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Studio Pixel's Kero Blaster finally hops to it in May
Goats are so last season and frogs are the new hotness: Kero Blaster, the long-delayed platformer from the maker of Cave Story, is coming to Windows PC and iOS on May 11. The game stars Kaeru, a bipdeal frog who looks a bit like Kermit, but unlike The Muppets star he's armed to the teeth* with some powerful-looking weaponry. More like Kermit, he's in interspecial love with his feline girlfriend, who he's running and gunning to rescue. Studio Pixel AKA Daisuke Amaya originally intended to bring the game to iPhone last May, back when it was known as Gero Blaster. He delayed it to add some improvements, and in the interim it seems Japan-friendly distributor of indie games Playism got involved, and now there's a PC version on the way too. If you're interested in an early look at Kero Blaster, Playism says it's showcasing the game at next week's PAX East conference in Boston. [Image: Playism] *Turns out frogs do have teeth
Cave Story creator's Gero Blaster delayed
Daisuke Amaya and Studio Pixel's Gero Blaster isn't going to hop onto iPhones this month. The side-scroller starring a lovestruck frog was originally pinned for May, but with the month quickly depleting, Cave Story and Ikachan creator Amaya announced he's "decided to postpone it." While he didn't disclose a new release window, Amaya noted the delay isn't to overhaul the game, but to tweak it. "Previously, I've remade my work a few times before its completion," Amaya said. "This time, however, is for improving it and not remaking it. I am now doing my best for the completion to make it a more fun and exciting game." Gero Blaster stars Kaeru, a frog running-and-gunning to rescue his cat girlfriend. As for when this croak tale of interspecies love is likely to arrive, Amaya said he'll let fans know once he has an approximate idea.
Studio Pixel's 'Gero Blaster' rescues cats this spring
Yesterday's BitSummit indie developer event in Kyoto proved its importance when Cave Story creator Daisuke Amaya unveiled his new game, Gero Blaster, an iPhone run-and-gun about a bipedal frog named Kaeru ("Frog") trying to save his cat girlfriend.It's due for iOS release in May; however, Nicalis producer Tyrone Rodriguez, who has worked with Pixel on various versions of Cave Story, Ikachan, and more, brandished a 3DS running Gero Blaster, posting a picture on Twitter as proof. There are no details about the 3DS plans yet, or any for other platforms, but the existence of the prototype is heartening.
Portabliss: Ikachan (3DS eShop)
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Ikachan is a perfect snack-sized game. Coming in at around two hours, it offers a concentrated dose of pure Studio Pixel exploration.A precursor to Cave Story, It's the same kind of lovingly pixelated subterranean environments, the same kind of mysterious, mute protagonist dropped into a society in the midst of a power struggle, and the same kind of discovery of previously inaccessible spaces via new abilities that Pixel perfected in Cave Story, but in a miniature form you can enjoy start-to-finish in a single sitting. With a cute lil' squid as the hero.%Gallery-177672%
Cave Story creator releases adorable 'Azarashi' on App Store
Studio Pixel, the one-man development studio behind the original Cave Story, has created a new game for iOS called Azarashi, available on iTunes now for 99 cents. It's an exceedingly simple game: you tap to catch three seal keychains as they fall, and your reaction times are added up to form a score. What distinguishes Azarashi from other iOS microgames is Pixel's fantastic artwork, which delights with cute seal keychains and happy cat trophies. Just don't ever tap to catch a keychain too early. It abruptly becomes less cute.
Cave Story 3D screens come in all dimensional varieties
What're you looking for, folks? Screens of Cave Story 3D's titular three-dimensional display, complete with left-right screen splitting? We have those. Want some slightly less complicated images of the game's spritely 2D mode? You know we got your back. (And we always will.)
Cave Story 3D to feature dimension-defying 2D sprite mode
Torn between your love of the original Cave Story's beautifully pixel-drawn sprites and your excitement for Cave Story 3D's complete reinvention of the game's hovering island-world? You can now have your cave and eat it too: NIS America recently announced the game's 2D sprite mode, which takes the original, flat characters and enemies and places them in remodeled 3D environments, Paper Mario-style. Destructoid managed to get its hands on a pair of images of this double-dimensioned mode, one of which is posted above. Personally, we think it looks pretty gosh darn neat, though now we're going to have to worry about poor little Quote slipping through crevices in the cave floor. Guess it still beats getting squished by the wizard-king of Hell, but ... um, not by much.
Oh Yeaaah!! Here's Cave Story on DSiWare
Great news about the DSiWare version of Cave Story: it looks like Cave Story! See for yourself after the break.
