![]() ![]() But although it isn’t quite at the same level of greatness as Cave Story, I still find it great in its own different way.Īs the name implies, Kero Blaster is a game where you control a frog who shoots stuff. As I grow older, I find myself growing increasingly impatient with games that indulge in long cutscenes’ endless dialogue, and so I love it when I find a game that manages to convey a lot without saying much.Ī decade later, Amaya released his second game, Kero Blaster, to considerably less fanfare. Its setting actually has a rather elaborate backstory which is teased out in a rather economical way. The story is simple and winsome, and, unlike a lot of low-fi indie games, resists the temptation to mire itself in overly referential nerd humour or to get obnoxiously self-aware. In short, surviving its many death-traps and exploring its titular caverns is one and the same thing, and that’s a minor marvel of game design in its own right. Cave Story manages it by making a number of subtle but important compromises between the two design philosophies, such that it is just streamlined and linear enough to provide the sort of focus that an action game needs, while also giving just the right amount of freedom and mystery to make it a ‘world’ in its own right. I’ve long been a fan of both these kinds of gameplay, but I never thought the two could be successfully combined before – the backtrackng and poking around required by a Metroid-style game could quickly become tedious if the rooms you have to always be dealing with the same extremely dangerous groups of enemies. It unfolds as a pixellated sidescroller that combines the exploratory nature of a Metroidvania with the frenetic gunplay of more action-oriented platformers like Mega Man and Contra. You play as an amnesiac robot who is tasked with defending a bunch of lagomorphic creatures called Mimigas from an evil doctor who wants to use them for his own world-conquering plans. The game itself is entirely the work of one Daisuke Amaya, aka Studio Pixel, which is still really incredible when I think of how the game is no slouch in any of its aspects. So it wormed its way into my heart, not because it solved my problems or gave me any new insights, but because it provided a window of escapism during tough times. I found myself picking it up late at night for a half-hour here and there, mostly just for the sake of having something to do that wasn’t too involving or taxing, a distraction from just sitting around feeling morose. It’s a game often talked about in these glowing, reverent tones as being one of those unassailable masterpieces that you just have to reckon with-which is the kind of hype that can almost be off-putting, as you can’t help but wonder if you’re being set up for disappointment.Īnd, had I played it under more normal circumstances, I think my opinion would have been a little more along the lines of “it’s a solid game, but I think I missed the nostalgia bandwagon on this one.” But I happened to be playing it when some emotionally rough stuff hit me. I’m talking, of course, of Cave Story, one of the first really big indie gaming smash hits. I think I have a new favourite game, and it’s one that everyone already played over a decade ago.
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