Cave Story 3DS announced

By Robert Purchese Published 11 February, 2011

Plus "very good chance" of Cave Story 2.

PC and WiiWare indie darling Cave Story will be re-imagined for 3DS.

The new game will be boxed for shops, and the major difference belongs to the presentation - Cave Story is going to the digital barbers. There will be new art and designs for characters and environments, introducing 3D depth, dynamic lighting and crucial snazziness.

"We've gone to a level of detail that probably is unheard of compared to what we did for the original WiiWare version," producer Tyrone Rodriguez told GamesRadar.

"Primarily, this is based off of the original game. In a way, it's almost like a true 3D remake from scratch."

Yes exactly.

There's no word on a release date for Cave Story 3DS, sadly, but don't expect it too soon.

Cave Story received rapturous applause here on Eurogamer early last year. "If this game had been released on the NES 20 years ago," wrote Eurogamer reviewer John Teti, "it would be recalled by a generation of players as a high point of the 8-bit era. The fact that console gamers are only getting their first crack at Cave Story in 2010 doesn't make the experience any less memorable."

Eurogamer awarded Cave Story a whopping 9/10.

Said creator Daisuke Amaya: "When I was making the original Cave Story, I was very lonely making the game, but I was always imagining people being happy playing my game that took me forever to create.

"As it spread out onto Wii and DS, I wasn't expecting it to be so big. When I was originally making it, I was gearing it toward the Japanese hardcore gamer audience, and once it went worldwide, I really was surprised to see that western gamers embraced Cave Story. That was just astonishing for me. Everything is just a continuous surprise for me, because it's moving onto the 3DS platform, and I wasn't expecting that at all. Every day is a totally new surprise to me."

Cave Story was originally a PC game, one that launched miles ago in 2004. Excitingly, Amaya reckons that constitutes enough time to start thinking about a sequel as well.

"It's now been 10 years since the original Cave Story came out, so I'm now thinking that maybe it's time to start thinking about a sequel for Cave Story. There's a very, very good chance we'll see a sequel," he said.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (10) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • speedjack #1 1 year ago

    So where THE HELL is the PAL DSiWare version ?!

  • Golgo #2 1 year ago

    @speedjack: please don't be greedy, now. You know we were gifted Shantae last night? Only several months behind the states.

  • wizlon #3 1 year ago

    Yes please, and the fact that this "old freeware" game is being enhanced and turned into a boxed product doesn't mean it'll be any less of a game. I've never played it properly before (just 30 minutes of the intro) so will be a good way to play it through first time.

  • CrispyXUK64 #4 1 year ago

    Erm, why make it look dull? The original looks ace.

  • kinky_mong #5 1 year ago

    I was going to post a cynical "So you can charge £40 for a game that costs less than a tenner to download" post but those comparison shots do look like they're putting some serious polish into the game.

    Plus it strikes me as a game I want to play on the commute rather than sat at home.
    Edited by kinky_mong at 11/02/11 @ 10:44

  • Augmentation #6 1 year ago

    Having read this article, I had the urge to go play some Cave Store - the freeware version. Which is exactly what Nintendo doesn't want to happen! This is some sort of unadvertisable game, I'd say.

  • arcam #7 1 year ago

    We are in 2014? I must have blacked out.

  • Piccadillio #8 1 year ago

    I agree with #4, updating the graphics isn't always for the better. The whole point of Cave Story, the reason why it is so charming, is because it is endearingly retro. The updated graphics for the Wii version were already pushing it into less interesting territory, this new game just looks like Trine. Some idiots were suggesting that for the 25th Anniversary Edition of Super Mario All-Stars, the three NES originals should be remade with NSMB graphics. That's a horrible idea, and I think doing this to Cave Story is nearly at that level.

    As much as I approve of the game getting the recognition it deserves, and Pixel getting paid, there is a limit to how much you can push and change Cave Story before it becomes irrelevant. I believe this is that limit.

  • Malek86 #9 1 year ago

    @kinky_mong: problem is, it's already playable on commute, since there's a DSiWare version out there (well not for us europeans, but you know what I mean). I wonder how they could convince people to buy pretty much the same game for a much higher price. Will graphics really be the selling factor?

    Although I wouldn't be surprised if they canned the european DSiWare version in order not to eat into this one's sales.

  • Chibi-Kibou #10 1 year ago

    Maybe it's just my love of the original but...

    I don't like it. I really, really don't like it, in fact, looking at the new style I feel ever so slightly ill. So much of Cave Story's charm was in those lovely 8bit graphics, and the wonderful use of pastel tones and.. this just makes me think of that strange, oily style so favoured by WoW-esque graphics engines, and lord knows that's probably where the sickly feeling is coming from.

    Even admiring how hard they're obviously working .. I don't think I'll be able to stand to get it. If there's a version of the original style I can buy and play on my 3DS then count me in, but I am not going to have anything to do with this version, I'm afraid.
    Edited by Chibi-Kibou at 31/03/11 @ 02:33