Cave Story is now available on WiiWare. It is 1,200 points. It is worth it.

Even without the graphic facelift and new music, it would be worth the $12 those points translate into. That is all you really need to know.

When I think of indie games, Cave Story is what comes to mind. It’s the ideal for me. And not because of the retro graphics or the great controls or the weird world the strange characters inhabit or the fact that it costs nothing. It’s the way the game was developed. A passion project by one developer in his spare time over the course of however long he felt the game needed.

That idea, that this slice of gaming perfection could come from one person is what got me to think about games in the same way I thought of music. That they could be DIY. I was part of some combination of the punk, ska and hardcore scenes at one point or another over the past decade. What attracted me to those genres of music, especially at that time, was that the bands that made music that they wanted to hear. That drive makes for a much more interesting sound. And a much more interesting game.

The changes Nicalis has made to Cave Story aren’t likely to change the core of the game. They treated the author with reverence, something Pixel still seems surprised by. This game opened my eyes and, if you haven’t had a chance to play it yet, now is as good a time as any to start. If you don’t own a Wii, the game is still spectacular on PC, Mac Linux and hacked PSPs.