varied weapons (though I only got to the rocket launcher) and nifty ideas and mechanics spred out throughout the game, but it remains a platformer, and if one’s not too enthusiastic about those…
What I dislike the most is the lack of direction (I’d guess that is actually a good thing for many of you) and the controls. Without AutoHotKey, the game is annoying to play because it doesn’t recognize local keyboard layouts and thus the (non rebindable) keys for jumping and firing are far apart on my PC.
And don’t get me started on how often I lost progress because I had to run off to do some chores (pausing the game with ESC), came back, and automatically hit ESC to try and continue the game… (queue the Dark Vader Noooooo picture).
rezaf
For whatever it’s worth, the Cave Story+ version has rebindable keys. That said, I still haven’t found a set-up that makes me good at switching weapons without fumbling around for three seconds in the middle of a fight!
I was a couple days late picking the Decider, so I’ve already sent out the PM without making the last call in this thread. Sorry if that leaves someone out.
Nice choice, WarpRattler. I’m still going to finish it and probably post a few more thoughts here later.
Finished this last night. By which I mean I got the regular “good ending,” not the secret “best” ending. (On a previous play I had gotten the “bad” ending and then not gone any further.)
There are so many weird things in the game, but I have to admit that most of them just end up feeling charming instead of off-putting. I’m not sure I can justify that feeling, but that’s how I feel. Why are there weird obscure ways to get certain secret weapons and items? Replayability? The magic of discovery? Maybe. But I can’t imagine many of them being found without a walkthrough. That’s just Cave Story, I guess. My kids (I must have mentioned them in every post I’ve written because they obsess over the game) dug into all the little details and secrets in the game like we used to pour over Nintendo Power magazines.
I was struck by the rather dark story of the game: genocide, slavery, weaponization of cute bunny people. I wish it had given a better idea of exactly what the power behind the Doctor was or how everything on the island was related to the surface, but there were a number of really wonderful character moments (amongst a bit of Japanese weirdness). Still, overall, I’d judge the story a plus for the game.
Great pick, Warp!
The best ending does explain some of that story stuff a bit. It just requires you to be absurdly good at the game.
I wish I had had more time to play my own pick! I’m still going to do so when I do have time, and probably push through the whole thing in a day, but I don’t know when that’ll be.