So here’s the story: After a chain of poorly-communicated delays spanning through 2009, the $12 / £10 WiiWare release of the game in North America last year was deservedly well-received but expensive and somewhat glitchy. It included one particularly annoying bug with music playback when the original music tracks were selected instead of the default remixed tracks (which some people – including myself – didn’t like). Not only did it take eight months to get these problems patched out but it took ten months after the NA release for the game to get to Europe. Meh. So far, so mediocre.

Then there was the DSiWare release for portable gamers to enjoy Quote’s adventures. Cool. But a year on from the Japanese and North American releases last November, it still isn’t available in Europe, despite a suggestion from Joystiq it would be out around Q2 of this year. It seems likely that Euro gamers will now never see that version due to the incoming Cave Story 3D for the 3DS (which – who’d have guessed? – has also been delayed). Based on their track record, who knows when the 3DS incarnation will arrive in Euroland…

Surely things can’t get any more ridiculous. But wait! Yes they do!

Time rolls forward to September of this year, when Cave Story+ first appears. It features a smattering of new features and an unlockable new level, Wind Temple, designed to be roughly as difficult as Sanctuary (the hardest level of the original game). Where’s the best place for this masterpiece? Erm… on Mac OSX, apparently. Nicalis no doubt believed it was another platform to attract customers on. However, the original game was already playable on Mac using Wine - and just like the old PC version, it supported mods, too. {EDIT: As mentioned in the comments, there is in fact a true Mac port of Cave Story available through this page} I can’t divine exactly why CS+ went here first – presumably because it was something that was easy for them to do? – but at this point the “cross-platform” excuse is being stretched fairly thin.

Now, a couple of months later and well over a year after the game started its journey into the mainstream, Windows users have a chance to be milked for their dosh in a direct port of this latest version. Frankly I no longer accept the argument of wanting to make the game as cross-platform as possible; Nicalis have done far more to turn Cave Story into a cash-cow for the most convenient audiences than they’ve done to genuinely improve it.

And if you’re thinking that I’m a hypocritical fanboy who only loves something while it’s free – nothing could be further from the truth. Despite my gripes I’m delighted that many more people have the chance of playing this gem. I simply wish that Pixel had a direct Paypal link so I could pay him £30 without any of it lining the pockets of a greedy publisher who seems to have not lifted their little finger for the European fan base until now – and that in only an incidental way (a Mac to PC port through Steam couldn’t have been difficult).

TL; DR: Simply put, for the relatively small amount of work Nicalis have done to the game – compared to the effort Pixel has put in to get the new versions ready – I do not believe they warrant their share of the loot. Delays are something Nicalis are experts at. Right back at ya, guys: I’m delaying giving you my money. Permanently.

Yes, I’m bitter, and I’ll stick right here with the original game, thanks.

Yes, I know both of these tracks are the same tune, and you might wonder why. Well, simple really: They’re both so good that I couldn’t include one over the other, and since it’s a special occasion, I bundled them both into one feature so that you can decide for yourself which is your favourite.

Zolyx’s Game Music Monday #7: Halloween Ghouls ‘n Ghosts!

The original composer of this track was Tim Follin, a name that certainly ranks up there with the most respected 8-bit composers of all time. His work in games such as L.E.D. Storm, Black Lamp, and Bionic Commando – along with the two GnG games - is fondly remembered by many. Remixers Binster and Tim Forsyth have done well to preserve the classic feel with some modern flair.

Enjoy your Halloween and tune in next week!

UFHO2

this list

What, no Wii Cave Story?!

No sign of NIGORO‘s redone version of La-Mulana either, or indeed the blockbuster-in-waiting Super Mario Galaxy 2. But I suppose there’s a whole nine other months which they haven’t mentioned yet…

My pick of the list would have to be  Worms: Battle Islands, ‘cos you just can’t get enough of the classic 2D Worms action. But I really wish Team 17 would come back to their roots and bring out an updated PC version (that’s 2D, not those silly 3D versions). Worms Armageddon / World Party are beginning to show their age – they’re over eight years old, after all. Just think what you could do with proper physics! Ragdoll worms! Particles! Water with proper reflections! Bigger, better, more detailed landscapes! Local networking without the annoying lag! Even just the slightly-more-shiny graphics upgrades of the console ports would be nice. Please guys, you know you want to make it happen…

I hope your holiday season went well. It’s been a pretty good year for indie games and I’m expecting another great list of titles in 2010. Stay tuned and I’ll try to give my usual sporadic coverage of yesterday’s boring news… today! There’s a ton to look forward to – Fez and a deluxe version of Spelunky for XBLA, Night Sky and the much-hyped-and-might-arrive-soon Cave Story for Wii, and who knows what else there might be for PC gamers!

In any case, we can kick the year off the way we want it to continue with Terry Cavanagh‘s VVVVVV very soon – he’s announced that it’ll be released in just over a week on the 10th of January. It will be available from thelettervsixtim.es and will cost a mere $15 / £9.30ish. Or you can still preorder the game for just $10 (by donating with the Paypal link on the Distractionware blog) until January the 3rd. Great stuff!

