Cave Story 3D Screens Show Major Changes

[Tom Goldman]

Cave Story 3D Screens Show Major Changes

Cave Story 3D is barely recognizable compared to the original indie darling.

When Nintendo 3DS [http://www.amazon.com/Cave-Story-3D-Nintendo-3DS/dp/B004TMGZ72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1304175847&sr=8-1], I figured it'd be another port of the original game gussied up with 3D effects. I was wrong. NIS America recently announced the game's official release date, pushing it back a little, and unveiled a bunch of new screenshots that might force me to play through it once again.

Cave Story [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/7402-Review-Cave-Story] was originally an indie title released for free on the PC by Daisuke Amaya back in 2004. It charmed the pants off of the indie community so much that it was fan-translated into English and became beloved worldwide, until eventually making its way to a digital WiiWare release in March 2010 and a DSiWare release in November 2010. NIS America is now bringing it to the 3DS with a host of upgrades.

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Cave Story 3D will not only use the 3D effect of the 3DS, but the game's graphics have also been changed from 2D sprites and backgrounds to 3D models and environments. NISA possibly should have called it Cave Story 3D: 3D. In addition, the game's amazing soundtrack is being remixed for the second time and the story is said to expand on the original plotline and characters.

The screens (marked as "under development") show that Cave Story 3D is definitely throwing out most of what was used for Cave Story graphically in favor of a totally new look (aside from the HUD). I wasn't planning on buying Cave Story again, but if the 3DS version's graphics work (which is still up in the air) and it really does give us new insights into the strange floating island of the Mimigas and the terrible Demon Crown, I'll have no choice.

Cave Story 3D will be released on August 9, 2011 in North America and in September 2011 in Europe.

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[Zaier]

Almost makes me want to buy a 3DS

I adored Cave Story on the PC

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

I'm not sure whether or not I like this. It's so surreal, seeing a game which I love so much and places that are familiar, yet not. It's sort of difficult to take in. At least it'll be a decent game in the 3DS' library.

Colour me interested, yet apprehensive.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Holy crap, that is beautiful. It looks almost like a completely different game! The original on the PC (never played the Wii version) is one of my favorite games of all time. I might just have to buy a 3DS for this...

 

[Mezzo.]

Oh wow.... That's just amazing right there. God that's almost a reason to get a freakin' 3DS now. D:

 

[Tim Latshaw]

Holy... I'm not sure what to think about this yet. I love the old pixellated style, but this does look very interesting indeed.

 

[archvile93]

Eh, not interested, not if it's true you have to go through what is far beyond platform hell to see the real end. I like a challenge, but I'm not masochistic.

 

[Manic 101]

These look quite good, but as a fan of the original style (See: my avatar) it seems a bit... strange to see the game looking like this. But thats probably my inner fanboy talking.

Oh, and is it just me, but do most 3DS screens look worse when viewed on websites?

 

[puffenstuff]

Hmph. It does nothing for me. I mean, I don't mind that it is coming out. Now people who could not get past the retro graphics will get a chance to play it and more people playing Cave Story is a good thing. I just think that the old graphics suited it much better.

 

[zombie711]

This is nice but what I want is portal on the 3ds.
you could add a new character called Abel, and it could be called Portal: Abel game. Get it?
Portalable game!?! Lol.
But seriously make it Valve.

OT: I just might finaly buy cave story because that looks so darn cute.

 

[zidine100]

it just doesn't look right to me, im thinking it needs to be more colorful but... that's just my opinion.

id still buy it if i owned a 3ds mind you.

 

[Yuri Albuquerque]

The learning curve of Cave Story is just great. You start with a good game, finish with a great one.

Eh, not interested, not if it's true you have to go through what is far beyond platform hell to see the real end. I like a challenge, but I'm not masochistic.

Not that you really need to get the true ending. It is almost a spin-off of the main story.

 

[Worgen]

looking good, I just hope you can also play the classic version of it when it comes out

 

[Archemetis]

Now, I'm not saying anything bad about cave story, this is just a general observation I've made concerning the 3DS and the majority of it's titles.

Obviously there have been a number of games released that make at least some use of the 3D tech, like monkeyball... And that's about the only one I can think of...

But then there's stuff like this?

Now, I've never played Cave Story, something for which I'm sure I'll be ridiculed like the unpopular kid at school whose family doesn't have much money.

But looking at these screens, I'm guessing that it is(and indeed was) a side-scrolling 2D platformer.

Now, what use is a game like this getting out of 3D software?

I think what I'm ultimately getting at is when are we going to see games really take it in the direction it's meant for? Instead of just making the scenery seem far away (something just as easily achievable with 2D methods).

Beyond that, it does look like a pretty decent game, will have to give the previous instalments a lookin'

 

[viranimus]

This is what I choose to look at as example when people say "the only reason to hack a console is pirating" A large chunk of this games popularity (at least in english speaking regions) came from its proliferation onto open source handheld platforms.

This is an indie dev, who made their game on a freeware basis. There are tons of indie developers out there like this (perhaps not quite as good of a base product) that make up the indie/homebrew community. Had it not been for starting off as free ware and gaining a mountain of support/praise, the 3d incarnation would likely not exist, at least not for quite some time, and definitely not on a major platform.

Anyway, its a great success story, to which we need to see more of.

 

[srpilha]

I'm dubious too... Doesn't seem like you can move too much in the z-axis, so is it just the scenery that pops out and goes deeper? If that's the case, it seems well fitted to give me headaches without significant gameplay advantage. Or cuteness, for that matter - who can beat the original Balrog in blocky cuteness?

 

[karashata]

I'm liking how this looks, really am, but truth be told I don't think that adding 3D to it will really benefit gameplay too much since it's still a side-scroller.

That said, if I ever get a 3DS this would definitely be one game I'd have to have in my collection, if only because I really like the game and it would be wonderful to take around wherever I go. (I would just hope the game would still look as good without 3D enabled though since not having adequate stereoscopic vision means I wouldn't benefit at all from the 3D aspect of it...)

 

[ZeppMan217]

OH GAWD! It's not a pixalated beauty anymore! It's just a mediocre piece of 3D poop. This abomination must be stopped!