Cave Story is one of the most acclaimed homebrew freeware PC games ever created. The game was designed and programmed by a single individual who goes by the internet name "Pixel." Though I had not played it before, I was immediately taken in by its classic action-adventure gameplay. Control is no more complex than an NES game, and this simplicity is combined with an all-around engaging environment.

The game falls into the Metroidvania genre, with many interconnecting regions that can be revisited, including save points and teleportation pads. Compared to those two games, Cave Story is faster-paced than either Castlevania or Metroid. Though the game looks simple on the surface, it has surprising depth easily equaling similar commercial endeavors, standing as proof that large development teams are not necessary to produce complete, quality games.

As indicated by its name, the protagonist awakens in a cave with no memory. As the player progresses, the story is revealed through simple cutscenes and dialog within the game stages. The main character, Quote, arrives in a village inhabited by rabbit-like Mimigas whose population has dwindled due to kidnappings by an evil doctor. Quote begins without a weapon and can only run and jump, but over time, can collect several different types of guns. Defeated enemies drop golden triangles, which can power up the weapons. However, taking damage not only reduces the player's life, but reduces the weapon's power meter, potentially reducing its strength. The game uses a hit point system where different attacks cause different amounts of damage. Damage points float above characters as they receive it. The game also includes several other items, most of which are involved in progressing the story.

Little has been changed in the WiiWare iteration. The game will be adapted for widescreen displays, though the version I played was in its original 4:3 aspect ratio. As the original game used a 320 x 240 pixel resolution, the original designer redrew all of the sprites by hand to work with 480p. However, the original also had a color-restricted palette, and very few colors have been added, despite the 3x increase in pixels. The result is an interesting combination of retro-styled, but smoothed graphics. The demo I played had some of the original sprites left in to demonstrate the upgrade. Cave Story's music was not yet finished, and only some simple sound effects were included. The games's memorable "You have died." game over screen evokes classic NES failures.

Despite its incredibly small development team, Cave Story has already proven itself as a great action-adventure game on the PC. Though newer gamers might have a hard time getting past its simple style, Mega Man 9 has already shown there is a welcome place for such games on WiiWare. Its inclusion on the service is a wonderful thing for gamers yearning for the simple, yet deep 2-D action of yesteryear.