18 replies to this topic

[IMG News]

Inside Mac Games has posted a review of Cave Story: Doukutsu Monogatari. Here's a clip from the review:

Doukutsu Monogatari, Cave Story in English, is a labor of love by Japanese company StudioPixel and by an artist typically known only as Pixel. The game, completed over a five-year period is, I can say without blinking, possibly the finest side-scrolling experience I’ve ever had, assuredly in the best in I’ve had the last decade. It is an homage to the classic days of gaming yore and is infused with the years of side-scrolling culture and experience that emerged in the days post-NES.

To check out the full review, please follow the link below.

Return to Full Article - InsideMacGames News

[No One]

That review really summed it up well. The point made about the cost (or lack of cost) was really accurate. For a game of this caliber, I would be very willing to pay money. It amazes me that somebody would produce such an impressive game, yet ask for no pay in return.

I was impressed that it felt like an homage to Metroid, without being a rip off. I wish more games were made along this line.

[rhywun]

The Mac version provided at the link given by the author doesn't work. Or, more accurately, the English translation patch doesn't work as described. The game itself seems to work but only in Japanese. When I try to apply the patch it says incorrect game version. The Windows version works. I wonder how the author got the Mac version to work... or did he play the Japanese version??

[Eric5h5]

Use the already patched version, as mentioned in this thread.

--Eric

[Sharky]

My mistake here was that, since the version I had in my possession already worked (by downloading and patching via GameFlaws), I didn't have to go back and do it again when I wrote the review. Hence not knowing the patch was busted.

[rhywun]

Eric5h5, on December 14th 2006, 03:55 PM, said:

Use the already patched version, as mentioned in this thread.

Yay! I'll check it out. This is my favorite sort of game - can't wait to try it.

... later ...

Well, it crashes a lot on Intel. The Windows version is newer and has a better & more complete English translation so I'm gonna play that on my demo version of Parallels

[Sharky]

So, not to rant... but I'm going to rant.

This review was just posted about the game:

Quote

"How the hell does this game get a 9 for graphics? For a while I've been skeptical about insidemacgame reviews because I felt they were too generous, but this takes the cake. In no way am I saying this is a bad game, I enjoy it very much, but how can I use reviews to compare games when a game like this merits the same graphics rating as call of duty 2? Maybe it has good graphics for its particular genre or style or whatever, but why not just admit the fact that its nothing pretty to look at and focus on complimenting the gameplay? Insidemacgames barely gives any ratings below a 6, and I think their reviews are becoming increasingly unreliable. 8s, 9s and 10s should be reserved for the very best games. Just because I'm at a mac gaming website doesn't mean I want to be told that every game that comes out for mac is a masterpiece. I didn't mean to go off on a rant, but seriously, consider writing reviews as a method of comparison instead of rating every category an 8 or a 9 just because the game is fun to play."

The review addresses this directly:

Quote

The title is old school to the core. The art is pixel graphics in the 8-bit fashion, but very sophisticated. There’s a lot of scope in the art of the game and all the environments and characters are well rendered. Many reviews and reviewers will dock the game for not looking better or more modern, but that’s not the point at all. You wouldn’t knock a title like Bejeweled for not harnessing the power of the UT2004 engine, nor would you fault Doom for not having more glittery blocks to be moved around for extra points. So, suffice it to say, Cave Story’s graphics are basically unrivaled for the medium they’re created in.

So... I just don't get going off on a rant on a review that you obviously didn't read in the first place. *sigh* Okay. I'm done now.

Oh, and it's part of my point that Cave Story IS among the very best of games.

[rhywun]

Sharky, on December 14th 2006, 08:51 PM, said:

So, not to rant... but I'm going to rant.

Either he's an idiot or he reviews games at GameSpot - where games are downgraded if they're not a FPS...

[Sharky]

His point about it being hard to compare games across the board using the rating system is well taken... but I think it's representative of the game within its own genre. So there's that.

[No One]

Sharky, on December 14th 2006, 06:51 PM, said:

So... I just don't get going off on a rant on a review that you obviously didn't read in the first place. *sigh* Okay. I'm done now.

I think the problem is a lot of people seem to have a hard time separating the technical aspects of game graphics from the artistic style. I strongly suspect Cave Story was intended to look this way. It's an obvious call back to the days of the NES and SNES. The whole game feels like playing Super Metroid again. In fact, it probably took some work to get the game to look like it did.

Cave Story may not have "lenseflare pixelpipe transfer buffer filter mapped triangles", or whatever the current popular back of the game box check mark feature is, but it has an incredibly endearing style. That's exactly what I want in a game.

Sharky, on December 14th 2006, 06:51 PM, said:

Oh, and it's part of my point that Cave Story IS among the very best of games.

I concur.

[Tesseract]

I love how when you level up the machine gun enough, you can use the recoil to fly. I'm sure I've seen that in another game, but I can't remember which one.

[the Battle Cat]

In Marathon 1 on the Pfhor ship's low gravity you can use the recoil of the alien weapon to fly.

[Tesseract]

the Battle Cat, on December 16th 2006, 02:19 AM, said:

In Marathon 1 on the Pfhor ship's low gravity you can use the recoil of the alien weapon to fly.

True! But I was thinking of another 2D platformer.

[Mister Mumbles]

Nice little game... although it crashes every now and then on my iMac.

[Eric5h5]

Pegasus, on December 15th 2006, 02:29 PM, said:

Nice little game... although it crashes every now and then on my iMac.

Must be Rosetta then, since it never crashed on my PPC Mac.

--Eric

[Mister Mumbles]

Yeah. I'll try it out on my PB. It should run well enough on it.

[rhywun]

This game is just... great. I'm thankful that there are plenty of save points

[Turtleonmac]

rhywun, on December 14th 2006, 01:34 PM, said:

The Mac version provided at the link given by the author doesn't work. Or, more accurately, the English translation patch doesn't work as described. The game itself seems to work but only in Japanese. When I try to apply the patch it says incorrect game version. The Windows version works. I wonder how the author got the Mac version to work... or did he play the Japanese version??

If you're trying to patch the new Universal Binary version of the game, you'll need a newer version of the patch, available here.

If anybody has any problems using this version of the patch, let me know.

[rhywun]

Turtleonmac, on December 17th 2006, 09:27 PM, said:

If you're trying to patch the new Universal Binary version of the game, you'll need a newer version of the patch, available here.

Cool, that works - thanks! Now I've been playing the Windows version for awhile. Any idea how to copy my save game over to the Mac?