Spelunky Crashes the Party in the Gaming World

For decades large media corporations have controlled, managed, and monopolized how we consume video games, music, films, food and the list goes on. Around the beginning of The Great Recession one may have started to notice a serious shift away from main stream media to alternative outlets that were complete unknowns before the decentralization of media in our country began.

As a blog/Internet writer, I am also apart of this independent movement. There was a time when I wanted to be accepted by the main stream media, but after craving my own niche in the entertainment industry, I now feel empowered to share my work independently.

Spelunky is a independent masterpiece on several levels. The 2D side-scrolling adventure game pushes users right off the edge of their seat during gameplay. If you grew up on 2D games, and have moved past them due to the need of 3D graphics, I understand, and hope you open your mind back up to the possibilities of enjoyment that can occur in a 2D game. Once the user has overcome that piece of adversity, then anyone can easily get addicted to the game.

My story with Spelunky starts off with my roommate, and co-editor, playing the game in his room for hours. I would go in and check on him as he would curse at his computer screen during gameplay. I would ask him what game he was playing, and normally he would reply in a loud tone, ‘Spelunky’! This turned into me yelling ‘Spelunky’ at his room every time he would die it the game. He would yell something, and then hear me yell ‘Spelunky’, as if the game were a person that just ate the last biscuit. This carried on for months when the game first became available on PC.

As time went on Spelunky would be released for the XBox 360 with Mossmouth Games. This is when I was first introduced to the gameplay with advanced graphics. The graphics on the PC game were a little rough around the edges, but the principal of the game remained. The levels in the game would randomize each time going through them in gameplay. This creative element makes the game one of the most challenging games on the planet. The game also has to be completed in one single run with limited health. It is a game for the strategic minds of the world.

If you have beat Hell in Spelunky, and still have been able to hold a job, I commend your work. I am a college student with a job, an independent business owner, and I still have not finished the game all the way through. It has been almost two years of me causally playing the game without beating it completely. One would think that if you haven’t beat a video game in two years to give up, but they would have never played Spelunky for hours on end. The feeling of long-term accomplishment is what drive players to continue the quest in the game.

For more information, check out the Spelunky Web Link.