Few games these days are born from a one-man operation. The PC game Cave Story is an exception to that rule. Over the course of five years, a Japanese man who calls himself Pixel single-handedly designed, programmed, wrote, composed, and then released Cave Story for free into the wilds of the Internet in 2004. Six years and tons of clamoring fans later, this cult classic game that mixes together the elements of Metroid, Castlevania, and Mega Man eventually found new exposure with its home console release on Nintendo’s WiiWare service. Many fans were excited to finally get the chance to pay Pixel back for the work he had done.
Promised a shiny, new coat of paint and a musical upgrade, fans eagerly downloaded their favorite indie game from the WiiWare online store. Sadly, once these gamers booted up their new version of Cave Story, they were greeted by unexpected musical and graphical glitches, typographical errors, and a glitch that brought the game to a screeching halt. Understandably, many early adopters were left scorned and resigned themselves to cautioning future adopters against purchasing the game.
Fortunately, the people behind the WiiWare version of Cave Story, Nicalis, have finally released an update that fixes many of the game’s problems. The soundtrack’s sound quality has been improved on both the new and classic versions of Cave Story included on the WiiWare release, and map glitches, as well as game-freeze issues, appear to have been remedied. Still, most gamers have not had the chance to check every nook and cranny of the game to make sure that each and every glitch has been fixed. So, expect news of Nicalis’ success or failure to arise from the depths of the Internet soon enough. Here’s hoping Cave Story will finally get the console attention it deserves.
