Cally's Caves 3 Demo

Platformers never seem to go out of style, mainly because gamers love to be challenged on a regular basis. Even if they are more representative for the 16-bit era, there are still plenty of 2D platformers released today, some of which even have a hefty budget to fuel them. In short, as long as the gameplay mechanics are challenging and they encourage replayability, gamers are bound to give it a try.

Cally's Caves 3 is a 2D platformer in the style of Metroid or Castlevania, which means that it belongs to the Metroidvania club when it comes to gameplay mechanics. As such, your main goals are to explore the levels as you see fit, defeat or avoid the enemies that try to stop you, as well as collect a variety of items and coins that make your journey easier in the long run.

The story puts Cally under the spotlight again, only this time it’s her parents that need help. As it happens, some evil aliens come by and kidnap them with a spaceship. In order to rescue them, Cally must find her way to the aliens and defeat the aliens once and for all. A few other characters make an appearance along the way, such as old friends or various NPCs, but the story is not very memorable anyway.

Although you can pretty much figure out how to play the game from the first few minutes, there are some tricks you have to get accustomed to along the way. Double jumping is possible, but you must use it wisely in most situations, otherwise it can work against you. Your character can level up as well, not to mention the fact that there are plenty of different weapons you can find by exploring the stages for treasure chests and the like.

Given the retro feel of the game, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the graphics are two-dimensional as well. That doesn’t mean they look bad, on the other hand, especially if you are into 2D artwork and old-school animations. In fact, the game has the potential to awaken a few memories, at least if you have any experience with the old classics.

Even if Cally's Caves 3 might seem rather simple and repetitive at first, the level exploration is fun, and the gameplay mechanics are nicely refined to be as intuitive as possible. The controls are smooth, and the graphics are colorful enough to brighten your mood.