Demoing Cave Story was probably not a good idea.That's because what was on display there wasn't a demo at all. It was the final game, which included the ability to save/load a game. The thing is, Cave Story is a very enthralling game, which you could definitely tell by one guy who couldn't help but come back to the demo station (the guy to the right of the picture on Angela's post from Friday). When I got to play it, I was just as hooked too it as that guy, even though the environment of the show was far from the ideal place to play this game. Even though that, I could tell the transition from PC to WiiWare was great.
The enhanced WiiWare port of Cave Story may use the freeware PC version as its template, but developer Nicalis is doing everything they can to make the experience much better. Easily the greatest aspect of the port is that you're no longer bound to a keyboard for controls, instead using the Wii Remote turned to the side. Nicalis has also enhanced the graphics so the sprites look more refined; fortunately they haven't done it in a way that makes them look as hideous as what most developers do when they "filter" a 2D game. No, they're still drawn in a way that allows them to keep their simple and charming retro look.
Do keep in mind that its feel is different from your usual platformer. Compared to them, Cave Story jumps are a little floaty and its shooting is a little haphazard. But these are intentional by design, because the game is made to precisely replicate the feel of a retro game. But the fortunate thing is that it adheres to that design while engaging current design sensibilities, ensuring that the game will never, ever feel dated with age. It's something I'd like all games to strive for, but I'm not naïve enough to think that will actually happen.
I was only able to play it for around 40 minutes, which is already way too long to be at a demo station, but everything felt great. Anyone who's familiar with the PC version will feel right at home, though hopefully they're not fastidious enough to have a problem with the redone translation. It should feel great by this point, since this game has had a long development period. At one point, Nicalis was hoping they could get this game out by the end of 2008; now we're just here hoping that it'll be out by the end of 2009! Interesting how things change.
The version I played appeared to be the finished version. So the question remains: just where is it? Word from Nicalis, according to Jeremy Parish's recent preview on 1up (who probably likes this game), is that the game is definitely finished, but it's stuck in the approval sector at Nintendo. And given how they've recently been giving us only one game a week, it could take a while. For anyone who's never played Cave Story before, you're in for an incredibly worthwhile experience, especially if you're a fan of retro games (and if you are, this game is basically a love letter to you). So anticipate its release...which should hopefully be any week now.
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