While not having anything particularly new or groundbreaking, Cave Story features some good platforming.
One of the first things you notice is how this might pretty much be the definitive version of the game. Right away you're able to choose between a graphically updated version or the original game to play. The same thing can be done with the music, letting the player choose between a remaster version or the original. Purists like me applaud this decision, it's always nice when you see a release with this much attention to details, some might not see like that, but playing the original version is always my number one choice as for many other people I'm sure.
I must admit I was quite surprised at how much the story plays a defining role in the overall experience. You actually have dialogs between many characters at once on screen, especially at the beginning when the pace is sluggish and it's hard to really tell what the game is trying to accomplish. Eventually the 2D platformer shines and successfully engages the player the way it should. The story is as forgettable as can get.
Thought 2D platformer is certainly not just what you find here, pretty much not like they were made in the late 80's and early 90's. It throws in a sample of puzzles into the game. For instance, sometimes you must collect the missing dogs of some character you meet along the way to proceed. In another event, you must help a doctor put together a flying machine to make you reach the necessary height and move on.
When analysed in a broader perspective Cave Story feels like a different Mega Man, with some Metroid here and there. I could certainly see some inspiration is games like Castlevania for example. The focus on different weapons resulting in different outcomes is always welcome, but I found depressing that some guns become unavailable after certain points in the game, as well as having to choose between one or the other in some cases. Somehow it doesn't fit in.
The game does play fine, with tight controls and menus doing a fine job to keep everything simple. The graphics are okay -- especially for an indie, even though indie games these days have much better polish. The music, on the other hand, is inconstant. It goes from glorious tunes to complete boredom in seconds. It's hard to complain about the overall presentation though, especially playing with the updated graphics and re-recorded music.
The enemies you encounter in-game are not exactly an example of imagination. Bosses are a prime example, none of them actually stand out, even the final bosses do not do much to impress. Another thing that will cause trouble are the bad save point locations. You have to wonder why would someone place a save station away from a boss battle, and worse, with pretty dangerous bits between the save station and the boss battle. Energy drain before a boss is kind of cheap.
Unfortunately there's even worse, the impossibility to skip dialogs is annoying. Sometimes when you lose during a boss battle and have to restart, the dialog box will simply run faster than normal but won't let you skip it. Some dialogs are painfully long to go through, and since some bosses require good timing and pattern memorization it will be awfully annoying. If you take in consideration that most people will find fun merely in the platforming part and will actually not give any attention to its boring story, it only gets worse.
This is definitely the definitive edition and I think everyone should give this game a go. Platformer enthusiasts will find little to no innovations in it, but this type of gamers rarely complain about this, after all 2D platformers scream old-schoolness. This game is a solid ride from start to finish, even though not completely memorable in any of the aspects is portrays.