WiiWare Review: Doukutsu Monogatari

Alrighty so recently Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari) was recently on the Wii as a Wiiware title and felt the need to write a review about it. Originally this review was kind of sparked from a combination of being a person who thoroughly enjoyed the original PC version and read the micro review on kotaku.com which provided a view point form someone who never played the PC version. Thus I felt it necessary to provide a viewpoint from someone who enjoyed the PC version though not from an elitist standpoint (as I never got remotely close to finishing the game on Hell difficulty).

(http://kotaku.com/5501878/cave-story-micro+review-so-this-is-what-the-excitement-was-about )

Background:

First let's provide a history lesson for those that have not heard of Cave Story or not greatly familiar why those who play it tend to rant on about it (kind of Earthbound, (pre-smash bros.) Tetris Attack, Wetrix, the list goes on) . The game was originally developed in 2004 by Daisuke Amaya (aka Pixel) over a period of 5 years and shares many characters of a typically metroid side scrolling game. You being as a character in a tunnel and discover shortly after that there's some man named "The Doctor" (not Who) who's stealing these creatures called Mimigas for an evil purpose. The plot kind of unravels from there as you discover more about the Mimigas and "The Doctor's" existence.

Difference:

Due to my dedication to this series and the amount of enjoyment I received from the freeware PC version I felt no concern paying 12 dollars (1,200 Wii points) for this title. So that's the first major difference is price tag PC be free, WiiWare 12 bucks. However you get more bang for your buck with this purchase of the game. The first change you'll notice is the sheet score/music. Right as you select the game the chiptunes have been a bit updated which you'll find briefly that the graphics have been updated as well. Within the options there are two options for graphics and sound 'modern' and 'original'. So for example if you don't like ramped up graphics or the updated chiptune added to the game you can always change it back to the PC style. For myself I'll most likely keep the updated graphics but leave the tunes to the original once I heard all the music... I've only really enjoyed one tune so far.

Next you'll notice there's more selections in the menu aside from "New Game" and "Load". First there's "Story Mode" which now has 3 save files. This is a blessing because in order to create multiple save files in the PC version you had to back up the '.sav' files or create Cave Story game folders each with a different save file. Once you select a save file you can then choose between "Easy", "Original", and "Hard"...for myself I was actually too scarred to try "Hard" as "Hard" 'Secret Area' would be insane which leads me to the next menu option.

Boss Rush Mode is introduced from the get go. I believe the only reason this is not an unlockable is for those players who didn't feel the urge to play through story again to try some of the more difficult fights in the 'Secret Area'. Haven't tried it just yet but from what I heard the name implies just how it is, one boss fight after another.

The Last mode for selection is 'Curly Brace Story Mode'. This kind of made me well up inside as Curly Brace got enough recognition to have her own mode. I plan to try this out once I get to the 'secret area' on my main file.

Only one part that was not covered involved the translations. For those that played the PC version the translations was done via the fanbase so there not an exact replica per se. I'll just say one of everyone's favorite characters 'Balrog' (not SF) has a new entry phrase... I won't say what it is but its different and made me laugh a bit.

Overall I have to say I'm satisfied with the purchase and look forward to any DLC content they provide (assuming a reasonable price). Also another note on the price tag for 1,200 points you can easy find a SNES or Gens title to fill the 800 points you'll have left over (assuming 2,000 points were purchased).