Line #80 Creator/CAVE


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cave_co_logo_001_4785.gif]]
2	[[caption-width-right:200:''"Presented by... Cave!"'']]
3
4	CAVE Co., Ltd. is a video game company formed in 1994, one of four companies that arose from the ashes of the bankrupt Creator/{{Toaplan}}. It is perhaps well-known for its line of arcade BulletHell [[ShootEmUp Shoot 'em Ups]], such as the ''VideoGame/DonPachi'' and ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'' series.
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6	In recent years, CAVE has taken to bringing its shooters, the majority of which have been [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] and often [[MediaNotes/RegionCoding region-locked]], overseas. ''Mushihime-sama Futari ver.1.5'' for the Xbox 360 was released in November 2009 without region coding, making it the first home release of a CAVE shooter to be playable on an American or European console. CAVE went on to release the Xbox 360 port of ''Espgaluda II Black Label'' region-free (only for the standard edition; the Premium Edition is still region-locked) in February 2010, as well as an iPhone port in April with official Japan and U.S. releases. ''VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}}'' was released in the U.S. in June, localized by Creator/AksysGames, the same company behind the U.S. localizations of the ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' series and ''[[VideoGame/ShikigamiNoShiro Castle of Shikigami III]]''. CAVE also has [[http://www.cave-world.com/en/ an English-language website]], though its focus appears to be on iPhone and Android games, with little mention of console releases, let alone arcade ones. This is not to say consoles are being ignored, though; there is now a dual-language Xbox 360 port of ''VideoGame/{{Guwange}}'' available on the [[Platform/XboxLiveArcade Xbox Live Marketplace]].
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8	More recently, European publisher Rising Star Games has taken to localizing some of CAVE's Xbox 360 [[ShootEmUp shoot]] [[BulletHell 'em ups]], so far including ''[=DeathSmiles=]'' and ''[=DoDonPachi=] Resurrection'' as well as ''VideoGame/{{Akai Katana}}''. Their release of ''[=DoDonPachi=] Resurrection'' is also region-free for America and Europe, meaning other non-Japanese fans can get in on the action. CAVE has also partnered with Degica to release some of their games worldwide via Platform/{{Steam}}. Currently, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'', ''VideoGame/{{Deathsmiles}}'', and ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu]]'' are available on Steam. Despite not being involved with it, a port of ''VideoGame/{{Progear}}'' was also released in 2021 on Steam as part of the '' Capcom Arcade Stadium''.
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10	CAVE would bring out another wave of their ports near the end of the decade, going into the [=2020s=]. In 2018 and 2019, CAVE would collaborate with Creator/{{M2}} to bring a few of their games to modern consoles. A port of ''VideoGame/DangunFeveron'' was released for Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/XboxOne in 2017 in Japan and 2018 in the rest of the world. ''VideoGame/{{Ketsui}} Deathtiny: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi'' was released on [=PS4=] in 2018 in Japan and in 2020 in the rest of the world. ''VideoGame/EspRaDe Psi'' was then released on [=PS4=] and Platform/NintendoSwitch in 2019. Live-Wire released ''Mushihimesama'', ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}} II'', and ''[=DoDonPachi=] [=DaiFukkatsu=]'' on Switch in 2021; all three ports are based on their Xbox 360 versions. A port of ''Deathsmiles I'' and ''II'' for all three eighth-generation platforms (Switch, [=PS4=], Platform/XboxOne) by City Connection is set for a December 2021 release.
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12	You can catch CAVE on Website/{{Twitter}} [[https://twitter.com/cavegames here]].
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14	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] an ''actual'' cave, which is [[StealthPun under]] BeneathTheEarth or UndergroundLevel.
