User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 199 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 9 out of 199

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  1. May 30, 2023
    6
    Ma kakvi brate nisam ni hteo da igram kraj, jako me smorila igrica sve sto kaze ovaj prvi od 6 je u pravu to ej to. Nikad vise.
  2. May 4, 2023
    2
    It's midway between Super Meatboy and JRPG style games. There's some platforming involved. If you like Super Meatboy and you like JRPG style games then you're going to love this one.
  3. Mar 7, 2023
    9
    Este juego aún no lo eh jugado o completado, así que pondré una reseña y nota diferentes cuando lo haga.
  4. May 8, 2022
    10
    I loved this game. Ost and graphic are awesome, one of my favorite arts style, and with a high difficulty, I spent hours playing it.
  5. Apr 18, 2022
    9
    It's a good remastered for the original. It removes the 50 fps cap. Same story with additional modes.
  6. Dec 5, 2020
    10
    Some flaws could include how the best ending is needlessly convoluted to achieve, or how the game has an obvious difficulty spike near the end, but I found the bosses so fun to master that I didn't mind it that much.

    The charming visuals, catchy music, fun gameplay, varied weapons, visually and mechanically diverse levels all come together to make something extremely satisfying to play.
  7. Jun 23, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Cave Story was a freeware game, this adds nothing to the story, the price isn't worth what we get, Boss rush is 100% a master piece, it was taken off the forums in a competition, and its great, however, everything else besides Curly mode is speed running, why not a attack chamber, and why not make them yourselves, i think that would be very cool, and speaking of Curly mode, why does this exist? This was a waste of space on the modes menu, i'm sorry, but this isn't worth what they are asking Expand
  8. Jun 21, 2020
    10
    This game just does it for me. The charming visuals, catchy music, fun gameplay, varied weapons, visually and mechanically diverse levels all come together to make something extremely satisfying to play. Its also fun even in the non-gameplay sections with great characters and an engaging story, that can be surprisingly dark in some parts.

    Sure some flaws could include how the best
    This game just does it for me. The charming visuals, catchy music, fun gameplay, varied weapons, visually and mechanically diverse levels all come together to make something extremely satisfying to play. Its also fun even in the non-gameplay sections with great characters and an engaging story, that can be surprisingly dark in some parts.

    Sure some flaws could include how the best ending is needlessly convoluted to achieve, or how the game has an obvious difficulty spike near the end, but I found the bosses so fun to master that I didn't mind it that much. I like challenge in my games, and this one was pretty fun to figure out,

    This game is ported to almost every Nintendo console ever since the Wii, which warms my heart to see new generations continually get the chance to experience the game. Sure there are incredible blockbuster's like Witcher 3 out there, showing everyone revolutionary levels of world design and story can be. But this game focuses on the simple joys of jumping and shooting. And when its this good and fun to replay, I find it really hard to complain. There's not a single soul I wouldn't recommend this game to.
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  9. Aug 22, 2019
    8
    Cave Story+ is a solid platformer with a nice goofy story. The controls are confusing at first, but once you figure out that the "use" button is activated by looking down (contrary to pretty much any other game you've ever played in your life), you'll be fine for the rest of the game.

    There are only two problems I can point out with this game. The first is that the jumping is a bit
    Cave Story+ is a solid platformer with a nice goofy story. The controls are confusing at first, but once you figure out that the "use" button is activated by looking down (contrary to pretty much any other game you've ever played in your life), you'll be fine for the rest of the game.

    There are only two problems I can point out with this game. The first is that the jumping is a bit slippery, which means it's hard to get a solid landing when jumping to other platforms. This can get a little frustrating sometimes, but it's not that big of a deal overall.

    The second is that the final boss battle is a pain in the royal *** to deal with, and you will definitely rage at it for hours and even consider uninstalling as you try to beat it over and over. Why is it hard, you ask? Because it's four consecutive bosses without any save points in between.

    I was tempted to drop the game's rating to a 7 because of the final boss battle being overwhelmingly difficult, but then I realized after learning the bosses that it was actually a lot easier than I expected and it only seemed hard at first. Catharsis hit me hard right after I beat the final boss, and that gave the game back its 8 rating for me.

