History VideoGame / CaveStory

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: "Humans can be terrible creatures indeed..." [[spoiler:It's a ZigZagged example.]]

** [[spoiler:On one hand, humans have sent an army of robotic soldiers on an island in order to get their hands on the Demon Crown, resulting in countless and senseless deaths of innocent Mimiga for being in their vicinity. On the other, there are other humans that ''actually'' attempted to defend the Mimigas from the invading robots, but they were perished in the process. In addition, Quote and Curly were both made by humans but are sent to ''destroy'' the crown (and are implied to not endanger the Mimigas on the island), and - barring [[BigBad the Doctor]] - the entire scientific expedition that came to the island are reasonably decent human beings.]]

* FinalBoss: Misery, The Doctor, and [[spoiler:the Undead Core.]] See also TrueFinalBoss below.

* RestingRecovery: An interesting take on this trope. There are health stations which refill your health immediately, but you can also sleep in a bed to achieve the same effect. And sometimes, both options sit right next to one another.

* PathOfMostResistance: If you don't have this in mind, you probably won't get the GoodEnding.

* NoGearLevel: Oddly averted. When the protagonist is captured at one point in the Plantation, he gets thrown in jail, but his captors don't bother to take any of his weapons away--nor the letter in his pocket that shows him how to escape from the cell.

* WelcomeToCorneria: Averted. Most {{NPC}}s will say different things depending on how far you've gone through the game.

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:Professor Booster]], if you [[ViolationOfCommonSense choose to ignore him]] when he suddenly appears in the Labyrinth and free-falls into a deep pit; he will appear much later on, alive and well, and give you the Booster v2.0. Choosing to drop into the pit to help him (which instead results in his death after he gives you the Booster v0.8) {{reconstruct|ion}}s this trope by revealing that there is a broken teleporter directly below the platform he landed on; upon examining said teleporter, it is mentioned that it could be fixed by an engineer with sufficient skill. This implies that [[spoiler:by leaving the professor to his fate, his HeroicResolve kicks in as he realises that you cannot stop the Doctor's planned invasion of the surface unless you have the Booster, but to this effect, he ''must'' stay alive to ensure that you receive it. Thus, the professor eventually recovers from his fall and continues working on the prototype Booster v0.8 in the Labyrinth, turning it into the finished Booster v2.0. He then proceeds to fix the broken teleporter and use it to escape the pit and teleport to Arthur's House just as you arrive there shortly after all the Mimiga were brought to Plantation.]]

* CheckpointStarvation: The [[spoiler:[[BrutalBonusLevel Sacred Grounds]]]] area wouldn't be half as frustrating if it weren't for this trope.

* AerithAndBob: Jack, King, Arthur, Igor, Sue, Booster, Kazuma, Momorin, Toroko, Chie, Kanpachi, Mahin, Sandaime, Megane, Curly...

* MeltingPotNomenclature: Kazuma Sakamoto, and his sister, Sue.

* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:Professor Booster]], if you [[ViolationOfCommonSense choose to ignore him]] when he suddenly appears in the Labyrinth and free-falls into a deep pit; he will appear much later on, alive and well, and give you the Booster 2.0. Choosing to drop into the pit to help him (which instead results in his death after he gives you the Booster 0.8) {{reconstruct|ion}}s this trope by revealing that there is a broken teleporter directly below the platform he landed on; upon examining said teleporter, it is mentioned that it could be fixed by an engineer with sufficient skill. This implies that [[spoiler:by leaving the professor to his fate, his HeroicResolve kicks in as he realises that you cannot stop the Doctor's planned invasion of the surface unless you have the Booster, but to this effect, he ''must'' stay alive to ensure that you receive it. Thus, the professor eventually recovers from his fall and continues working on the prototype Booster 0.8 in the Labyrinth, turning it into the finished Booster 2.0. He then proceeds to fix the broken teleporter and use it to escape the pit and teleport to Arthur's House just as you arrive there shortly after all the mimiga were brought to Plantation.]]