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17
18	!!Games developed by Cave:
19	[[index]]
20	* ''VideoGame/DonPachi'' (1995)
21	** ''[=DoDonPachi=]'' (1997)
22	*** ''[=DoDonPachi Campaign Version=]'' (1998?) [[note]] Very limited ''Main/ArrangeMode'' produced for a Sega Saturn scoring competition. Only 2 PCBs of this are known to exist; neither have been dumped publicly.[[/note]]
23	** ''[=DoDonPachi DaiOuJou=]'' (2002)
24	*** ''[=DoDonPachi DaiOuJou=] Black Label'' (2002)
25	*** ''[=DoDonPachi DaiOuJou=] Death Label'' ([=Playstation 2=], 2003)[[note]]Contains a boss rush mode of the aforementioned name, spanning 2 loops and is known for being [[Main/PressStartToGameOver so difficult that only 3 people have ever completed it.]][[/note]]
26	*** ''[=DoDonPachi DaiOuJou=] Black Label EXTRA'' ([=Xbox 360=], 2006)[[note]]Has both White and Black Label, and a new X-Mode with new mechanics. [[PortingDisaster Not a well-recieved port.]][[/note]]
27	** ''[=DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu=]'' (2008)
28	*** ''[=DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu=] Black Label'' (2010)
29	*** ''[=DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu=]'' ([=iPhone=], 2010)
30	*** ''[=DoDonPachi Resurrection=]'' (Xbox 360 (2010), [=Steam=] (2016) and Nintendo Switch (2021))[[note]]Includes v1.0, v1.5, Arrange A, Arrange B, Black Label, and Black Label Arrange.[[/note]]
31	** ''[=DoDonPachi Maximum=]'' ([=Windows Phone=] & [=iPhone=], 2012)
32	** ''[=DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou=]'' (2012)
33	*** ''[=DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou Kan=]'' ([=Xbox 360=], 2013)
34	*** ''[=DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou Exa Label=]''[[note]]aka Dodonpachi True Death: Exa Label[[/note]] (eXA-Arcadia, 2020)
35	* ''Touge King: The Spirits'' (released in North America as ''High Velocity – Mountain Racing Challenge'') (1995)
36	** ''Touge King: The Spirits 2'' (1997)
37	* ''Steep Slope Sliders'' (1997)
38	** ''Trick'N Snowboarder'' (1999)
39	* ''VideoGame/DangunFeveron'' (1998)
40	* ''VideoGame/EspRaDe'' (1998)
41	** ''ESP Ra. De. Psy'' ([=Playstation 4=] & [=Nintendo Switch=], 2019)
42	* ''Puzzle Uo Poko'' (1998)
43	** ''Puzzle! Mushihime-tama'' (2005)
44	* ''VideoGame/{{Guwange}}'' (1999)
45	* ''VideoGame/{{Progear}}'' (2001)
46	* ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}}'' (2003)
47	** ''Espgaluda II'' (2005)
48	*** ''Espgaluda II Black Label'' (2010), released as a port and compilation for the Xbox 360
49	*** ''Espgaluda II'' ([=iPhone=] version) (2010)
50	* ''[[VideoGame/{{Ketsui}} Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi]]'' (2003)[[/index]]
51	** ''Ketsui Death Label'' (2008), a Boss Game for the Nintendo DS
52	** ''Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi EXTRA'' for Xbox 360 (2010)
53	** ''Ketsui Deathtiny'' for Platform/PlayStation4 (2018)[[index]]
54	* ''VideoGame/{{Mushihimesama}}'' (2004)
55	** ''Mushihime-sama Futari'' (2006)
56	*** ''Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label'' (2007)
57	** ''Mushihime-sama BUG PANIC! (2010)''
58	* ''VideoGame/{{Ibara}}'' (2005)
59	*** ''Ibara Kuro Black Label'' (2006)
60	** ''Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara'' (2006)
61	* ''VideoGame/DeathSmiles'' (2007)
62	** ''Deathsmiles Mega Black Label'' (2008)
63	** ''Deathsmiles II'' (2009)
64	** ''Gothic wa Mahou Otome'' [[note]]A Gacha mobile spin-off set in the same world of ''Deathsmiles''[[/note]] (2015)
65	** ''Deathsmiles I & II'' for Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch (2021)
66	* ''[[VideoGame/MuchiMuchiPork Muchi-Muchi Pork]]'' (2007)
67	* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIMAGINE'' (2007)
68	* ''VisualNovel/PrincessDebut'' (2008)
69	* ''VideoGame/AkaiKatana'' (2010)
70	** [=Akai Katana Shin=] ([=Xbox 360=], 2011)
71	* ''Mini [=4WD=] Games'' (2011)
72	* ''Shirotsuku: Castle Creator'' (2011 for Japanese mobile, 2012 for other platforms)
73	* ''VideoGame/Nin2Jump'' (2011)
74	* ''VisualNovel/HoukagoNoKamishibaibu'' (2011)