    Overall, I enjoyed the game, and I'd recommend trying it out. Don't hesitate to use a guide to clear the final boss battle, because it really is hard.
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  10. Jan 21, 2019
    6
    TLDR: Story, lore and nostalgia indie masterpiece that suffers from some bad gameplay design.
    I really enjoyed the game. It has heartwarming story that you really want to discover, and character that you care about and want to rescue. There is some nostalgia power in both graphics and music. However, as a metroidvania platformer it is only a decent game with flat level design and a lot of
    TLDR: Story, lore and nostalgia indie masterpiece that suffers from some bad gameplay design.
    I really enjoyed the game. It has heartwarming story that you really want to discover, and character that you care about and want to rescue. There is some nostalgia power in both graphics and music. However, as a metroidvania platformer it is only a decent game with flat level design and a lot of repetitive backtracking. The difficulty level can be somehow uneven. I enjoyed hard platforming levels and bosses that has move set you have to learn by heart but infrequent save points along with imprecise controls sometimes made it more frustrating than hard.
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  11. Jan 15, 2017
    6
    Cave Story has a lot of desirable features as a game but has a few baffling and easily fixed problems with its execution. Graphically, both the original and plus are appealing and the music for both versions is really excellent. The overall world, whilst not hugely developed, is pretty interesting and as settings go it all feels rather nice and fantastic (as in the literal sense of theCave Story has a lot of desirable features as a game but has a few baffling and easily fixed problems with its execution. Graphically, both the original and plus are appealing and the music for both versions is really excellent. The overall world, whilst not hugely developed, is pretty interesting and as settings go it all feels rather nice and fantastic (as in the literal sense of the word fantastic). The characters are pretty good and have appealing designs.

    There are a few minor problems to get into before I tackle the game's main problems. The controls are slightly slippery, making some of the more complicated platforming a bit of a hassle, a problem compounded by instant death traps and long climbs which result in falling getting you a lot more work. The dialogue is pretty thin and there really isn't much additional to gain outside of the main linear path of the story. A big personal gripe was the methods of getting the multiple endings, which were often fairly nonsensical and unreasonably difficult.

    By far the biggest issue with Cave Story is the level design, which is straight up BAD. The overall layout of the levels seems to have been designed with a fairly linear path in mind, but it often forces backtracking over re-spawning, simple enemies that pose no real original challenge. On top of this, the overall level design is very "flat" (left to right or up and down, not many different paths to take), so unlike games like Metroid that force backtracking and manage to stay interesting, Cave Story forces you down pretty boring levels multiple times.

    Save points are not adequately distributed throughout levels or between key boss battles. This makes the game more frustrating and is more likely to grate your nerves than test your skills. This gets especially bad near the end of the game and for some of the different endings.

    Whilst I have many big problems with Cave Story, I think it is still a worthwhile experience, just with some big flaws. The overall designs of the characters and world is very nice and the presentation is tidy and appealing, and a lot of the gameplay is pretty fun. However, the game suffers from huge amounts of tedium due to its level design which conflicts with the actual gameplay. It's easy to tell this was a one man job in that sense, but otherwise it's pretty neatly handled. If you can stomach the boring level design, this has a lot to offer, but that is a serious negative for this game overall.
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  12. Apr 10, 2015
    8
    Its a metriod style indie game that is simply great. I think the game is well built, the graphics are good, there's a good sense of progression, and its fun to explore. The only real problem is that the way you get some of the better endings to the games make no sense and is cryptic.
  13. Dec 29, 2014
    10
    If you've put off playing this game, you must put off putting off. This game is bloody fantastic.... has the charm of older generation games, but it's not dated, it holds up and will probably hold up for many decades to come. It's one of those games that you'll want a sequel as soon as you beat it. There's some underground methods of playing this game so I only wished I researched thisIf you've put off playing this game, you must put off putting off. This game is bloody fantastic.... has the charm of older generation games, but it's not dated, it holds up and will probably hold up for many decades to come. It's one of those games that you'll want a sequel as soon as you beat it. There's some underground methods of playing this game so I only wished I researched this (originally not worrying about spoilers) because you'll have to start from scratch to go the intended route... even after replaying I still enjoyed it. Expand
  14. Aug 18, 2014
    8
    Are you prepared to die and try again. or are you an expert at wht you do? cave story is a highly fun and addicting platformer for it gives you quite an experience and the story itself is pretty brilliant the game can only get better from playing and well being good. like the saying get good scrub could be the true name for cave story. for beginners the have a mode for you but if you trulyAre you prepared to die and try again. or are you an expert at wht you do? cave story is a highly fun and addicting platformer for it gives you quite an experience and the story itself is pretty brilliant the game can only get better from playing and well being good. like the saying get good scrub could be the true name for cave story. for beginners the have a mode for you but if you truly want tot experience the game you oughta put it on normal or hard. the graphics and level design are very good! and the amazing part is the user based decisions. such as do i want to go here? do i want to fight them? what next? some of those decisions affect the gameplay and plat. the game truly is beautiful. some faults are manual save but aswell that gives the player a responsibility making the game more challenging if you forget to save on a specific part of a level and you die you may be pushed back a couple levels or just a bit behind. if you want an extra challenge try no saving unless you have to leave and go else where. the game is really fun you should buy it its worth the money thanks for reading! Expand
  15. Jun 26, 2014
    10
    If you are an old gamer like me, you'll like this game A LOT!!!
    It's short but has a high replay value (more endings and secrets to unlock).
    Awesome
  16. Dec 30, 2013
    8
    I’m pretty burnt out on the whole indie retro fad but I enjoyed this game. Where I think a lot of these retro games go wrong is when they implement shoddy controls like the NES games of yore. That makes it not fun to play. I’m pleased to say that Cave Story has excellent controls, though, and is a lot of fun to play.

