Cave Story creator Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya made this piece titled “Doubutsu Monogatari.” It’s a pun since Cave Story in Japanese is Doukutsu Monogatari and “doubutsu” means animal.

Also out this week are downloadable courses for New Super Mario Bros. 2 and a demo for Style Savvy: Trendsetters.

You can play Cave Story 3D as a handful of retro heroes like the protagonist from Falcom’s Dragon Slayer.

More lovely Cave Story 3D artwork made for the game’s release in Japan.

To promote the game in Japan, Nippon Ichi hired Shinonoko to create new artwork for Cave Story 3D.

Nippon Ichi will release Cave Story 3D in Japan on July 26. What took so long between releases? It might be adding in new retro game collaborations.

Nippon Ichi hinted at two new titles during the 2011 Akihabara winter festival. President Souhei Niikawa took the stage and said they’re working on a new adventure game slated for release in 2012.

It took around a year, but Cave Story for DSiWare is coming to Japan and the news comes with a collection of fan art.

The story unfolds as Quote interacts with the Mimiga, rabbit-like creatures that live in a peaceful village. Well, it was peaceful until the Doctor and his minions Misery and Balrog showed up.

If you found all the life capsules in Cave Story, Quote would have 55 health. You can bring his life up to 100 in Cave Story 3D because NIS America hid new capsules in the 3DS version.

NIS America sent over screenshots showcasing the Plantation, one of the later areas in Cave Story 3D.

Cave Story 3D uses the Nintendo 3DS’ special effects to give formerly flat areas depth. When you’re looking into the world, Cave Story 3D’s levels feel more cave-like.

Nicalis took the challenge of bringing Studio Pixel’s platformer into the third dimension. For nostalgic value, Quote’s sprite is in the game too, but the world remains in 3D.

“The sell through was really great, but there weren’t many copies printed. The install number is really small. That’s the reason many people cannot find Neptunia.”

Cave Story 3D has 3D models made by the team at Nicalis, but the original game had sprite graphics. 2D mode is a fusion of both styles.

See the latest screenshots of Quote leaping through levels in Cave Story 3D.