Play This Game: Momodora

Momodora is a charming metroidvania platformer by redein(Guilherme Martins) that has you playing as a nameless girl who's in search of a sacred item that can bring her dead mother back to life. Some of you might recognize the name redein from his previous release Bubblegirl Rozy, which was his contribution to the Action 52 OWNS collective as his remake for Bubblegum Rosie.

As with his previous release, a heavy Cave Story influence is almost undeniable at first glance. Everything down to the tilesets used seem to be directly plucked from the backgrounds of Pixel's classic game. Even the music in the game is made with pxtone, a little music-making program released by Pixel himself. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all. I do believe Guilherme will eventually adapt into a style of his own, and I enjoy seeing his work progress through the few games he's created and made readily available on his website.

Gameplay is your usual metroidvania fair. As you progress through the underground caves you'll find a number of weapons to aid you on your adventure, along with different artifacts and hidden objects to collect and fill up your inventory. Some of the weapons and enemies are even direct homages to their Pixel counterparts, like your second weapon being similar to the Polar Star from Cave Story, and a spinning enemy that looks like it came right out of Guxt.

Despite what the "Cave Story ripoff!!" detractors have to say, if nothing else it will serve as a fun time-waster, or at the very least it will give you fond memories of playing Cave Story before you go off and play the real thing.

Download Momodora