75	* ''Rokumeikan Mahjong'' (2011)
76	* ''Angel Code'' (2011)
77	* ''VisualNovel/InstantBrain'' (2011)
78	* ''VideoGame/GunBloodDays'' (2012)
79	* ''VideoGame/CubeDrop'' (2016)
80	* ''VideoGame/LordOfDungeon'' (2017)
81	* ''VideoGame/SangokuJustice'' (2018)
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83	* ''[[Franchise/TouhouProject Touhou Gensou Eclipse]]'' (2023)
84	[[/index]]
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88	!!Licensed games:
89
90	* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar: Legend of the Savior'' (2011)
91	* ''Monchil: Franchise/HelloKitty Mega Monster Cosplay Collection'' (2011)
92	* ''[[Franchise/HelloKitty Hello Kitty]] Puzzle Chains'' (2014)
93	* ''[[Anime/PsychoPass Psycho-Pass]] Koushiki Appli'' (2015)
94	* ''[[Manga/StrikeWitches World Witches]] United Front'' (2020)
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98	!!Names to know in CAVE
99
100	* Makoto Asada: Producer
101	* Kenichi Takano: Producer
102	* Tsuneki Ikeda: Programmer, most-well-known for scoring systems involving a ''lot'' of scoring items potentially on the screen at once, two different kinds of shots to force tradeoffs between survival and score, some means of bullet cancelling, and the final boss being immune or resistant to something that inexperienced players might use often.
103	* "Joker" Creator/JunyaInoue: Artist and planner
104	* Akira Wakabayashi: Visual designer
105	* Shinobu Yagawa: Programmer, most-well-known for [[DynamicDifficulty "rank" systems]] that encourage the player to purposely get killed, encouraging boss milking, [[GottaCatchEmAll medal chaining]], and enemies who actually shoot at the player.
106	* Masa-KING: Producer and front-man for CAVE's mobile division as well as part-time music composer (not to be confused with MASA-King, another music composer). He is willing to dress up in all sorts of costumes for the sake of CAVE.
107	* Daisuke Matsumoto: Music composer and occasional voice actor
108	* Natsuko Naitou: Music composer and singer for all [[ImageSong image songs]]
109	* Ryu Umemoto: Music composer who was also a personal friend of Makoto Asada. He passed away in 2011.
110	* Manabu Namiki: Music composer who did many, ''many'' songs for the ''VideoGame/DonPachi'' series. Left the company in 2012.
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114	!!Games developed by CAVE contain examples of:
115
116	* OneUp: There's [[Every10000Points the usual way of earning extra lives]], though in many games you can also obtain a 1-up in the form of an item by fulfilling certain conditions.
117	* ArrangeMode: The "[color]" Label versions are often this:
118	** "Black Label": Straightforward arrange or UpdatedRerelease
119	** "Death Label": BossRush mode [[note]]''Ketsui Death Label'' is a BossGame port for the Platform/NintendoDS, while ''[=DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Death Label=]'' is a separate mode in the Platform/PlayStation2 port of ''[=DoDonPachi DaiOuJou=]''[[/note]]
120	** "Blue Label": Special Competitive Mode; Often only playable at a "Cave Matsuri Festival"[[note]]''VideoGame/{{Guwange}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Ketsui}}'''s Blue Labels are included in their {{Updated Re-release}}s[[/note]]
121	* AudienceShift: When CAVE decided to port their games to mobile, [[PeripheryDemographic a whole new demographic came to them]]: mobile gamers. This is due to the fact that the IOS ports are one of the few localizations of the game and probably the versions most people recognize. This later prompted that CAVE shifted to mobile games, as it would be their best market, since they had success with their mobile releases. With titles such as Don Paccin and Mahou Otome, these games resemble the Bullet Hell that CAVE is traditionally known for, but with gameplay mechanics that cater to casual gamers, such as the lack of OneHitPointWonder and the addition of stat-enhancing items, gameplay mechanics, and collectibles, which enhanced even further with microtransactions.
