Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari) [Beta]

Cave story (Doukutsu Monogatari in Japan) is a freeware platform / adventure indie-game released in 2004 for PC and a WiiWare port by Nicalis in 2010. It was designed and programmed over 5 years by Daisuke Amaya, art-name Pixel, in his free time. A classic by almost every sense of the word. I say almost, because despite it’s pixelated graphics, Cave Story is actualy a modern game, with a deliberate old school feel. However, as with most good games, trial and error are required, and in the end, some things are left out. Cave Story is no different. At one point, the main character, Quote, was Curly Brace. That name later moved to a girl. Sue didn’t always look like she does, several areas just didn’t make the cut, and some tiles just weren’t used in the final game. There’s plenty to see in the images below.

Thanks Zero7 for pointing out the differences between these and the final game.

Those tiles must be from when he was trying a smaller palette, I forget if they’re all used in the final, I know the rocks are.

Really tiny, but it looks like the same animation, but the tiny image makes it hard to tell if all the details are the same as they are in the final.

Obviously just him testing stuff

Balrog (Square guy) looks like pooh black but colored like balrog, balrog has a much more detailed look in the final. I dont remember the details of all the guns in the game, so I can’t say

What an interesting picture, they appear to be ending pictures. I dont recall the balrog one though. In fact I barely remember the ending pictures at all.

so different, the HUD is completely different in the final, there doesn’t appear to be energy levels on guns unless CION is but that could be currency to buy ammo, there is ammo for what appears to be the basic gun, and those enemies aren’t in the final, in fact that area isn’t in the game at all, but the cave concept carried over to become the starting and ending caves and a few other rooms as well

Mimiga in a cave, seemingly living there? There are like 5 of those in the final. Looks like she is intended to be Sue though, but I could be wrong.

These guys are nowhere in the final

I feel this is just a joke picture.

HUD is completely different from the final, then again several things changed so that isn’t surprising.

Balrog fight! Layout makes me think it might have become the fight in grass town later, but Im stretching that.

Huh, I dont even know, nothing like that is in the final game.

Super missile launcher? Also area doesn’t exist in the final

Desert zone? not like the final version that’s for sure

Reminds me of..actually looks really close to the final layout of a part of the plantation area. The enemies on the right behind the rock are what pooh black look like in the final

A shop to buy ammo? Reminder that the only gun in the final with ammo that doesn’t recharge is the missile launcher

Closer to the final color scheme, blue boxes, also notice how the guy on the right was changed to a white mimiga, so were there black mimigas in the beta?

Don’t recognize it, seems like around the area where you fight the core for the first time in the final (At least in color scheme) and those enemies look like dragons, so maybe dragons weren’t going to be so sparse in the beta?

CION is currency, but I dont know if he’s buying or selling stuff, also that item on the right, Im pretty sure you only get one during the final game

Another segment of plantation under a different color scheme. What appears to be the missile launcher is miscolored though.

This just looks evil, and also doesn’t exist.

Flower pots might’ve been save points, also the layout is the starting room.

I contacted Pixel and asked if there was anything he wouldn’t mind releasing, and he gave me an old version of the music player he made just for playing the music from Cave Story. It can be downloaded here. It’s in japanese, and has yet to be translated.

Edit

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