Nicalis details Cave Story's jump to DSiWare, WiiWare update coming
In a recent interview with the DS aficionados of Tiny Cartridge, Nicalis' Tyrone Rodriguez dropped a few details about the upcoming DSiWare port of Studio Pixel's delightful action-platformer, Cave Story. He explained that while the portable version will have some of the new features added in the WiiWare version launched earlier this year, Nicalis "kept it relatively lean in comparison mainly because this is more a perfect port of the original game." To that effect, there won't be any touch-screen controls -- instead, the bottom screen will simply display dialogue, player inventory and the world map. Rodriguez couldn't confirm any specifics on pricing or a release date, but said "I would love to have this out before Halloween," later adding "I'd be surprised if it isn't released before the end of the year." He also references an upcoming update for the WiiWare version of the game, which will "address a game-breaking bug and a ton of other fan-requested fixes." For more details on the future of the cavernous indie hit, check out the full interview on Tiny Cartridge.
Renowned devs creating 'Big Name Games' for free WarioWare D.I.Y. DLC
Playing your own microgames in WarioWare D.I.Y. is great and all, but what if you could play 5-second microgames designed by your favorite developers, like 5TH Cell, Gaijin Games, and even Cave Story creator Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya? In the weeks following the release of the microgame creation suite, you'll be able to do just that. Every Monday from March 29 through July 26, Nintendo will make new microgames in its "Big Name Games" series available for free download through WarioWare D.I.Y. The first offerings will include the game Yoshio Sakamoto showed off at his GDC presentation, as well as a game from Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai. Team Meat and WayForward are also contributing games.
Cave Story includes playable Curly Brace
In case anyone is still on the fence about paying for a WiiWare version of a freeware game -- although a couple of years of anticipation have probably killed that -- this Cave Story video (after the break) shows something pretty appealing: a second playable character. And not just any character, either. Curly Brace is a fan favorite, appearing in the game in a capacity we won't discuss too much to avoid spoilers. We're checking with Nicalis now to learn more about her inclusion -- whether she's part of the initial download or DLC, and how her presence affects gameplay. Worst case scenario: we find out on Monday when the game comes out. [Update: Nicalis has confirmed to Joystiq that Curly mode will be included with the initial download!]
Exclusive: Cave Story's new Sue sprite
click for larger image Tyrone from Nicalis asked us if we wanted to run an exclusive Cave Story sprite comparison, and we responded by sputtering, mostly, and attacking the keyboard furiously with our frantic approval. The new sprite that Nicalis chose to share with us is Sue Sakamoto, whom you rescue fairly early in the game. Beyond that, we're a bit shaky on what people would consider a spoiler, so we're not offering any more biographical details. We're impressed by how much the new sprite resembles her character portrait, and by the fact that her scar is visible. This is the sprite that has really convinced us that the upgraded graphics are a good thing. They're still blocky, but more expressive and with more variation between the characters.After the break, we've got another sprite comparison, this one from the Nicalis blog. Huzzah!%Gallery-33861%
Cave Story: Mimiga Village's new construction
WiiWare Cave Story developer Nicalis's blog has featured comparisons of sprites from the original game with Cave Story creator Pixel's redrawn sprites for a few weeks. Today, instead of a new character sprite, Nicalis's Tyrone Rodriguez posted part of the updated tileset for the Mimiga Village environment, one of the first areas of the game. It still looks like Mimiga Village, but a bit sharper. Pixel seems to have taken care to be faithful to his original arrangement of rocks and grass, adding just a bit more detail. With every single visual element in the game being redrawn by hand -- and it is by hand, of course, rather than a filter, as Rodriguez points out -- how could Cave Story possibly be finished any time soon?%Gallery-33861%
How updated are Cave Story's updated sprites?
On the left: the Mimiga named Toroko, one of the main characters of Cave Story, as seen in the original game. On the right: Toroko's redrawn sprite from the WiiWare version. You can see the sprites in actual size in the middle of the image. The new sprite is still pixelated and very charmingly retro, but now Toroko kind of has fingers and toes.We should probably hate an attempt to spruce up the already-wonderful Cave Story on principle, but, honestly, we think this looks great. It still looks like Cave Story to us. We can't wait to see what Pixel has done to the rest of the characters. If you hate it, of course, don't forget that the visual upgrade is purely optional, and you can choose to play the WiiWare game using the original graphics.%Gallery-33861%
Cave Story has optional new music, graphics
GoNintendo spoke to Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis, the developer responsible for the new WiiWare version of Cave Story, and got a lot of very good news. Yes, there will be remixed music, from Yann van der Cruyssen, aka Nurykabe. There will also be some kind of graphical upgrade. That's great, but it's not the good news.The good news is that you can turn that stuff off if it turns out not to be as good as classic Cave Story. "Yes, the old music and graphics will both be retained via a switch," Rodriguez said. "You'll also be able to mix-and-match audio and visuals."There's even better news, in fact. Pixel is involved with this project! He even answered a couple of questions. About the project: "Working on this project is like a dream come true; sometimes it feels like it's too good to be true. And I feel very lucky because Cave Story has the support of such a strong fanbase."[Screen via Kombo]
