Cave Story

This page is for the original game. For the enhanced version, see Cave Story+.

Cave Story

Developers
	Studio Pixel
Release dates
Windows	December 20, 2004
macOS (OS X)	January 18, 2005
Reception
IGDB	83
Taxonomy
Monetization	Freeware
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Scrolling, Side view
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Metroidvania, Platform
Art styles	Pixel art
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	Cave Story

Cave Story
Cave Story	2004
Cave Story+	2011
Cave Story's Secret Santa	2021

Warnings

This game is only playable in English with a fan translation (see Localizations for details and other supported languages).

General information

Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari) - A Tribute Site

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website		Freeware. Japanese only.
Official website		Freeware. Japanese only.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Config.dat
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Profile.dat
macOS (OS X)

Video

General settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		a source port is required.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		a source port is required.
4K Ultra HD		a source port is required.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		a source port is required.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		a source port is required.
60 FPS		Capped at 50 FPS. Framerate independency supported by doukutsu-rs.
120+ FPS		Capped at 50 FPS. Framerate independency supported by doukutsu-rs.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Only a few keys can be changed.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Keyboard is only needed to exit or restart game.
Controller remapping		Game only allows for a limited number of buttons to be changed and does not support D-pad or analog triggers.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		Added in NXEngine-evo.
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		install doukutsu-rs to get it
Surround sound
Subtitles		Everything is text-based.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Use the unofficial translation.
Simplified Chinese				Use the unofficial translation.
Traditional Chinese				Use the unofficial translation.
Dutch				Use the unofficial translation.
French				Use the unofficial translation.
German				Use the unofficial translation.
Italian				Use the unofficial translation.
Japanese
Korean				Use the unofficial translation.
Lithuanian				Use the unofficial translation.
Polish				Use the unofficial translation.
Brazilian Portuguese				Use the unofficial translation.
Portuguese				Use the unofficial translation.
Russian				Use the unofficial translation.
Spanish				Use the unofficial translation.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DirectDraw	7

Executable	PPC	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows					64-bit requires doukutsu-rs or NXEngine-evo
macOS (OS X)					Supported by native macOS port by Yuichi Fujishige (nakiwo), based on original source code from Pixel. PowerPC support has been dropped in 0.0.7. Also supported by doukutsu-rs and NXEngine-evo. Native ARM64 versions are available only for doukutsu-rs and the original NXEngine.
Linux					Supported by native Linux port by Simon Parzer and Peter Mackay, based on original source code from Pixel. Also supported by doukutsu-rs and NXEngine-evo.

Modifications

doukutsu-rs

A open source re-implementation of Cave Story's engine written in Rust.

Game speed is independent from framerate. The game speed can also be toggled between the original 50 FPS from the freeware version or 60 FPS from Cave Story+.

Fully compatible with data files from Cave Story+.

Support for various edition-specific quality-of-life features such as custom soundtracks, animated face portraits, and new rendering effects.

NXEngine-evo

A complete open-source clone/rewrite of Cave Story. NXEngine-evo is the upgraded/refactored version of original NXEngine.

Large amount of bugfixes.

Proper widescreen support up to Full HD.

Animated character portraits.

Modern main menu.

Custom soundtrack support, including the "New" and "Remastered" soundtrack of Cave Story+. See here for details.

Has various noticeable glitches and inconsistencies compared to original game.

Incompatible with other mods of the game.

Random crashes may occur at certain parts of the game.

Booster's Lab

An open-source Cave Story level editor. A successor of the Cave Editor.

Feature rich compared to the Cave Editor.

Can be used to create mods for both Cave Story and Cave Story+

Version 5.0.0.0 does not support CSE2. Either compile from the latest source or download the nightly version.

Jenka's Nightmare

One of the oldest, most well-known mods. It has been in development for over 15 years

It is one of the best mods for Cave Story and is considered to be its unofficial sequel.

A CSE2 compatible version can be found here.

Full length, comparable to the original game.

Allows the importing of the save file of the original game's true ending.

Has an extreme difficulty curve. It is recommended to finish the original game first before playing this.

Rave Story

One of the more popular mods of Cave Story.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	98, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)
System memory (RAM)	8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	5 MB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX 5 compatible