If you’ve happened to come across DagonDogs.com from the early days of the website, you’re probably aware of my appreciation for Rogue-like games, namely Spelunky. I have put many, many hours into Spelunky since its release on the PS3 and again when I got it on PC. I’ve gone to Hell and back many times in that game and even recorded it on our YouTube channel (which has not been updated in a long time). Up until this year, it’s been the game I go to when I only have a few minutes available and I just don’t know what I want to do before getting started on something else, like making dinner, or chores around the house. As you might expect, my interest was piqued when I heard about a sequel to the fantastic Spelunky.

To be upfront with you, I haven’t beaten the game yet. I’ve gotten quite far: past Olmec, to the city of gold, into the caves and alien ruins, but I have yet to see what the final boss or stage is. However, I feel I’ve seen enough to form my opinions of the game and am confident that my opinion won’t change much if I see anything new from this point forward.

The Short of It

What I’ve Played

• 14 Hours

• PC version on Steam

• Single-player - Adventure maps (unseeded)

Pros

• Plays just as precisely and smoothly as the previous game

• A lot of old strategies still work just as well, allowing old and new fans to go back and forth between games without much of a difference

• Some neat new mechanics that allow for more variety in the playstyle and adventure

Cons

• Music is not as good in most areas and lacks the same amount of variety that there was before

The Rest of It

Story

Daughter of the famous spelunker from the previous game, Ana, sets out with her pug Monty to find her father who went out on another adventure and has gone missing. That’s it. There’s not much of a story in these games because that’s not the point. You can play as different avatars that you unlock anyway, so it’s not like there’s a story mode.

Gameplay

The first time I loaded up Spelunky 2, I ran to the right, killed a bat with the same old technique as before, and felt right at home. Within 10 seconds, I came across a vase with a face on the side, hit it with my whip, and picked up the diamond contained within. Before I could celebrate, the same phrase “A terrible chill runs up your spine” appeared on the screen, and the ghost that shows up on levels when you take too long to clear it appeared and started to chase me. I managed to outmaneuver him for quite a while as I made my way down the mines. However, before I reached the end, the ghost suddenly split in two. One of which was much faster at chasing me and eventually caught me. From this point, I knew I was in for some more Spelunky.

The game plays almost exactly as the previous one. The controls are all as smooth and precise as before. The jumping, the ledge-grabbing, the attacks, the strategies all feel and work as they did before. There are a few minor tweaks that only someone who played the previous game would notice, like how items like the cape or green gloves operate. Otherwise, it’s the same as before, but with something new.

You could argue that, with only minor tweaks, there’s not much new or brave about how Spelunky 2 has built upon the previous game, to which I would reply: “If it ain’t broke…” Spelunky was a near-flawless Rogue-like, in my opinion. While I’ve played other games of the same genre over the years, Spelunky was the only one I kept coming back to again and again. Spelunky 2 may be “playing it safe” by not going in wild new directions, but it’s also giving fans exactly what we would want. I don’t need it to drastically change its mechanics. I just need it to play as it did before with some new environments and new secrets, which is exactly what I’ve seen so far.

Don’t get confused. I’m not trying to sell it short by saying it’s only been smaller changes because there are a lot of those changes that have added some depth to the experience and I’m still learning how to use or exploit them. For one thing, there are entirely new paths to take to get to the end of the game. In the final stage of the mines, you face off against a mini-boss who breaks up the environment and allows you to choose an exit. One exit leads to the familiar jungle stage from the previous game, while the other option leads you to a new factory-mine stage. If you happen to pick up the secret “eye” treasure in the mines, you can still unlock the black market in the jungle stage, but in the factory stage, you use it to operate a drill that goes down to the bottom of the level and unlocks a path to a vampire den, where the next treasure that you need to unlock secret paths is found. I won’t spoil any other secrets in the review for those who are interested in finding them out on their own, but just understand that there are new environments and a lot of new tools to try out.

For those who might be worried that, with a sequel, Spelunky would try to be more approachable to new players and get easier, you can relax. This game is still damn hard. While I was getting good enough with the previous game that I didn’t always need to get the jetpack to win, I cannot say the same here. The furthest I’ve gotten in Spelunky 2 has always required a great deal of luck with items. Many of the enemies from the previous game populate the environments, but there are plenty of new threats that are very efficient at killing you, some of which I’m still not sure how to handle entirely. Nonetheless, I’m still having a blast learning the new mechanics and enemy strategies as I did before.

Presentation

While still using an art style that is similar to the previous game, Spelunky 2 has redone its art with a more exaggerated look that has more color effects and visual fidelity. Torches cause glow effects, dust falls off of the ground when you jump on it, and music dampens when you go into a hidden area. Enemies and characters have more animation to them, but they’re still just as familiar as before and behave like a fan would remember. The game looks good and some of the new environments are a delight to explore… when they’re not killing you.

The only spot where I feel there is any negative I can throw at this game is the music. The music is not bad, in fact, some new levels have some great tracks. However, the total number of songs has greatly diminished for each area and I just don’t enjoy what’s there as much as the previous game. In Spelunky, I enjoyed how the mines had at least 4 different songs that could play at random, but so far, I’ve only heard 2. The total soundtrack may match up to the previous game due to the new levels, but a little more variety would be nice, or even the ability to play the previous songs would be fantastic.

TL;DR (Conclusion)

Spelunky 2 is exactly what I wanted it to be: more Spelunky with new things to discover. While I might still pick up the previous game from time to time for the classic experience, I don’t doubt that this will be constantly installed on my computer at all times to fill the few minutes I have available to me.