Spelunky review

Spelunky has been one of the most bizarre gaming experiences I’ve had for a long time. More accurately, it’s given me one of the most bizarre reactions to a game I’ve had for a long time. Every time I sit down to play the game I inevitably get frustrated to the point of rage quitting. I have yet to quit the game thinking “that was a lot of fun, but I’ve had enough for today”. No, I always quit the game with thoughts of “this game is completely unfair”, or “procedural generation really makes this game feel pointless”, or more commonly “fuck this game”.

Those are the feelings I get when actually playing Spelunky, but when I’m not playing it I can’t help but think back on the game with high regard as a well-designed, enjoyably hard, and ultimately fun game. What is wrong with my brain? It’s not the first game that I’ve said “fuck this game” when quitting, only to come back five minutes later and carry on, but I guess that’s the point. A game like Dark Souls I rage quit early on in my first playthrough, and yet I look back at that game as one of my all time favourites. I think the same can be said for Cuphead too. But unlike Dark Souls and Cuphead, Spelunky has certain things that really get under my skin when playing, but I don’t seem to care about on reflection. Let me explain that.

I recently watched a video by Game Maker’s Tool Kit (which I would recommend if I had any significant platform to be recommending things from) and in this video, he said that he has never played a bad level when playing Spelunky. I find this hard to believe because I’ve come across plenty of terrible levels in this game. I’ve had levels where the damsel has been trapped within several blocks of wall and standing next to an exploding crate making it impossible to get her out without killing her. Another level I played had the damsel already dead by a trap by the time I got to her. On more than one occasion in the mines I’ve triggered the boulder, only to somehow piss off the shopkeeper. And in one level in the jungle I’ve started the level only find the only path blocked by one of those giant indestructible frogs making the entire run doomed from the word go.

The list of bad levels I’ve come across could go on, but the point is that’s how I felt when actually playing those levels. Thinking back to them now, I don’t hate them, or even think they were bad levels. The damsel is not the ultimate objective of each level, she’s just a bonus. And there have been many levels where I simply gone straight to the door, without even spotting her. What’s the difference between not even seeing her and finding her already dead, or trapped in a situation where I can’t save her. The result at the end of the level is the same: I don’t get an extra life, and that’s the point of procedural generation, sometimes you get a really easy level, and sometimes you don’t. Getting through and progressing through the game is partially based on luck as well as skill. In the levels where I’ve triggered the boulder to piss off the shopkeeper, that’s a classic case of risk vs. reward; with a huge risk of pissing off the shopkeeper, but a huge reward of getting the idol. And those giant indestructible frogs are probably not that indestructible when faced with grenades, and what difference does that make? In some levels I don’t use a single grenade, while in others I use several. That level with the giant frog blocking the only way through is simply one of the latter.

I suppose that’s what makes Spelunky such a good and engaging game. You might find yourself frustrated while actually playing it, but upon reflection you’ll come to realise that the entire point of the game is that some levels are good and some are bad. Each one is a challenge, but rather than trying the same level over and over again until you simply brute force your way though, you have to draw on the past levels which you can never replay in order to gain the skill and experience needed to get through this new and unique level. And if you mess up, remember why you messed up, and learn from that experience because you’ll never get that experience again.

Now, I won’t say that Spelunky is a perfect game. For one, I completely despise the gimmicks added to certain levels. Especially the gimmick where the level is dark apart from the few fireflies and the odd torch you can light to find your way through. More often than not you’ll be hit by a trap, which you quite literally couldn’t see coming and that’s just fucking you about.

That’s more or less the only complaint I can lobby at the game, but my interest is starting to wane. I’ve been stuck in only the second world for a while and thinking rationally, I can only imagine it’s because the way the procedural generation is designed is causing me the problems, but I guess if I just kept playing, I’ll eventually come across the right combination of four jungle levels that I can get through. I can’t think of a good way to end this post so I’m just going to stop typing.