    This reminded me of old NES games such as Metroid but felt like an
    I’m pretty burnt out on the whole indie retro fad but I enjoyed this game. Where I think a lot of these retro games go wrong is when they implement shoddy controls like the NES games of yore. That makes it not fun to play. I’m pleased to say that Cave Story has excellent controls, though, and is a lot of fun to play.

    This reminded me of old NES games such as Metroid but felt like an improvement because it controls so well. The final boss fight was a challenge to beat, but not because it was cheap or frustrating. It was merely difficult and required some skill to get through.

    I wish more retro games would stick to Cave Story’s formula and go with fun over frustration as a game mechanic.
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  17. Dec 26, 2013
    6
    Too Much Hype

    I had very high expectations before I started playing the game, because many people have been saying how wonderful it is. However, I was actually a bit disappointed when I finished it. First is the story. I just don't understand what's all the hype about what appears to be a totally typical, predicable even mundane+stereotypical Japanese RPG story. Yeah, at least it
    Too Much Hype

    I had very high expectations before I started playing the game, because many people have been saying how wonderful it is. However, I was actually a bit disappointed when I finished it.

    First is the story. I just don't understand what's all the hype about what appears to be a totally typical, predicable even mundane+stereotypical Japanese RPG story. Yeah, at least it isn't unbearable, but I don't see anything extraordinary or of serious literal value about it. An ultimate boss which doesn't really have (nor need, in this genre's logic) consistent/sensible story/explanation to support(even the stories recounted by the boss himself and background information differ fundamentally); an all-too-predictable mainstream ending; and not to mention a little bit of inconsistencies here and there during the progression. Compared to what other indie games such as Bastion/Braid can offer, this story looks totally mainstream, even so typically big-production.

    Second is the gameplay. I know Pixel(the developer) probably intentionally wanted it this way, but the incessant nuisance of having to fight over areas which you have long cleared off, again and again, throughout the whole game, is simply annoying. One death, and you have to do 20 minutes of repetitive work totally from the beginning. Not to mention the same happens in a lot of story scenarios where you don't even die nor do anything wrong at all. In the end, after what is easily an hour’s job just on one task, you’ll easily find the experience boring and even unpleasant.

    Of course, I’m not here to deny it of aspects it did great on. Such as a quite meticulous attention to details, the general design and music. Those facts are made much more salient by the nature of a one-man-shop operating over 5 years. On this he deserves respect and credit. However, I’m sorry to say only these don’t guarantee a great game. 6/10 is my maximum here.
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  18. Nov 7, 2013
    8
    This game was really fun to play through. Awesome characters, nice story and atmosphere and also good controls. The levels are nicely designed and all in all it's a great game.
  19. Nov 1, 2013
    10
    A masterpiece. A simply amazing experience with little to no flaws. Cave Story provides action, adventure, a great story, intense boss battles, amazing soundtrack, loving characters, great level design, and so much more. It is by far one of my most favorite games of all time, and I would recommend it to anyone.
  20. Oct 20, 2013
    2
    Enjoy Japanese style NES games complete with vomitously cutesy graphics and characters that make you want to laugh at their hanging crucified corpses. Then you'll probably love this...

    I don't..... clearly....
  21. Aug 21, 2013
    10
    A metroivania game with tight controls to rival the best of the 16 bit age, an awesome soundtrack and a story that hits you in surprising ways, I cannot recommend this game enough. Truly stellar.
  22. Jul 16, 2013
    9
    Cave story is a fantastic throwback to the NES and SNES days with near perfect design, memorable music and a great style. The game has a great amount of challenge that will test your gaming skills and has a mysterious and intriguing story. Only real problem I had with this game was the occasional difficulty spikes in bosses combined with a few far apart save points. Overall a fantasticCave story is a fantastic throwback to the NES and SNES days with near perfect design, memorable music and a great style. The game has a great amount of challenge that will test your gaming skills and has a mysterious and intriguing story. Only real problem I had with this game was the occasional difficulty spikes in bosses combined with a few far apart save points. Overall a fantastic game that will be considered a classic for years to come. Expand
  23. Jul 1, 2013
    6
    This game is an homage to the old 8-bit action adventure games I used to play when I was a kid. If you enjoy those old games you may like Cave Story. The game has a few cool innovations for the genre and so far the story is reasonably interesting and charming.

