Spelunky

Genre: Platformer / Roguelike

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

.

Review:

(Note: This game was the winner of the January 2026 Patron Poll! Become a donor on Patreon to join in on future polls like this one to decide games to review!)

Spelunky, originally released on PC in 2008 with a remade version coming to Xbox 360 in 2012, is a highly-influential game when talking about the growth of the Roguelike genre, being a good early example of how you take the Roguelike formula and apply it to other genres, in this case Platformers. The remake has since been ported to numerous other game platforms, with the Nintendo Switch release of the game coming out in 2021.

Given the game’s age and modest indie origins, it’s little surprise that the presentation here, while decent, is fairly unspectacular. It features cartoony 2D characters and backgrounds that work well enough for the gameplay, and is joined by synthesized music that’s both catchy and irritating, the sort that I would easily recognize if I heard it playing, but also immediately want to turn down or mute the volume.

When it comes to the gameplay, there’s one thing we need to get out of the way right at the start – this is a RogueliKe with a hard-K. None of that “lite” stuff. The only permanent progress you’ll make between runs is unlocking shortcuts to later levels and unlocking additional playable characters. Otherwise, you’re on your own for each run through the game.

The premise here has you as an Indiana Jones-style explorer of the game’s randomized caves and underground ruins, fighting various enemies, dodging traps, collecting loot, and spending it to buy upgrades at various shops you’ll come across. The terrain in Spelunky is destructible, but your ability to do so is limited by a finite number of bombs, meaning you’ll want to do so only when you really need to make a shortcut for yourself, or when the potential rewards you’ll gain access to are lucrative enough to justify the use of that limited resource. The same goes for ropes that provide you a way to climb up out of pits you won’t be able to get out of – these are similarly finite, so you’ll want to be careful before jumping down somewhere that you’re not getting into a spot that doesn’t bring you closer to the level exit, or at least a treasure that’s worthwhile enough.

When Spelunky is at its best, you’ll be outsmarting enemies and traps, discovering new and interesting rooms or upgrades, and finding the best path through the dangerous environment. However, I tend to find that Spelunky is rarely at its best.

Yeah, I know that some people are huge fans of this game, but I am not one of those. The major problem with Spelunky is that despite its cartoony presentation, it is extremely punishingly difficult, in a manner that’s often unforgiving. 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, 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 those limited resources I mentioned before. 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 player who craves a challenge, and who doesn’t mind dying again and again and again to circumstances out of your control, I suppose you may enjoy Spelunky, as its randomized levels make for a ton of variety. But for me personally, I have never cared for Spelunky, and returning to the game now after repeatedly trying to get into it over the years just reinforces that opinion.

tl;dr – Spelunky is a Platformer with Roguelike elements that has the player trying to delve into randomized caves and underground ruins filled with enemies, traps, and treasure. The randomized elements provide a lot of variety here, but this game’s absurdly high challenge level is sadistic in how it punishes the player, frequently placing them in no-win situations. Players who crave a challenge may still enjoy this, but I think most players will find this far too frustrating to enjoy.

Grade: C+

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Jamie and His Cats, Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Johannes, Jaka, Jared Wark, Gabriel Coronad-Medina, Francis Obst, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}