One of the first attempts to pass Spelunky 2 not without tragedy. Getting to the door leading to the next level, I noticed a pug on one of the platforms – if possible, I always grab the dog and drag it to the exit. But I met the dog quite early, so together with me he had to make his way through a bunch of obstacles and dangers. At some point, we came across an abyss with two traps, from which arrows fly out when approaching. It so happened that I didn’t have bombs, nor was there any garbage lying nearby – in order for the traps to work, I had to throw the pug down, sacrificing it for my own safety. He, of course, couldn’t stand it all, but what can he do – the main thing here is to survive.
Save yourself as best you can
But what happened became a valuable lesson – either always carry bombs with you just in case, or do not break vases without first examining the surroundings. That’s all Spelunky 2 – every playthrough and every death teaches something. An unprepared player is unlikely to be able to complete even the first location within the first hour – either the opponents will kill you, you will have to struggle with traps, or you will start getting confused with the buttons and throwing bombs instead of using the rope. This is absolutely normal, next time you will probably perform much better!
First Spelunky entered many lists of the best and main games of the decade – it was with it that the roguelike boom began and without it we would hardly have gotten Rogue Legacy, The Binding of Isaac and other similar games. The complex platformer with procedural generation of locations gained great popularity, and this is true both for the free original (which can still be downloaded at this link) and for the subsequently released HD version, for which other PS Vita owners continued to regularly charge their portable console.
As in the original, the character carries bombs and ropes with him. You blow up obstacles first, and with the help of the second you climb onto high platforms.
Now the Internet is full of reviews about Spelunky 2 from those who spent hundreds of hours on the first part and consider it one of their favorite games. These people like everything about the sequel, the innovations don’t seem superfluous, and the sequel doesn’t even seem easy to them. New traps and enemies can fray your nerves, the controls have changed a little (you can’t destroy a web by jumping, for example), and in the settings they turn off automatic running as soon as possible – in the original the hero ran only while holding down the button.
I have a relationship with Spelunky didn’t work out – I missed it on release, and then was not eager to join it, having briefly read it for the first time shortly before the release of the sequel. The reason for the popularity of this “bagel” turned out to be clear, and the second part, in which I spent almost a dozen hours on the first day, only reinforced my guesses – in Spelunky 2 many positive qualities are combined, thanks to which the game remains fresh for a long time and offers new challenges every time.
Service is both dangerous and difficult
In the sequel, we again take on the role of a speleologist, this time controlling Ana, the daughter of the character from the first part. She goes to the moon in search of her parents, finds the notes they left, and begins her long adventure. Of course, you shouldn’t come here for the plot. The main thing is the gameplay, which, after simple training, immediately overwhelms the player with dangers and forces them to approach each part of the location wisely.
Upon completion of each area, you meet a character who collects resources to create shortcuts. The deeper you dive, the more difficult it is to fulfill these conditions.
The character appears on the map with four “lives”, and his task is to get from the top of each location to the bottom. Because areas are generated randomly, the layout of objects is almost never the same (except for boss rooms), and the conditions are always different. Sometimes you can painlessly run to the next door without encountering any obstacles, in some cases you can collect a lot of money without any problems and come to the merchant (you come across them on some floors) with full pockets. And there are times when there are enough enemies and traps that difficulties arise at every step.
There is always a paved path from point A to point B – if you follow it, getting to the door will not be so difficult. But it’s hard to deny yourself the pleasure of exploring every corner: finding precious stones, breaking all the vases in the hope of finding gold there, finding secrets. More money means more chances to buy something useful, like a jetpack, parachute, shoes with spikes, a web-shooting gun and other things. What exactly they do isn’t explained, but it’s usually easy to figure out on your own.
At the same time, the thirst for adventure can lead to unexpected problems. You always need to evaluate whether it is worth the risk or whether you can do without some diamond. At first you don’t even notice the traps – they blend into the ground too well. But over time, you begin to skillfully activate them without causing damage to yourself. You carry stones or skulls in your hands to throw them when necessary, or you think through a plan of action in advance when you find yourself in the jungle – where the platforms have spikes coming out from all sides if you stand on them for too long.