122	* BossGame: Games with the "Death Label" designation. ''[=DoDonPachi=] Dai Ou Jou Death Label'' (which comes with the [=PS2=] port) is this on steroids, while ''Ketsui Death Label'' is a DS game. ''Ketsui'' also has a mobile version that pits you against [[TrueFinalBoss DOOM]], with each defeat of it bringing it back with more firepower.
123	* BulletHell: Some of the most iconic examples, commonly making use of very fast patterns that are associated with popular perception of Bullet Hell games. Along with the more famous ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', Cave was responsible for bringing the subgenre out of niche circles and to an extent, reviving the ShootEmUp genre after it fell out of favor with the decline of arcades and the rise of 3-d gaming. Notably, CAVE shooters are ranked [[https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64197 very high]] in terms of preference by shoot 'em up players.
124	* CapcomSequelStagnation: To a limited extent with a number of their games, but ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi'' is one of the biggest offenders out there.
125	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Switching between the two hardest difficulties will cost you a few lives as you [re-]learn the shot patterns.
126	** Ketsui Death Label's... ''Death Label'' course also reverses the shot colors; all the previously red shots are now blue, and vice versa. Have fun with that.
127	* DolledUpInstallment: ''Mushihime-tama'' is actually a sequel to ''Uo Poko'' with the ''Mushihime-sama'' brand slapped on to it.
128	* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: ''Ketsui''[='=]s TrueFinalBoss is called "DOOM."
129	* EasierThanEasy: No Bullet mode in ''[=DoDonPachi=] Dai Ou Jou'', and the Novice supermode in recent CAVE ports.
130	* ExcusePlot: Though admittedly, CAVE plots are pretty good by shmup standards. Even the original ''VideoGame/{{DonPachi}}'' whacks you over the head by revealing [[spoiler:the true nature of your training missions.]] While very few play these kinds of games for the plot, there's nevertheless named characters and settings for the curious.
131	** Eventually poked fun at with the protagonist of the ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi'' series. When he's finally given his own personality, he's extremely dismissive of everything happening around him [[BlindObedience and only cares about fulfilling his mission.]]
132	* FollowTheLeader: The ShootEmUp genre was already overflowing with games by the time the 90s came around. It took the [=DonPachi=] series to have many bullets on the ''Opponents''' sides rather than the Player's side to make the new subgenre that is BulletHell.
133	* FunWithAcronyms: CAVE -- '''C'''omputer '''A'''rt '''V'''isual '''E'''ntertainment.
134	* GrandFinale: ''[=SaiDaiOuJou=]'' is not just this for the ''[=DonPachi=]'' franchise, it is also CAVE's last big shmup.
135	* GuideDangIt: Many of the games' scoring systems; ''Espgaluda II'' has a learning curve that necessitated tutorials in its iPhone and Xbox 360 ports.
136	* Platform/HighDefinition: The Xbox 360 ports of ''Mushihime-sama Futari'', ''Espgaluda II'', and ''Deathsmiles'' are done in sweet, sweet HD, a big leap from their native 384x240 resolution. Of course, you can always switch to "Arcade" mode for all three ports if you're a purist.
137	* HitboxDissonance: Your hitbox is always either the cockpit, the center of the ship, or the center of the character's chest. Older games don't show the precise hit-box, which can cause issues for those who grew up with newer danmaku games.
138	* HorizontalScrollingShooter: ''Progear'', ''Akai Katana'', and the ''Deathsmiles'' series.
139	* ImageSong: Becoming increasingly-common for their shmups, sung by Natsuko Naitou.
140	* ImprobablyFemaleCast: Deathsmiles is the best example with one out of the six playable characters being male, and even then he's a convincing crossdresser, but generally most work that has contributions by artist Creator/JunyaInoue tends to favor female characters.