Aside from having a rather irksome finish to my day at work (for which I can only be grateful that today is Friday), I’m once again disappointed upon checking today’s WiiWare releases.

I’m sure Dragon Master Spell Caster is entertaining enough, just as Copter Crisis may also be fun. And since I’m currently playing through Pokémon Pearl on my DS (what an admission to make!), last week’s Pokémon Rumble did actually tickle my interest a tiny bit.

But there’s a simple, hard fact. None of those games are the ones I want to see. Yep… it’s time for a rant about the continued lack of a solid release date for Wii Cave Story. And other related stuff, like Saira [link], Nifflas‘ promising new game.

I’m sure I’ll end up sounding like an impatient fanboy who’s just angry that a game he wants still isn’t out, but that’s tough luck. My spleen needs venting.

*takes deep breath*

So, Nicalis, this is how I see it.

In January you went on record to say that you were hoping to release Cave Story in time for Christmas 2008, but that it hadn’t been possible. A few months down the line, you then hinted that it’d be out “very, very soon”. Time ticked by painfully, eased by pictures of new sprites and the occasional screenshot, and you once again gave us hope by telling us you’d be releasing “a few games in ’09″. Great! But the months have kept dragging by, and barring some vague murmurs about CS‘s submission and later re-submission to Nintendo, there’s been no explanation for why we aren’t playing the game yet. Presumably it failed at one of its submission stages. Couldn’t you have told us this? Was there an NDA enforcing your silence?

I realise I’m the voice of a single person on a smalltime blog, and surely you could care less about my opinion. Nevertheless, I want to say that you’re frustrating me more and more each week.

Why bite off so much by announcing the Wii port of La-Mulana before seeing Cave Story safely out the door? I expressed my trepidation regarding this when that particular storm of hype broke out. Then, to top it off, you followed up barely weeks later with more bombshell news of Project Q, which we now know will go by the name of Saira… a game that, laughably, seems likely to be released on PC early next month before everything else you’ve announced. So… yeah. I’m thinking that’s a major WTF right there.

Where is the logic in this? Allow me to answer that for you. It’s hiding in an old, forgotten cupboard with a thick layer of dust on it.

Honestly, I think you’ve gravely underestimated the pressure people would put you under, and worse, it sometimes appears you’re not taking it as seriously as you should be. I’d have expected a little more communication about the whole release date thing by this point, along with some reasons for the delay. You’ve been walking a fine line between spreading hype and simply stringing people along, and it’s starting to backfire.

One last thing. When Cave Story is released, it absolutely must be up to scratch. The portion of the fan base (including me) that you’re so exquisitely managing to irritate right now is the same one that may also be giving you their cash for La-Mulana; if you don’t go a decent way toward meeting their expectations, you can wave goodbye to an awful lot of potential customers.

For all my frustration I really do want you guys to succeed. Please, just make it a little easier on the fans and give us something concrete…

</rant>

To quote Tyrone: “The audio and most of the design is complete for the game. It should be a few months before we give an estimated date of completion.”

Arf. Still, I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.

And while I’m on the subject of Nicalis, there’s the recent blockbuster news that they’re also working on a Wii remix of La Mulana featuring downloadable content and additional game modes. Now, although I hate to be a dealer in doom and gloom, at this point I can’t help but be a little concerned at the pressure they’re putting on themselves. Have they bitten off too much?

Let’s face it – Cave Story and La Mulana are two of the most cult indie games of the past five years. Taking on one title alone was a brave move; to do both is treading the fine line between unwavering courage and downright foolishness. Should the worst happen and Nicalis somehow gets it wrong, a lot of people are going to be disappointed, and prospects for their future projects would be dim indeed.

IGN have posted a Night Game gameplay video which showcases the ambient, physics-loaded exploration platformer from Nicalis (yep, the team that Nicklas “Nifflas” Nygren is working with, if you didn’t already guess from the footage). It’s coming out later this year on WiiWare, and I have to say that I’m seriously tempted to get a Wii just to play this game. Roll your Oxyd-like black marble around the dusky landscapes and just… enjoy the ride. Check the video out here.

Also released last Wednesday was a trailer for The Blackwell Convergence, the latest point and click adventure from Wadjet Eye Games [link]. This is third in their series of Blackwell titles and it looks to keep up the same high standard.

2D Boy announced yesterday that the Windows version of World of Goo has gone gold! Yippee! There’s no word on an exact release date, but with this news it surely can’t be too far away. Mac, Linux and Wii versions are also on the ever-approaching horizon.

It’d be cool if there were a demo version, but perhaps that will appear at some point in the future. Meantime, should you feel like spending your hard-earned dosh in support of a clearly quite talented indie developer duo, there’s still the option to pre-order and get immediate access to an introductory chapter of the game.

Hmm… I wonder what would happen if any of that goo got into CERN’s new particle accelerator? Something even worse than a black hole, I reckon!