Studio Pixel

Year Released: 2004 Platform: Computer

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Here’s the math: No Cave Story = no indie game archetype. That means no modern-day classics like Braid, Limbo or Bastion. Whoa, right?

Thankfully, amateur game designer Daisuke Amaya (a.k.a Pixel) spent all his spare time over five years on the quest of an amnesiac boy to save sweet, rabbit-like creatures called Mimiga.

This freeware classic unabashedly harkened back to Gen X-ers’ heartfelt reactions to NES-era game design. When it came out in 2004, retrophiles everywhere swooned over Cave Story‘s old-school sprite-based graphics, chiptune soundtrack and battle-and-explore gameplay.

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