** The UsefulNotes/WiiWare and UsefulNotes/DSiWare versions of the game in 2010, which featured remastered graphics and a "New" remixed soundtrack, runs at 60 FPS as oppose to 50 FPS in the freeware version, added an Easy and Hard difficulty level, increases the number of save slots for the main game to three, promotes Curly Brace to playable status, adds a BossRush mode, and a Jukebox where players can listen to the game's music and swap between the different soundtrack options. The European release later updated the [=WiiWare=] and [=DSiWare=] versions by touching up the graphics and improving the sound quality, which would later be ported back into the North American release through an update. This version of the game was later ported to PC in 2011 as ''Cave Story+'' with a new Challenge Mode, [[HolidayMode seasonal graphics]] during the Halloween and Christmas season, and added a third "Remastered" soundtrack. There were also a port for the 3DS that is identical to the freeware version in terms of visuals and sounds but has the extra Challenge Modes from ''Cave Story+'' and can toggle between the original 4:3 aspect-ratio or the wider 5:3 ratio from its 3D remake. In 2017, ''Cave Story+'' was ported to the Nintendo Switch with further enhancements such as 16:9 widescreen presentation, new lighting and water effects, animated character portraits for dialogue scenes, a new Sand Pit challenge, two more "Famitrack" and "Ridiculon" soundtrack options, and other quality-of-life improvements.

* ViolationOfCommonSense: [[spoiler:During the Undead Core battle, Possessed Misery will ignore you if you can avoid damaging Frenzied Sue. The battle is still tough, but in a different way.]]

** Imagine, if you will, living in a world where life is essentially normal... ''except'' for the fact that [[FunctionalMagic magic is real]]. Think that's not that big of a change? Think again: [[spoiler:a ''[[GreatOffscreenWar World War]]'' was rather recently fought over a magical floating island because [[GovernmentConspiracy seemingly every government in the world]] wanted their hands on a [[ArtifactOfdoom certain piece of magical headgear]] called the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Demon Drown]] that allows the user to freely channel the [[PowerIncontinence never-ending magical outflow]] of an [[SealedEvilInACan eternally entombed]], [[TheAgeless ageless]] and [[MadGod hopelessly insane]] wizard with [[TheArchmage power beyond mortal reckoning]]. Said wizard's powers [[LeakingCanOfEvil leak out and manifest in the world]] as a [[HatePlague blind, uncontrollable rage]] that also grants '''''[[MadeOfIron impossible]]''''' [[HulkingOut strength]] by unlocking the affected person's true power. Anyone affected by said rage can be [[BrainwashedAndCrazy controlled by the owner of the Crown.]] If someone - anyone - were to obtain that crown, they theoretically could - at any time of their choosing - release a raging horde of monstrous demonic creatures that would ''easily'' tear apart all of modern civilization, leaving you in a [[VillainWorld ruined world]] ruled by a [[TheSociopath complete psychopath]] with infinite power.]]

** In your first encounter with Balrog, he actually asks you if you're going to fight him. It looks like a ButThouMust situation at first, but if you say no, he just shrugs at it and leaves without any fuzz.
** It's more of a "Skippable Miniboss" example (considering the miniboss in question has less HP than the ''first Balrog fight''), though considering the game still plays a boss theme, it still counts -- there's a house in the Grasslands that has a missile expansion inside. Grabbing it causes [[spoiler:a rabid Mimiga to [[JumpScare jump out from the fireplace]], though the player can just [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leave through the same way they came in]]; if the player enters the house again, [[spoiler:the Mimiga is gone]].

* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: Halfway through the game, you will witness Dr. Booster falling into a chasm. Major spoilers ahead: [[spoiler:Going down the chasm to help him will have him reward you with the Booster 0.8 with his last breath. What happens if you do not go down the chasm and ignore him entirely? He is perfectly fine a couple of levels later and will provide you with the vastly improved Booster 2.0. Merely having this version of the Booster [[GuideDangIt triggers the existence of an object required to save Curly]], and it's required for reaching the BonusDungeon]].

* SuperweaponSurprise: The red flowers' actual effect is this trope. It's so secret, [[{{Masquerade}} the Mimiga no longer know the truth about them.]]

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Lampshaded if you talk to Santa during the fight with the doctor.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenkka Jenka]], and [[spoiler:[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballos Ballos]]]] have names taken from dance styles.

* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler:The main character]] is revealed to be a RidiculouslyHumanRobot [[RobotSoldier Soldier]] one-third into the game. The surprise of this revelation depends entirely on whether you noticed the robot ears on his sprite before this point -- they are small and easy to miss. At least one of the {{NPC}}s didn't notice them either.

** [[spoiler:Also, the king who imprisoned Ballos. Torturing an immortal person with powers you cannot comprehend? Bad idea.]]

* TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler:The Heavy Press and Ballos, found at the end of [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Sacred Grounds]], constitute five forms in two bosses. In short, a BossBonanza.]]

* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:King]]'s death does not prevent anything.

