A fan-made enhanced edition of Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya’s seminal indie platformer Cave Story has been slapped with a DMCA takedown. Publishers Nicalis have accused Cave Story Engine 2 of using code stolen from the original game’s source – code that they, as developers of Cave Story +, own. But while fears that the publisher planned to wipe all free versions of the game off the internet for good seem to have been misplaced, contention remains over whether Nicalis actually owns the rights to code used by the now-shutted fan game.

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I settled a ‘Dracula vs. Frankenstein’ debate the other day by referring to the authority on power rankings: Top Trumps cards, where Dracula trounces Frankenstein. Granted the debate was about the books rather than a monsterfight, but it’s still fun to throw fictional folks together to see who’d win a rumble. Enter Blade Strangers, a crossover fighting game released today. Along with pugilists from previous games by developers Studio Saizensen, it draws characters from games including Shovel Knight, The Binding Of Isaac, Azure Striker Gunvolt, and Cave Story. But which is better, a spade-swinging knight or a weeping dead child? There’s only one way to find out: fiiight!

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As an avid The Binding Of Isaac player and a fan of absurd disparity in fighting game crossovers, I’m delighted to hear that Isaac has joined the cast of Blade Strangers. Isaac, a murdered child who in his native roguelikelike top-down shooter fights sentient poos by crying on them, will face a roster of heavily-armed crossover characters including Quote, the warbot hero of Cave Story. A bit like watching Butt-Head fight Godzilla on Salty Bet. That said, seeing Isaac in action in the new trailer below, I am surprised by how much of a scrapper the wee guy is. Even if he does cheat by getting his mum to fight for him. (more…)