Spelunky 2

Genre: Platformer / Roguelike

Players: 1-4 Co-Op / Competitive (Local / Local Wireless / Online)

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Review:

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Spelunky 2 is a Platformer and Roguelike released in 2020 on PC and PlayStation 4, ported to Nintendo Switch in 2021, and then ported to Xbox One in 2022. Coming over a decade after its predecessor, Spelunky 2 is in many ways “more of the same”, in every sense. The core premise remains the same – you’re an Indiana Jones-style explorer searching through randomized caves and dungeons trying to get safely down while fending off enemies, avoiding traps, and grabbing up treasure. However, there’s now more of… well, all of that.

The presentation here follows in the cartoony 2D same style as the original Spelunky, but with much more detail, really fleshing out the way the game looks and giving plenty of visual flair while still remaining faithful to the look of the original game. The soundtrack this time around is more atmospheric than the first game, and thankfully less annoying, though it’s also not nearly as memorable. Overall, I think this is a good follow-up to the presentation in the first game.

When it comes to the gameplay, this is once again a RogueliKe with a “hard K”, meaning that you won’t be unlocking any major permanent upgrades making each run through the game’s randomized levels an all-or-nothing affair. Usually nothing.

The gameplay remains very close to what was in the original Spelunky, with the same move set, and same general gameplay. There’s just more of it now. More enemies, more biomes, more types of loot, more upgrades, more characters. There’s also a new physics system for water and lava, new rideable mounts, new second-screen passageways leading between doorways within a level. All of this feels like a natural progression of what was already in the first game.

While that means that Spelunky 2 has more of the wonderful variety that was a large part of what made that game great, it also means that Spelunky 2 has more of the absurd sadistic difficulty that made the first game absurdly frustrating for me. All my complaints about the first game return here, and they are super-charged by piling on even more enemies, more traps, more threats, and as a result more deaths that often feel unearned and not the fault of the player.

For the record, here are those complaints, copy-pasted from my review of the first game, since they remain valid here too: Your jump has limited vertical clearance, limiting your platforming ability. Your primary weapon, a whip, has extremely limited reach and very poor hit detection. Depending on whether or not you’re pressing the run button (inverted here by default so you’re running unless you press it), you only move at two speeds: molasses-slow or nearly uncontrollably-fast. You can only hold one item at a time and doing so removes your ability to use your attack.

What’s more, the randomized level design will get you killed time and time again. You’ll have to plummet down numerous leaps of faith. It’s far too easy to get yourself stuck in a place where you have no choice but to use one of your limited resources to get un-stuck. You could take your time and carefully move through the environment in a way that minimizes risk, but… nope! Do that, and the game will spawn an undefeatable enemy that stalks you through walls and instantly kills you if it touches you.

This is a game where you will die over and over and over again, and often these deaths will feel unearned. You’ll find that the game’s random level generation will spawn a gap that you need to pass through, with one side having a trap that will kill you if you try to do so. Or you’ll need to get past enemies you can’t fight that will kill you in one hit, but their placement makes it virtually impossible to just jump over them. or, more often than not, you’ll have to jump down to progress, only to find that the area you’re jumping to has deadly traps or enemies that kill you… or that the fall itself will kill you.

If you’re the sort of person who enjoyed the original Spelunky, then I suppose you’re in luck, because Spelunky 2 is everything about that game turned up to extremes. And if you’re the sort of person who hated Spelunky, then there’s nothing here that will change your mind, because Spelunky 2 is everything about that game turned up to extremes. And I take the view that most players, myself included, will fall into the latter category.

tl;dr – Spelunky 2 is a Platformer with Roguelike elements which, like the first game, has the player trying to delve into randomized caves and underground ruins filled with enemies, traps, and treasure. This sequel gives players more of everything that was in the first game, both the good and the bad. This means plenty of enticing variety, but also an even more absurdly sadistic high challenge level that’s beyond punishing. While this game is sure to have players who love it, I expect most players will find it far too frustrating to bother with.

Grade: C+

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