Treat your opponents with great caution. You kill spiders hanging on the ceiling with a whip – it is not so useful in fights, since you swing it either late or early. You jump on top of someone – it will either immediately kill your opponent or simply stun them. While he’s passed out, you can grab him and throw him somewhere else – throw him off a cliff or activate traps. In the mines where the journey begins, you escape from moles that dig underground and can come to the surface at any moment. And lizard-like creatures that curl up into a ball and roll towards the heroine are especially dangerous – after one blow you can say goodbye to life.
I mainly give examples from the mines (where the character begins his journey), because in Spelunky 2 It’s better to play without unnecessary spoilers and find and find out everything yourself. Having reached the last stage of the location and having defeated the boss, you decide where to move next – two doors lead to different areas, which was not the case in the first part.
Another innovation is passages deeper into https://boombetcasino.co.uk/ locations where there are challenges, chests with trophies and all sorts of trinkets. The main thing is not to linger too long in the same area, because after three minutes a ghost will fly in chasing the character.
There is no need to worry about the timer – I very rarely had to run away from a ghost, since I managed to do everything necessary before he arrived. But there were also enough funny situations with his participation, especially when greed awoke in me and there was a strong desire to complete three things at the same time. Firstly, save the pug (or cat – choose it yourself in the settings) – if you bring it to the exit, they will give you a bonus “life”. Secondly, take the golden idol to the door – either it is difficult to get to, or when you take it, a very dangerous trap will be activated, but they will give a lot of money for it. Thirdly, bring a valuable vase with a diamond inside to the exit. When you juggle all this and achieve success, you start to like the game even more.
Sometimes you manage to get a partner – he is controlled by AI, which aggressively attacks each enemy.
Master speleologist
Lovely Spelunky 2 the fact that the player gains more and more confidence in his own abilities over time. And such multitasking, which at first seems impossible, becomes almost mandatory. The first timid attempts to reach the exit are simply running from one point to another, just to survive, even if only with one “life”. And an hour or two later, you try to save the unfortunate pug, sitting above the stake-strewn floor, surrounded by two aborigines, without even thinking about the risk. He quickly looked around the surroundings, disarmed traps, defeated weak enemies (from whom you already know what to expect) – even if you suddenly get unlucky and get wounded, the pleasure will not be spoiled.
You never stop observing how this world works and looking for new opportunities. If a mole is digging near a trap, you can lure it there. When you accidentally throw an object near an aborigine, he picks it up and uses it as a weapon. Riding creatures were introduced into the sequel – you sit on them, wait a couple of seconds and you can tame them in this way, riding on horseback until they die. But perhaps they have other uses? Well, you don’t have to buy goods from merchants – the “Pick up an item” button also works in stores. Just prepare for the consequences.
In single player mode, the game is seriously addictive, and in co-op it becomes even more fun – now there is online support. A party of four cavers can go on adventures with the added benefits of multiplayer. Dogs grant bonus "lives" to all participants, not just the one who carries them to the door. Only one person can get to the exit – the rest will be automatically teleported. Well, if someone dies, he turns into a spirit and acquires unique skills – he can blow away enemies and objects, and also freeze opponents. You can resurrect your partner if you find a sarcophagus, but in some situations the spirit may even be more useful than a regular character. It’s a pity that the online is currently unstable, but the developers are trying to fix it – the situation will probably improve by the release of the PC version.
Spelunky constantly generates unique situations, and in the sequel there is even more variety thanks to new traps, enemies and other dangers. The game’s appeal is not that the character finds dozens of objects and transforms into a monster, as in The Binding of Isaac, – it offers different conditions each time you restart, giving you three minutes to think about it, which in most cases is enough. In a sense, this is a roguelike puzzle game, the difficulty of which depends on the player. From his ability to learn from his mistakes, from speed and accuracy, from greed and confidence. That’s why people spent hundreds of hours in the first part and will continue to do so in Spelunky 2.
Pros: well-implemented procedural level generation, thanks to which the highest replayability is achieved; every mistake and every death teaches something and often occurs through the fault of the player, and not random events; various locations, opponents and situations; online co-op support.
Cons: each area has one musical composition, and the meager soundtrack gets boring over time.
Spelunky 2
Best comments
There is no progression system in the spirit of Rogue Legacy here, you unlock new characters (they differ only in appearance) and open shortcuts to later stages. Everything else, for the thousandth time it’s the same game as the first time in terms of character abilities.
