Cave Story + is one of those titles that feels nostalgic all the while having elements clearly from this generation. For gamers who love titles akin to Megaman or Metroid, Cave Story + should appeal to you greatly thanks to its platforming and shooting elements. In this Nintendo Switch port, a few minor tweaks have been made to adhere to the Switch’s system but otherwise has been left untouched. Step back into the shoes of Quote once more or for the first time in Cave Story +. Now you can add Cave Story + to your ever growing Nintendo Switch library of amazing games.

Whether this is your first time playing Cave Story or you’ve played the older versions, Cave Story + will feel unaltered in a good way. Now with the ability to play either portable or at home, Cave Story +’s action platforming has never felt as good. Players must navigate several different locations killing baddies and jumping treacherous landscapes to defeat an evil doctor with horrible plans. Armed with various guns and special items, you’re the only one who has the ability to stop this from happening. Go into Cave Story + expecting some old school platforming and gameplay at its best.

One day, a young robot from the surface falls into an odd place. With no memories, the robot learns that within this place, dastardly events are transpiring. An evil doctor plans on using the natives of this land as weapons by altering them with a strange plant. What’s worse is once the doctor gains an army of minions, he plans on taking over the world above unleashing horrible destruction in his wake. Now, the robot must team up with the natives and use various weapons and tools to somehow defeat the doctor before it’s too late. Lives are on the line and time is running out in Cave Story +.

If you’re new to any version of Cave Story, Cave Story + tasks players with running and jumping their way through various environments. You’ll accomplish this by taking control of Quote a robotic soldier from the service who has lost all memories leading up to waking up in a strange location. Across Quote’s journey, Quote will meet various characters—both human and non—all while trying to stop an evil doctor from unleashing devastation upon the citizens of this land—named the Mimiigas—and then going to the surface to do the same. The story seems pretty generic but don’t be fooled, Cave Story + has a deep narrative with plenty to discover and be amazed at once you realize what’s going on. Thanks to quirky characters, an interesting world and smooth narrative Cave Story +’s story will keep you hooked from the opening to the ending. With multiple endings to unlock, you’ll find yourself booting Cave Story + back up after completing it once.

The reason we made that statement about booting the game right back up after completion is thanks to Cave Story +’s great gameplay mechanics. Players will blast their way through loads of enemies all while avoiding death pits and plenty of ruthless bosses. Weapons used gain levels that go up as you kill baddies but go down if you take damage. This gameplay mechanic means that you can’t always rely on a weapon being overpowered if you find yourself swarmed with enemies and taking damage. Sometimes we still hate the fact that deaths can feel like trial and error—especially thanks to the lack of warning at times—but Cave Story + has a forgiving save system that makes death just a means of learning. Platforming also feels still floaty at times which makes precision jumps sometimes annoying but it’s never a huge issue. If you love the idea of Metroid fusing with Megaman—in terms of gameplay—then you’ll fall head over heels for Cave Story +.

Cave Story +, graphically, looks like a modern day 8-bit game. Thanks to the Nintendo Switch’s power, Cave Story + looks amazing either on a big HD TV or on the Switch’s native screen. If you’ve never played the PC port and only played the original Cave Story, you’ll be amazed at the update visuals and art design. Enemies, backgrounds, weapon effects and even Quote himself looks awesome and really keeps the nostalgic feeling of playing an older title. There are over several stages that you’ll have to navigate across and all feel different and not just mere color swaps like in many platforming titles. Maybe you have never played an older title before and only have touched modern day video games, well even if that’s the case we know you’ll be surprised by the level of polish in Cave Story +’ design.

Sound wise, Cave Story + sounds just as good as it did on the PC port. Cave Story + contains the ability to switch the music from original to a remastered version—though we prefer remastered personally—as well as the visuals as well. The extra goodies from the past versions—such as the extra fortress as well as the new DLC challenge—have all returned which makes Cave Story + for the Nintendo Switch a truly complete game in every means. We here at Honey’s Anime could listen all day to the soundtrack alone and while there is no voice acting to be found at all in Cave Story +, it doesn’t bother us in the slightest to hear the old school noises that pass for dialogue sounds.

Now let’s wrap up by talking about this version of Cave Story +. If you were hoping for new content outside of the already available PC version you’ll be very disappointed. Cave Story + for the Nintendo Switch is the exact version of the original PC version meaning nothing new. Sure you can now play on the go but if you own, for example, Cave Story 3D—the Nintendo 3DS version—there isn’t anything worth shelling out thirty dollars for here. We really think there should have been an exclusive Nintendo Switch map or mode but unless there is plans down the line for something like this at the moment it’s nonexistent. Bottom line you’re really going to have to think if you want to rebuy Cave Story + if you own multiple versions of it already.

Cave Story + felt amazing to play on the PC and it feels just as good on the Nintendo Switch. Regardless of your play style you’ll enjoy stepping into the world of the Mimigas once more. We still have issues with the occasional floaty controls—especially during platforming—but the shooting and exploration still feels flawless. However, our biggest concern is can we recommend Cave Story + to those who may own the PC version? Cave Story + on the Nintendo Switch is the same game once again and it’s at the price of $29.99. We won’t say “don’t buy it” but unless you’re looking to expand your Nintendo Switch library, you may want to wait on buying this for now. If this is your first time even hearing of Cave Story + though, we recommend buying this immediately for one of the best platforming titles we’ve played in a long while.

Cave Story + is the same great game we’ve come to know and love. On one hand that’s a great thing but on the other we can’t recommend buying it again unless you’re in love with Cave Story + and want it on the Nintendo Switch. However, thanks to everything being left untouched and unaltered, Cave Story + feels just as we here at Honey’s Anime remember it being like and that’s gives us a sigh of relief. As always folks we hope you enjoyed our review of Cave Story +. Let us know in the comments do you plan on rebuying this if you own it on the PC or are you just happy it graced the Nintendo Switch? Don’t stray too far as Honey’s Anime are working on another game review as we speak.