One World is Not Big Enough for Spelunky

Get ready to travel to outer space for the most important sequel in gaming history. Super Mario Bros. 2 was cute, but it is no match for the second edition of Spelunky. (No pressure Derek and Andy.)

For many mainstream gamers, Spelunky is off the radar in comparison to the latest God of War, NBA 2K18 or the next GTA. Only the smartest indie gamers have sought out the world’s greatest video game experience produced by Derek Yu and Andy Hull.

I first started playing video games in the late ’80s with the original Nintendo. Similar to Derek Yu, I also was glued to the television with the engaging storylines that Shigeru Miyamoto created.

Over the past three decades, I have seen the progression in gaming, and overall, I am disappointed with the amount of unnecessary violence in mainstream games. It is true that Spelunky does have mild violence, but overall, the game is lighthearted and acceptable for all ages.

Mainstream gaming mirrors the unoriginal format to mainstream movies with a never ending amount of sequels. In contrast, Spelunky 2 is the only sequel I will give praise to. The reason is connected to the amount of hours spent enjoying the game in comparison to all other games in history.

For those that have dug deep into the original Spelunky game, they can see the value in the game. A quick breakdown of time spent on Spelunky in comparison to the largest titles can be shown by hours spent playing the game.

My second most played game in hours would be GTA 4 with around 100-150 hours played. When I compare that to the first Spelunky, I have played that game clearly over 2,000 hours. When you put that into context, that game has taken up a good section of my life, and I would not have it any other way. Sure, I could have solved incurable diseases, but lets be honest, I’m a designer, not a scientist.

The game design and overall performance makes it challenging in all the right ways.

My experience with Spelunky may be similar to others that have been brainwashed by mainstream gaming. I would overhear my roommate screaming at the top of his lungs, ‘Spelunky’. Usually, I would mock him and yell back, ‘Spelunky’! At the time he didn’t find it amusing since he had just died in the game at a pivotal point. What happened though over time is that I would walk in his room look at the crudely designed game, before the remastered edition came out, and think to myself, this game looks awful. Once the remastered edition came out, I started to attempt to play the game only the fail over, and over, and over again. I still haven’t made it all the way through the entire game.

My roommate and fellow editor would bond together and play Spelunky with our downtime. It became a way to laugh, cry and work together to solve puzzles in the game.

We continue to play the remastered Spelunky, but often wanted Mossmouth to consider a second edition to the game. The diehard gamers would inquire to Derek about a second game, and was informed that he was done with the game.

At the recent Paris Games Week, Playstation and Mossmouth announced Spelunky 2. They dropped a trailer with no gameplay, but a thoughtful storyline extending from the first game.

If you have played the first game, there is a spacecraft that hints at outer space travel. The moon is highlighted in the trailer, and it can be assumed that the location of Spelunky 2 will include intergalactic moments.