Most of the popular RPG Maker games out there are the usual Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest clones of assorted quality (terrible to truly inspired masterworks), but Cavern of Doom manages to take retro to an even more nostalgic level. Imagine an actual turn-based RPG made for the Atari 260- and you get the idea. If you love the blocky graphics old Atari home games had, CoD will get you smiling as soon as you see it in motion. the guy who made this gem, bobthebobish, clearly has a great sense of humor as you’ll see when you’re playing the game. I love how his chunky sprite monsters, simple use of color and even more straightforward dungeon mazes all tickled the proper nerves while the more modern turn-based combat appealed to my JRPG loving side. There’s also a cool upgrade system where you buy new skills with gained experience, a necessary thing as the game can be quite tough if you move too quickly through the dungeons. A sequel of sorts was in the works, but real life has halted progress on it for the time being. Anyway, CoD is ONLY about a 3 MB download, it’s FREE and if you happen to like the art style, you’ll get a kick out of what’s here even if you’re not big into the genre.
