What’s the best video game guide you’ve ever used? There’s an art to it, knowing what information is imperative to include, how to include it, is it a written guide, or a video? Well, how about a 21 track long rap album? I only ask because, I am so delighted to say, someone has done just that for indie classic Metroidvania Cave Story.
So, let’s start at the beginning. In 2004, developer Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya released Cave Story. Five years later, a person who seemingly goes by CaveStoryRap, or Lee=Emcee², decided to write a rap album that tells you what to do in Cave Story. “In 2009, I started writing a Rap album that would be a full-length, step by step, video game walkthrough for Cave Story, wherein the listener would be guided through the game, in great detail, all through lyrical Hip-Hop dopeness… of which, I am overflowing with,” CaveStoryRap explains in a post on the Cave Story subreddit.
“After years of chipping away at/forgetting about it on and off, I have finally finished it, and I would really like to share it with any/everyone who loves either this game or Hip-Hop as much as I do.” That’s almost two decades of on and off work, I should note, though CaveStoryRap did note in a comment that the actual recording took place in January of this year. “Before that, it only existed as notebook scribblings, iPhone notes, and a handful of iPhone voice memos of me just rapping to the instrumentals in my car so I could listen back to it and see how it all sounded,” CaveStoryRap explained.
It is, quite genuinely, one of the most unique approaches I think I’ve seen to constructing a walkthrough. A way to experience a beloved game in an entirely different way. Perhaps more baffling is how genuinely enjoyable it is. Admittedly the lyrics do lean towards literally explaining what it is you’re doing, so if you’re looking for a lyrical revolution perhaps you won’t find it here. But that’s not the point! It’s an exercise in communication, and I think you could quite realistically somewhat follow along to the numerous tracks in your own playthrough of Cave Story.
Anyway, good luck trying to come up with a way to do walkthroughs that bring a bigger smile to my face than this has!