141	* NintendoHard: Their most celebrated aspect second to the quality of their titles is the relentless difficulty. Though to CAVE's credit, their games tend to have only 5 or 6 stages (as opposed to the 8-12 stages of other shooters), and while patterns do get very difficult (especially on harder difficulties and second loops), enemies almost never fire off cheap-shot attacks (think ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}''[='=]s [[DemonicSpiders sniper tanks]]). In short, the games are still very hard, but it's a "tough but fair" type of hard. Granted, this does not make them any less hard. Additionally, certain games such as Deathsmiles and the various arranges of Mushihime-Sama have a wide variety of difficulty settings for those new to the genre. For an idea of just how hard, in interviews on ''[=DoDonPachi Saidaioujou=]'', chief designer Akira Wakabayashi said "I hope it takes at least 7 years to beat."[[note]]This quote is a reference to ''[=DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Death Label=]'', which really did take that long to beat[[/note]]
142	** Their mobile ports are even more so; unless you're playing on tablets with larger screens, their bullet-hell gameplay is a SurpriseDifficulty for mobile gamers who weren't used to it, especially in smartphones' glaringly cramped screens.
143	* NoSell: Nearly all of their {{True Final Boss}}es will raise a shield if you fire your SmartBomb or otherwise gain invincibility to prevent you from just cheesing them.
144	* OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope: CAVE games have traditionally had a [[BlindIdiotTranslation poorly translated English]] legal warning, ending in the infamous sentence: "Violator and subject to severe penalties and will be prosecutedt to the full extent of the jam." Made even stranger by the fact that, in the case of [=DoDonPachi=], the rest of the [[http://www.heisanevilgenius.com/wackywiki/images/3/3e/Dodonpachi_warning.png legal warning]] is written in English. Furthermore, when ''VideoGame/{{Mushihimesama}}'' received a Platform/{{Steam}} port, most of the warning was rewritten to remove the "for use in Japan only" lines ([[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments replacing them with "for use on planet Earth only"]]), while the final line has the word "jam" instead of "law" left intact. If this wasn't an intentional joke at first, it definitely is now.
145	* PinballScoring: Many of the newer games. Usually, the trick to a high score involves cancelling a screenful of bullets and converting them into point items that each yield thousands, if not millions, of points, allowing you to, within one or two stages, reach a score that would otherwise require getting to the last stage or a score or be outright impossible to get. In ''Espgaluda II'', for instance, playing normally will probably get you the first [[Every10000Points extend]] (15 million points) on Stage 4 or 5, but a few tactics allow you to get it on ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t4xt8S2mvk Stage 1]]''.
146	* ScoringPoints: Like many other BulletHell shooters, CAVE introduces a variety of complex scoring systems into their shooters.
147	* SceneryPorn: Their games tend to be very, very pretty. From the trippy digital backgrounds in the Don Pachi series, to the lovingly detailed forests and insects in MushihimeSama, to the spooky gothic scenery of Deathsmiles.
148	* SdrawkcabName: The corrupt MegaCorp of ''Ketsui'', EVAC, is "CAVE" spelled backwards.
149	* SequelFirst: See previous example.
150	* TankGoodness: To the point where the iOS version of ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}} II'' has the Achievement "One Less Tank in a Cave Game".
151	* TrueFinalBoss: Many games have one, either on the hardest difficulty or in a second loop. They are oftentimes ''significantly'' harder than the rest of the game, hardest difficulty not withstanding.
152	* VerticalScrollingShooter: Most of their shooters, with ''Progear'', ''Akai Katana'', and the ''Deathsmiles'' series being [[HorizontalScrollingShooter exceptions]].
153	* UpdatedRerelease: The "[color] Label" re-releases.
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157	-> ''This page is for use in '''Trope Land only'''. Sales, export or operation outside this country may be construed as copyright and trademark infrindgement and is strictly prohibited. [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope Violator and subject to severe penalties and will be prosecutedt to the full extent of the JAM.]]''
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Context Creator / CAVE