Cave Story

Like some of my cozy games are, I think explicitly cozy because they remind me of like when I first played that game and I kind of can get into that headspace again.

Like Cave Story is like one of my biggest cozy games or Spelunky.

Cause those are games I played like in middle school, high school, winter break.

I'm just like jam out.

It's just stuck out.

But I totally agree.

It's like, It feels like when I play Chrono Trigger, Cave Story, Spelunky, Wind Waker, like I have that like Ratatouille moment of like, oh, I remember that particular winter break or like that summer when my brother didn't let me play Zelda.

So I had to wait until he left the house and like, you know, and mess up his save file or whatever.

Gone Home.

Oh, Cave Story.

Cave Story.

Cave Story.

That's like number one.

Okay.

All right.

The console that you're putting under

And then they got approached by Nicholas, of course, a huge publisher that everybody knows is super respected in the entire industry.

And they've done all these great games like Binding of Isaac and stuff like that and Cave Story and all that.

So, hey, I can do this.

And they came to Pelican 13 and said, hey, we will put your game out.

been playing.

I've actually been played through most of the rest of Cave Story after our last one.

Oh.

To try and get the true ending.

Yeah,

I did not realize this game was published by Nicalis.

Those are the same guys that are the guys who published Cave Story.

Oh, I guess that makes sense with indie titles.

Episode 266 covers the binding of Isaac, the game Edmund McMillan made after Super Meat Boy, and it picks up his story exactly where today left off, including a lot more on Edmund McMillan himself, the religious upbringing that shaped both games.

Episode 69 tells the story of Cave Story, another one-person labor of love from that same era of independent development.

And episode 97 takes you back to Ghosts and Goblins, one of the exact games that McMillan pointed to as inspiration for Super Meat Boy's own brand of brutal, uncompromising difficulty.

You can, of course, find those episodes along with everything else at our archive at www.membercardlane.com. You will also find a calendar of upcoming events.

Um, and you have things like Ori, and you have things even on the Vita, like Guacamelee, and you have things like Shadow Complex, and there are all of these great...

Like, Cave Story, obviously, is a great example as well.

All these great Metroidvanias that have, I think, expanded on or put their own stamp on the genre in the years since in both the indie and the AAA and everything in between space.

And it's so strange that Konami has just not tried at all in the intervening years.

Um, you know, think of like a, a map in Metroid, a map in Ori and the Blind Forest, a, a map in any number of things.

You can even do Cave Story, whatever.

Uh, that's what it looks like.

But really, the things it's doing are found in lots of other adventure games.

Ben said I could.

So it, it, it's, [laughs] it's funny how prolific it became because it feels like there was a time, uh, you know, when, like, Cave Story came out, if anyone remembers-

Mm-hmm

... that one.

Okay.

I am going to take a story game, and this was the, the last category that made the cut 'cause, again, I don't necessarily think story when I think Metroidvania.

But I'm gonna take a game that has story in the name, Cave Story.

[laughs] So-

Yeah.

Um, I brought Cave Story, which I think is kind of like the ur indie game.

Bingo.

Setting it up perfectly.

Setting up maybe a little surprise I have at the end of show by...

Uh, the end of the show by saying that.

Uh, I can't wait to hear from you about your connection with Cave Story.

But when I first had you...

I got little sort key ...

Did you ever play Cave Story?

Yes.

It's got a little bit sort of-

Yeah, yeah

...

Cave Story type vibes to it.

Yeah, there's lots of influence in this game.