The indie metroidvania that started it all just got a huge update on PC, adding co-op and mod support after 22 years
Aside from helping shape what we nowadays consider an indie game, Cave Story revitalised the platformer, and specifically the metroidvania, when it hit PC in 2004. Creator Daisuke Amaya's artistic influence is obvious on the likes of Celeste and VVVVVV, for example, but Cave Story's real impact is how it demonstrated that one person could make a fun game in their spare time, and that it could get huge by word of mouth alone.
The industry has changed a lot in the meantime, and there are more games vying for our attention than ever, but Cave Story endures. Its revamped version, Cave Story+, just received a massive new update on Steam, bringing it up to speed with the Nintendo Switch version. It's been an extremely long time coming: Cave Story+ released on Switch nine years ago, though earlier versions of the game appeared on Wii and DS consoles. PC players have waited that whole time for a substantial update.
The headline feature is two-player local co-op, a prospect that seems a bit nightmarish to me in a precision-oriented platformer. But it's there if you want it, and people seem to like it.
Other big changes include overhauled visuals covering everything from animated dialogue portraits through to fancier water, widescreen support, some "minor" difficulty tweaks (apparently stacking puppies is now easier) and a Sand Pit Challenge level. There are now four different versions of the soundtrack to choose from too.
Mod support is in, but if I'm reading the patch notes correctly it doesn't support user-made levels but more cosmetic changes including graphics packs, fonts, screen filters, and sounds. The full patch notes, which are very long, can be viewed on the game's Steam page.
Should you play Cave Story+ in 2026? I reckon absolutely. It doesn't feel as good as most popular modern metroidvanias, and there are some bullshit hard sections that feel very onerous (though this update may have addressed some especially hard moments). But it's still a very charming narrative-driven affair and is a game of historical importance for the medium.
If you're hungry for more, Daisuke Amaya released his follow-up, Kero Blaster, in 2015. I haven't played it, but it's been on my wishlist for, oh, more than a decade now.