There was a significant period of time where I completely ignored indie games. I did not care from pretty much their inception till about 2014. Arguably, I still don’t care. But I gave it a shot and spent a summer vacation playing a handful of them. It seemed fitting to start with a game that pre-dated the modern indie movement, Cave Story.
This 2004 release was a retro-love letter before pixel art and chip tune music overflowed the market. However, I have no nostalgia for 8 and 16 bit presentations, so that means little to me. Instead, I just love the game’s machine gun.
Like the rest of your arsenal in Cave Story, the machine gun starts out as a dinky weapon. It’s effective, but not anything special outside of its rapid fire. It isn’t until you upgrade your weapons that they start to take on new traits. Once your machine gun is level 3, you can fire it at the ground and fly through the air. For most of the game, this your best option for getting around obstacles or floating onto higher platforms.
As someone who grew up on Quake and firing rockets at the ground to extend your jump, this kind of upgrade is right my alley. However, it is somewhat temporary. Taking damage in Cave Story not only reduces your health but also your weapon’s level. If you get hit a few too many times, you’ll be flightless without the right jet pack. I never found the fully featured jet pack, so for the majority of the game I’d reload an old save file if my machine gun lost its flight capabilities.
I think a lot of people like Cave Story for its plot and characters, but I don’t know. You fly with a machine gun, man.