    On the downside, as a platformer, it's only passable. The movement and jump mechanics don't feel tight and you tend to slide
    This game is an homage to the old 8-bit action adventure games I used to play when I was a kid. If you enjoy those old games you may like Cave Story. The game has a few cool innovations for the genre and so far the story is reasonably interesting and charming.

    On the downside, as a platformer, it's only passable. The movement and jump mechanics don't feel tight and you tend to slide off edges of platforms technical sections will seriously test your patience. If you're hoping for the precise, predictable feel of games like Metroid or Mega Man, it ain't happening.

    For me, play mechanics are king for old school platform games, and with 25 years of time this one should have gotten it perfect. It just holds back what could be a much better game.
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  24. Jun 1, 2013
    8
    Cave Story+ is a pretty good 2D platformer which takes elements and aspects from different types of other genres such as shooters, RPG and action games. The game has a sarcastic eastern tone to it with a few internet meme references along with the fact that the game uses audio and a art style which was common in the 1980s and 1990s but is unique now. The game's storyline and charactersCave Story+ is a pretty good 2D platformer which takes elements and aspects from different types of other genres such as shooters, RPG and action games. The game has a sarcastic eastern tone to it with a few internet meme references along with the fact that the game uses audio and a art style which was common in the 1980s and 1990s but is unique now. The game's storyline and characters will make you enjoy your experience along with the sheer difficulty some of the levels and areas of the game will bring to you. Get this game on Steam while it is hot with the price it will be depending if its summer or winter. You will not regret the purchase of this game at all. Expand
  25. May 17, 2013
    10
    It's worth ten dollars. I know that when I'm buying this game, Pixel's getting a cut of the money. I can't wait for his next project, Gero Blaster. 10/10 diamondium comets.
  26. Mar 31, 2013
    9
    I was on the fence about buying this game but I am so glad I did. Never played the original Cave Story but this game was AMAZING. So much content for such a low price, a game this good would have cost $40 back in the day. Good story, good platforming, great action, great exploration make this game one for the ages. I believe a critic said it best with "the best nes/snes game neverI was on the fence about buying this game but I am so glad I did. Never played the original Cave Story but this game was AMAZING. So much content for such a low price, a game this good would have cost $40 back in the day. Good story, good platforming, great action, great exploration make this game one for the ages. I believe a critic said it best with "the best nes/snes game never released". No loading times, no queues, good music. Ability to choose when/if you upgrade your weapons during the story is nice. Although I beat it in about 7 hours, I replayed it 2 more times to get the other endings/weapons. Multiple difficulties if you aren't so great at old-school platformers like me Ability to change controls helped a lot on keyboard. Expand
  27. Mar 6, 2013
    9
    Got it for $2.50 on a steam sale. Totally worth it, BUT, make sure you are playing with a controller. Keyboard controls are klunky and a little bit annoying. With that being said and reading some of the reviews, I had no idea there was an original or what the "plus" entailed when I purchased this game. All I know is that my $2.50 has gone a long way, a hell of a lot further than aGot it for $2.50 on a steam sale. Totally worth it, BUT, make sure you are playing with a controller. Keyboard controls are klunky and a little bit annoying. With that being said and reading some of the reviews, I had no idea there was an original or what the "plus" entailed when I purchased this game. All I know is that my $2.50 has gone a long way, a hell of a lot further than a starbucks coffee would. Expand
  28. Jan 23, 2013
    8
    A good game, but just a graphics update of the original cave story. It may be cool, but just get the original one instead of paying money for something that you can get a lot of the content of and like half of the graphics for free.
  29. Jan 20, 2013
    7
    From the whole game mechanics, this game really reminds me of the SNES era. And it is quite a good game which is fun to play. But because people are writing that CaveStory is THE Indie Game, I was a little disappointed, because not only the classic games like Super Metroid are better - Cave Story also does not add anything to the genre. It is a good game, but nothing new and nothing great.
  30. upi
    Jan 15, 2013
    9
    Cave Story's charm lies in it's polished platforming, great pacing and an ability to connect with the player on an emotional level. You start out a stranger to a world, without instruction or introduction, but before long you will get involved with the world and it's characters a lot more than you'd expect from 2D platformer.
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Feb 29, 2012
    90
    An indie classic on par with Braid or Limbo. [March 2012, p.50]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 27, 2012
    70
    Retro fun at its best – catching story, long life span, absorbing playability and beautiful visuals. The only disadvantage is the old freeware version which is almost as good as this improved one. [Jan 2012]
  3. Feb 8, 2012
    80
    Cave Story+ is quite an engaging, an entertaining, even nostalgic experience if you are inclined to be swept over by a wave of nostalgia. An ideal game for everyone, who is longing for classical times of video games, and who is not ashamed of it.