But procedural generation works in such a way that situations are always different, and this is more than enough. The same shortcuts allow you to better explore later areas, so that someday you can go through the entire game without them and be better prepared. You find secrets, understand how everything works, whether you should look for keys for locks or not, why certain items or objects are needed. Sometimes you shouldn’t steal things from a store, sometimes it’s very convenient to do so. Sometimes stores sell junk, sometimes they sell cool stuff. Sometimes you save a lot of gold, sometimes you collect pennies. The game is different every time, although the character does not change.
And if you carefully follow the ghost, you can find out that he turns all the precious stones into diamonds and then everything turns into attempts to risk more for the sake of reward.
I note that I haven’t played the first part. What is the incentive to start a new session again and again?? Unlock some new characters and items?
I hope the sound will expand over time. In the first part there was a small rotation of music for the same caves and jungles.
Alexey, were there any levels with “modifiers” like a dark level, where you need to walk and light torches, or a level with piranhas??
Run to jump from the edge, shoot a crossbow that was simply impossible to see, fly across half the screen from the arrow, fall on a spider, fly away from a spider, catch some cobblestone on your head, fly off a cobblestone and fall on spikes. Nice try, try again. But the game generates unique situations – fun, funny, great… well, really?
Of course it’s true. The game rewards skillful and attentive as well as quick-thinking players. The game is not so much about exploration (although not without it), but about optimal passage with minimal risk to yourself. The game also has secrets and a lot to explore… And yes, it kills bad players in the most fun ways) so they can have fun too. Single product. I advise. Of course, your preferences don’t make the game worse, it’s just not for you.
> it’s hard to deny yourself the pleasure of exploring every corner: finding precious stones, breaking all the vases
> The main thing is not to linger too long in the same area, because after three minutes a ghost will fly in chasing the character.
Actually, that’s why it’s very easy to deny yourself the pleasure of exploring everything. For me, the first part as a whole remained exactly that – a refusal of pleasure. I want to explore the level, I want to find out what this or that strange thing does, to see and figure out which way would be better and calmer to go through, I just want to collect gold, in the end, and try a new item from the store.
But no, this is not what our game is about – I don’t understand why we have a timer attached, so put your feet in your hands and run, bitch, run. Hurricane gameplay, non-stop action.
Run to jump from the edge, shoot a crossbow that was simply impossible to see, fly across half the screen from the arrow, fall on a spider, fly away from a spider, catch some cobblestone on your head, fly off a cobblestone and fall on spikes. Nice try, try again. But the game generates unique situations – fun, funny, great… well, really?
Instead of playing this game, you practice it. To, therefore, “quickly take a look at the surroundings, disarm traps, defeat weak enemies (from whom you already know what to expect),” and all this in five seconds. And then to write that “three minutes is enough, stop whining, shut up and go git gud” (I don’t address this personally to the author, but the comments in Russian-language Steam consist of a little more than entirely of this).
Where’s the adventure?? Where is the research?? I still couldn’t understand what the joy is in rushing like a rocket through everything, and restarting the wound hundreds of times because of another vile one-shot. No, seriously – one-shots in a roguelike, yes?
Didn’t know this game helped fuel the roguelike boom. If so, thank her for that, of course. But why play this and how it can be praised remains incomprehensible to me.
Yes, just like that. One character has a flag, the camera moves behind him. If he dies, the flag goes to someone else.
This only makes it more fun and creates situations when you are trying to act carefully with a flag, but a random snake sends your partner into the abyss and you run after him faster so that he doesn’t die there from an unknown cause while no one sees)
Spelunky constantly generates unique situations, and the sequel has even more variety thanks to new traps, enemies and other dangers. The game’s advantage is not that the character finds dozens of objects and transforms into a monster, as in The Binding of Isaac – it offers different conditions every time you restart, giving you three minutes to think, which in most cases is enough. In a sense, this is a roguelike puzzle game, the difficulty of which depends on the player. From his ability to learn from his mistakes, from speed and accuracy, from greed and confidence. That’s why people spent hundreds of hours in the first game, and that’s why they’ll continue to do so in Spelunky 2.
This is the whole essence of Spelanka and its unique value in the bagel genre. So to speak, among roglites this game is an exception.