I have the original freeware version of Cave Story on PC but I never explored past the first town. This time around I played it on the 3DS and was completely hooked.

The pixel art works great on the DS screen. The art is crisp and it’s easy to differentiate between the playfield and the background. There are a few particle effects here and there, but nothing too extreme. Sound effects suit the game and the soundtrack is absolutely excellent.

The story is paced well, and I never felt like the game was being padded out between cutscenes. The main game is a decent size size - it took me around 5 hours to finish the normal story, but there were a few items I missed so I didn’t get the “true” ending.

My only real complaint is the final boss rush - there are four separate bosses without a save point between. From a difficulty point it’s okay, but each boss has an unskippable cutscene which you have to watch again if you die. And I did die.

Overall I really enjoyed it and I’m slightly sad I waited 22 years to finally play it properly.