Cave Story 2004

Is it still worth playing?

Daisuke Amaya's 2004 platform adventure for Windows, made under the name Studio Pixel, in which Quote, a robot with amnesia, wakes inside a cave on a floating island. The cavernous interior is home to the Mimiga, rabbit like creatures, and talking to the characters you meet tells you about the place. You run, jump and shoot, switching between several weapons at any time. Those weapons grow and shrink with how you play. They level up to three with experience crystals dropped by enemies, and taking damage makes them lose experience and levels. Health and missile capacity upgrades are hidden throughout the world. It is credited with helping revive the Metroidvania and inspiring later indie platformers. Weapons that lose levels when you are hit still make every fight about avoiding damage today.