#Spelunky 2 levels full#

I think of The Binding of Isaac, which isn’t so much a single game as an expanding behemoth of cartoon body horror. Other roguelikes have tended to avoid direct sequels in favor of updates, expansions, and remasters, each adding new combinations and possibilities. Those rules are part of the appeal - discovering exactly what can and cannot be done makes run after run intriguing. Like other roguelikes, its levels are procedurally generated according to a sprawling (but, for the most part, internally consistent) set of rules.

It’s a strange thing to make a sequel to a game like Spelunky. It took me years to finish it, but hardly years of in-game time. That handheld platform was a perfect setting for the game, letting me pick it up, play it, and put it right back down. Instead, I would play it feverishly, daily, for a few weeks at a time, mostly on my Vita. I don’t want to give a false impression, here: I did not continuously play the first Spelunky for several years in a row. I would bet that some of my frustration with Spelunky 2 comes from having played so much of the original, right up until the September release of its sequel. Many have been unsatisfying enough that, after they happen, I have hung up Spelunky 2 for the day in favor of some other game. I have to say, many of them have not been particularly satisfying.

#Spelunky 2 levels full#

One-hit kills, deaths that result from getting stunlocked and tossed around by screens full of enemies and traps, or simple restarts of runs gone bad probably account for the bulk of those 100 deaths. Even if I do everything in the correct sequence, I usually wind up getting smoked by the dripping lava the drill inevitably tunnels through. Recently, I’ve taken to hunting the vampires that can be found after activating a large drill in a lava-filled mine. It helps that there are branching paths, but it also makes it all the more tricky to put together strategies. However, the game being what it is, I’ve seen plenty of variety in those areas. I haven’t made it past four areas of the game just yet, let alone to an ending. Spelunky 2 congratulated me with a small banner when I hit 100 deaths.