The original "Cave Story" earned widespread critical acclaim. 1UP.com described it as "so massive that it rivals modern Boy Advance "Castlevania" and "Metroid" games in terms of scope and play time". Matt Miller of "Game Informer" observed that "Cave Story" combines elements of "Metroid", "Ninja Gaiden", "Mega Man", "The Legend of Zelda", and "Castlevania" into an "engrossing, challenging, and quite lengthy" whole. Inside Mac Games ascribed the game's popularity to its "polished feel, engaging storyline, and compelling artwork". "Electronic Gaming Monthly" stated that "the burgeoning Western indie game scene owes a tremendous debt to Japanese pioneers like Studio Pixel, whose freeware hit "Cave Story" proved that with sufficient vision, skill, and passion, a single developer can still craft a deep, compelling action game". Jonathan Holmes of "Destructoid" compared the game design to that of Shigeru Miyamoto in its ability to teach without tutorials, like at the beginning of "Super Mario Bros." In July 2006, "Cave Story" earned 1st place in "Super PLAY"'s list of the 50 best freeware games of all time. In July 2015, the game placed 14th on USgamer's The 15 Best Games Since 2000 list.