10 Incredible Video Games Made By A SINGLE Person
4. Cave Story - Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya was working as an independent game designer with a few titles under his belt prior to beginning work on the title that made him famous. Amaya spent five years designing and developing Cave Story as a Metroidvania platform-adventure game, which found release in 2004 on the PC.
The game pays homage to the titles Amaya played in his youth, specifically, Metroid and Castlevania. Anyone who's played those games can see the similarities in Cave Story's gameplay. After releasing the game independently, Amaya succeeded in porting the title to the Nintendo 3DS and Switch.
When his game launched, it was freeware and widely available. Within a short period, the popularity of Cave Story rose among players, and it went on to receive widespread acclaim from players and critics alike. In 2006, it was named as the #1 out of 50 Best Freeware Game of All Time by Super PLAY.
Cave Story holds a score of 89/100 on Metacritic, and despite initially being free, the game has garnered millions across its various Nintendo platforms.