Cave Story is a freeware sidescrolling platformer title created by Daisuke Amaya, art-name Pixel. You control a cute little amnesiac who runs around helping out these rabbit-ish creatures called Mimigas while trying to find your way out of the giant cave inside the floating island which makes up the game's setting.

You can expand your health meter by collecting Life Capsules in similar fashion to Metroid games, while you can get stronger by collecting energy to boost your firearms' output. Each weapon can be built up to the maximum level fairly quickly, but taking damage will drain energy from its experience meter, sometimes causing it to level down. Given how quickly they power up this only tends to be an issue during boss fights, and even then there's usually plenty of opportunities for collecting more weapon energy.

The game has loads of secrets, too. For a freeware Japanese platformer, it's fairly lengthy and has quite a large amount of text. We're also talking three very different endings, plenty of plot, and quite a cast of charming characters. It really is a superb little gem.

The Crypts of Despair is a new release from the creator of Death Worm, though with a lot less action than it's famous counterpart.

The X key can be used to open a chest, collect items or rest in an alcove to restore energy. A food unit is consumed for every move, but can be replenished by collecting meat found in the crypt. Arrows can be used for range attacks if a bow is bought from the shop. Press the C key to enter the aim mode.

Fans of roguelike games will enjoy this tiny little dungeon romp quite a bit. There are thirty levels to explore in total.

Zugya DX is an excellent shooter from Chinchilla Softhouse that can be described as Robotron: 2084 in space. Arrow keys control the ship's movement, and your shot direction is locked when you hold down the X key. Pressing the C key will activate your plasma charge, which is basically a short moment of invincibility.

Your main targets are the space stations which you have to destroy by shooting at it's core. It won't be easy as they're usually protected by substations equipped with all sorts of defensive weapons. Some of the substations carry power-ups which you can collect to boost your spread shot.

When the game starts, click on the joypad tab, input patch and the largest button to configure default keyboard controls.

Yahtzee continues to impress with 1213 Episode 2, a platformer made using the AGS engine. Our clueless protagonist can now be made to run by holding down the shift key, and the environment is no longer limited to a grayish shade.

There is some backtracking as 1213 can only carry one item at any moment, but fortunately less time is required to travel from place to place thanks to his newfound ability.

MSOIDS is a simple arcade shooter with the mouse and keyboard implemented as part of it's control scheme. Rapid fire is activated by holding down the left mouse button, though this is only temporary as shot frequency begins to whittle down when used for a prolonged period of time. Press the enter key to start a game, and tap the space key to change colors. The W, A, S and D keys can be used to move your craft around. An online high score submission feature is included.

The Sandbox of god is a puzzle at heart, where every decision you make affects your outcome in the end.

You can use each godly power only once. Heavily inspired by GROW, you have many different choices so there really isn't a set path to follow.

Karoshi Factory is a new sequel to Jesse Venbrux's suicidal platformer series, where players must find unorthodox methods to kill all suits on screen in order to progress from one stage to the next. Use the Z key to jump, press the X key to shoot once a gun is acquired, and tap the space key to switch characters.

Press the R key to restart a level at any time. The F4 function key can be used to toggle between full screen and windowed modes. Note that touching the blue button causes a random effect, one of which is disabling the character switch function.

Trilby: The Art Of Theft is a mission-based stealth platformer created by Ben Croshaw. Your goal is to infiltrate a variety of buildings in Chapow City, steal loot, achieve objectives and get out again with the subtlety of a flickering shadow in a ninja outfit.

The player controls Trilby as he embarks upon a number of daring high-profile heists in various outposts of wealth and power. With an arsenal of thief skills at his disposal, he must lift the trinkets and valuables of the idle rich while making as little fuss as possible.

The name Gamma Bros sounds like a platformer but it is in fact a shooter. Use the W, A, S or D key to shoot in any of the four directions. Collect coins to purchase upgrades or health, and get close to an enemy to fire rapidly. You can change characters by touching your partner's ship when it appears on the screen.

A password save function is available, allowing players to continue from the last stage attempted. Access it by pressing the arrow keys while viewing the main menu. There's a Mac version as well.

This version of xWUNG is a port of cactus' earlier release, originally created using the Game Maker engine. You play by moving the mouse to swing a ball. The ball is attached to a wire, and both of them eliminate enemies on contact. Debris will destroy your ship, so avoid them whenever possible.

There are bosses that appear with regular intervals, and new enemies are introduced as the game progresses. The single power-up found in the game allows you to nullify certain enemy projectiles. Good scores can be achieved by making successive combos.