* GreatOffscreenWar: [[spoiler:Ten years before the events of the game, humans sent an [[RobotSoldier army of lethal military androids]] to the island to [[NoBloodForPhlebotinum steal]] the [[HatOfPower Demon Crown]] for their own use. They [[InnocentBystander killed countless Mimiga]] on the way in (despite not being hostile to them), until they are [[GodzillaThreshold forced to eat red flowers to fight back]] and nearly wipe out the attacking robots in self-defense. After that, some of the rabid Mimigas were last seen landing onto the surface, though their fate is currently unknown. One human, named [[EvilOverlord Miakido]], eventually got his hands on the crown and attempted to instigate a huge war to TakeOverTheWorld before he is stopped by Quote and Curly.]]

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: "Humans can be terrible creatures indeed..." [[spoiler:Just to make it clear, a human king who was [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of Ballos' [[LovedByAll popularity]] imprisoned him and subjected him to a very, ''very'' cruel torture, leaving Ballos insane and [[PowerIncontinence unable to control his magic]]. Even worse, his own niece forced him to make the [[ArtifactOfDoom Demon Crown]], a powerful tool that humanity tried to obtain through war, very nearly [[FinalSolution destroying an entire sapient species]] in the process. There ''is'', however, [[{{Deconstruction}} nuance to this]]. Quote and Curly were both made by humans to ''destroy'' the crown, and - excepting [[BigBad the Doctor]] - the entire scientific expedition that came to the island are reasonably decent human beings.]]

--->'''Kazuma Sakamoto:''' So you're one of the... [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots I hadn't even noticed.]] My my, [[LampshadeHanging you certainly are well-built.]]\\
'''A Mimiga:''' ''[to [[spoiler:Quote]]]'' Man, these sprinklers just... Whoops. Not supposed to talk to humans.

* BonusBoss:
** [[spoiler:Ma Pignon and the Red Demon]] are completely optional bosses when you're going for the normal ending, but they have to be fought in order to get to the real final level. Also [[spoiler:the Sisters]], {{Skippable Boss}}es who guard a missile upgrade in the Egg Corridor(?).
** The bonus level Wind Fortress has [[spoiler:G-CLONE, a mysterious machine that makes Curly clones.]]

''Cave Story'' is a [[FreewareGames freeware]] {{Metroidvania}} game by Daisuke Amaya, aka Creator/StudioPixel. The game thrusts you into the action with no explanations, forcing you to figure out the plot by yourself as you go. You play as Quote, a mysterious robot who finds his way to a village of bunny-like people called Mimiga, who are housing a team of scientists that came to study the caves. Meeting up with fellow robot Curly Brace and a selection of other characters, Quote must save the Mimingas and scientists from [[BigBad The Doctor]], a rogue MadScientist who seized the [[HatOfPower magic helmet]] known as the Demon Crown and is trying to raise an army of robot soldiers and zombified Mimingas to TakeOverTheWorld.

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:Quote and Curly Brace]] are [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots so ludicrously human-like]] that most of the characters in the game don't realize that they're anything less than human until the truth is revealed by Professor Booster, and even ''he'' had to look twice before he believed it. They sleep, their injuries can be healed by medical doctors, they can [[EatingMachine eat and digest food]] including ''medicine,'' can [[OptionalSexualEncounter have sex]], and even ''[[OxygenMeter drown in water]].'' Yet, despite all of their human-like limitations, abilities and appearance, they are ''robots.'' Specifically, they are [[RobotSoldier combat]] [[ArmyScout scouts]], so they are [[AvertedTrope not]] by any stretch ThreeLawsCompliant.
-->'''Kazuma Sakamoto:''' So you're one of the... [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots I hadn't even noticed.]] My my, [[LampshadeHanging you certainly are well-built.]]\\

** An army of these was sent to the Island during [[GreatOffscreenWar the War]] to [[GuiltFreeExterminationWar kill the Mimiga]]. [[spoiler:The player character is one of them, although both he and Curly Brace were sent to stop the war by eliminating the cause of it, and not the Mimiga.]]
** As of the present, Quote/Curly will encounter a handful of recon robots who managed to survive and hide away from the chaos that ensue, and are not hostile towards them. When Quote/Curly were thrown inside the Labyrinth, they encounter the remaining three of them. [[spoiler:Sadly when the three took the opportunity to escape when Quote/Curly opened the door, they were all destroyed by a lone Gaudi stationed outside.]]

