Welcome to Freeware Editions: Cave Story, in which I will point you, the reader, in the direction of free games you should play. In this first edition is a very well put together game (which most of you should have heard of, and if you haven’t – you need to play this game!)

Cave Story is an action adventure/shooter game brought to you by a one man development team – Studio Pixel. Quote, the main character, shoots his way through hordes of blue blobs (and other evildoers) in a battle of truth and justice to save Mimigas (humanoid rabbit type creatures) against an evil doctor! If it sounds epic, that is because the game is simply that – epic on a very large scale.

My vague plot analysis aside, there actually is a plot – and it is decent, if not above average. I don’t usually get swayed by plots or characters in videogames, but I ended up falling in love with the Mimigas and disliking the Doctor.

As for gameplay, overall, it’s quite good. The game is not that difficult, although there are a couple spots where the difficulty spikes a little. The controls are very tight, there are a plethora of different weapons to choose from, and there is more than one ending to the game. What’s even greater is that there happens to be an optional dungeon at the end, aptly called Hell (and believe me, it deserves that title).

The graphics are fitting and well done. It is obvious that Pixel put in a lot of effort to make the game look as polished as it does, and the music is simply remarkable.

What makes the game remarkable is the reception it received upon release. Many magazines and blogs have praised Cave Story, and thus made it one of the most popular free games today. For many, this is the first ‘freeware indie’ game that they play. Cave Story’s impact on the gaming world can be seen today, as more and more gamers are taking it upon themselves to create their own games.

To put it simply, Cave Story might not be the best game ever, but it is still very deserving of a playthrough. If that can’t convince you, it’s free!

Cave Story is available for the PC, and has been ported to Linux, OSX, the PSP, and many other places that I don’t know about. There is also a WiiWare version coming out sometime soon, with improved graphics and music.

You can find anything you need at cavestory.org, a tribute site to the game.