* GreatOffscreenWar: [[spoiler:Ten years before the events of the game, humans sent an [[RobotSoldier army of lethal military androids]] to the island to [[NoBloodForPhlebotinum steal]] the [[HatOfPower Demon Crown]] for their own use. They [[InnocentBystander killed countless Mimiga]] on the way in (despite not being hostile to them), until they are [[GodzillaThreshold forced to eat red flowers to fight back]] and nearly wipe out the attacking robots in self-defense. After that, some of the rabid Mimigas were last seen landing onto the surface, though their fate is currently unknown. One human, named [[EvilOverlord Miakido]], eventually got his hands on the crown and attempted to instigate a huge war to TakeOvertheworld before he is stopped by Quote and Curly.]]

* GameMod: The original PC freeware version became rather easy to mod once the tools were developed. Also, Curly Mode in the Wii version is based off a well-known sprite hack for the PC version.

* GreatOffscreenWar: [[spoiler:Ten years before the events of the game, humans sent an [[RobotSoldier army of lethal military androids]] to the island to [[NoBloodForPhlebotinum steal]] the [[HatOfPower Demon Crown]]. They [[InnocentBystander killed countless Mimiga]] on the way in. One human, named [[EvilOverlord Miakid]], eventually got his hands on the crown and instigated ''another'' huge war between the Humans and the Mimiga by feeding [[PsychoSerum red flowers]] to the remaining Mimiga and [[MindControlDevice using the crown to make them fight for him]] in a bid to TakeOverTheWorld. [[CurbStompBattle The Mimiga lost]], and were ''almost'' [[GuiltFreeExterminationWar wiped out as a species]].]]

This game was created entirely by one man in his spare time. Daisuke Amaya wrote the scenario, drew the artwork and scenery, animated the sprites, designed all of the levels, composed all of the music, and programmed the entire game engine, all by himself over the course of ''five years''.[[note]] Actually, that's ''lowballing'' it. While fullscale development of the game lasted five years, Cave Story started being made ''five more years'' prior. Daisuke made a game in five years and had people playtest it. When they were unsatified with his work, he took what he had and refined it over the course of the five years that most people know the game for. Let that sink in; Daisuke spent ''ten years of his life, a full decade'' creating this game, and released it ''for free''. [[DoingItForTheArt Truly, this man is a saint.]][[/note]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: The effects of the [[PsychoSerum red flowers]], filling any Mimiga who eats them with such intense rage that not only their sanity, but their entire personality is lost[[note]]though one Mimiga, Igor, has somehow managed to retain a small part of his sanity[[/note]]. It is heavily implied that the effects are permanent, and that there is no known cure. [[spoiler:The player is forced to give [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Toroko]] a MercyKill after she's forcibly fed red flowers by Misery and Balrog.]]

* CuteEmUp: At level 1, the Nemesis fires flaming bolts of lightning. At level 3, the Nemesis fires ''[[ViolationOfCommonSense rubber duckies]]'' that [[JokeWeapon do almost no damage]].

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: "Humans can be terrible creatures indeed..." [[spoiler:Just to make it clear, a human king who was [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of Ballos' [[HundredPercentAdorationRating popularity]] imprisoned him and subjected him to a very, ''very'' cruel torture, leaving Ballos insane and [[PowerIncontinence unable to control his magic]]. Even worse, his own niece forced him to make the [[ArtifactOfDoom Demon Crown]], a powerful tool that humanity tried to obtain through war, very nearly [[FinalSolution destroying an entire sapient species]] in the process. There ''is'', however, [[{{Deconstruction}} nuance to this]]. Quote and Curly were both made by humans to ''destroy'' the crown, and - excepting [[BigBad the Doctor]] - the entire scientific expedition that came to the island are reasonably decent human beings.]]

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: "Humans can be terrible creatures indeed..." [[spoiler:Just to make it clear, a human king who was [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of Ballos' [[HundredPercentAdorationRating popularity]] imprisoned him and subjected him a very, ''very'', cruel torture, leaving Ballos insane and [[PowerIncontinence unable to control his magic]]. Even worse, his own niece forced him to make the [[ArtifactOfDoom Demon Crown]], a powerful tool that humanity tried to obtain through war, very nearly [[FinalSolution destroying an entire sapient species]] in the process. This ''is'' however [[{{Deconstruction}} nuance to this]]. Quote and Curly were both made by humans to ''destroy'' the crown, and - excepting [[BigBad the Doctor]] - the entire scientific expedition that came to the island are reasonably decent human beings.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:♫ ''[[Music/{{Brentalfloss}} Tell y'all a story 'bout a cave, story 'bout a robot rollin' with a whole lotta bravery]]'' ♫]]

* PostDefeatExplosionChain: Some bosses, like Omega or Monster X, give out a few explosions here and there before vanishing in a white flash of screen-filling "+"-shaped explosion.