Spelunky

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
mikeleddy83
Member
Posts: 1432
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:32 pm
Location: Oxford
Contact:

Spelunky

Post by mikeleddy83 »

Finally due a port to the PS3 (and Vita), I'm quite excited to hear it's making it way over. I'm hoping we get a lower price this time around (somebody say plus?) as it was the only factor deterring me from picking it up on the 360.

It made quite a number of GOTY lists just before xmas and having hands on with the 360 demo I'm certainly due to give some belated love to this game.

Image

I found some great quick rinses on the series and chose this to keep myself excited for its impending release:
Sly Reflex

Re: Spelunky

Post by Sly Reflex »

Awesome game. I'm glad they went multiplatform. I wish everything was multiplatform, exclusives really suck if you can only afford one system.
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Spelunky

Post by dezm0nd »

One of my favourite games of last year. Managed to completed it once and immediately after get to the final level without using shortcuts only to die right at the end,

Ever since that high, I've not been able to close to that again but I still often put it on and try to obtain one of the ridiculous achievements set by the devs. Plenty of depth!
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Spelunky

Post by Alex79 »

I've only played the demo but I didn't take to it. I was expecting something like Rick Dangerous but it didn't really seem like that. If it comes to Vita though I think I'll give it another try as it can't be bad with such universal praise!
User avatar
PlexShaw
Member
Posts: 183
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:31 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Spelunky

Post by PlexShaw »

There's no "If" about it - it is coming to the Vita this summer.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Spelunky

Post by Alex79 »

Awesome.

I've love Cave Story and VVVVVV as well, that would a perfect retro-styled trilogy of platform godliness on the awesome little handheld.
User avatar
AndyKurosaki
Member
Posts: 968
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 10:43 pm
Location: Scunthorpe, UK

Re: Spelunky

Post by AndyKurosaki »

Sly Reflex wrote:Awesome game. I'm glad they went multiplatform. I wish everything was multiplatform, exclusives really suck if you can only afford one system.
Definitely. I picked this up last month, and it is indeed brilliant. The tension when you're doing really well, only to make a mistake and go "oh BOLLOCKS!" is worth the admission price alone.
Roy42

Re: Spelunky

Post by Roy42 »

I wouldn't say it's worth the admission price, especially when it's available for free on PC to begin with. It's a good game, but you're paying for very little more than a different art style.
User avatar
Combine Hunter
Moderator
Posts: 892
Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:40 pm

Re: Spelunky

Post by Combine Hunter »

I would say it is, because the changes go beyond just the art style. It, very noticeably, controls much better than the free PC version. Plus there are several additions and tweaks.
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Spelunky

Post by dezm0nd »

It's worth buying just to see Mossmouth get paid for an excellent game. Well worth the asking price for that feeling alone.
User avatar
registradus
Member
Posts: 110
Joined: September 24th, 2012, 2:27 am
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Contact:

Re: Spelunky

Post by registradus »

I really enjoyed this game. Definitely got my moneys worth. played about 30 hours. Never finished it though...
User avatar
Combine Hunter
Moderator
Posts: 892
Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:40 pm

Re: Spelunky

Post by Combine Hunter »

Spelunky will be the next podcast we'll be recording! Please share your experiences on this thread! Thank you!
Baron Phil

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by Baron Phil »

After hearing all the praise for Spelunky on 360 I picked it up straight away on its PS3 release and really didn't enjoy it. I just could get into the game at all and didn't understand the fuss.
About 6 months later I started watching Spelunkin with Scoops on GiantBomb, where Patrick Klepek would play the daily challenge, and after picking up some tips I tried to get into the game again this time on Vita.
Going in with a little bit of knowledge really helped and I found myself playing more and more and really enjoying my time with it, It started to feel rewarding and dying became a lesson not a frustration. The Vita also felt like the perfect place to play and Its now a permanent fixture on my Vita and I always try to do at least one run a day.
User avatar
hazeredmist
Member
Posts: 1709
Joined: June 25th, 2013, 12:45 pm
Location: The DMZ
Contact:

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by hazeredmist »

I wish I loved Spelunky like a lot of my peers do. I played it a fair bit and told myself it was brilliant. As it is, it's time to admit I find it tedious, repetitive and unfair. Not to mention massively overrated. From the insta-deaths that you're required to learn from before being dragged back to the start of the game to the luck of the draw that can sometimes shaft an otherwise perfectly good run, I just find the whole thing (not to mention random rogue-likes of this nature in general) horribly artificial in terms of replayability and downright egregious as an experience.

I've kept the game on my Vita & PS4 for posterity and the hope I'll suddenly change my mind. Can't see it.
User avatar
Xavier Desmond
Member
Posts: 23
Joined: July 28th, 2013, 9:43 am

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by Xavier Desmond »

I really shouldn't like Spelunky. As a rule. I prefer story focused games rather than games that emphasise mechanics. I play games generally for an experience rather than a challenge. One of my personal hates in games is constantly dying.

So why do I love Spelunky so much when there is no story, it is rock hard and death is regular and heavily punished? I'm not entirely sure why but for some reason I don't find Spelunky in any way frustrating as many people do. Maybe, it is because I prefer to play in small chunks of time rather than for hours on end. Spelunky is ideally suited to having one or two runs a day and then putting it aside. When you go into the game knowing you are going to die at some point and be thrown back to the beginning there is no pressure to progress during a gaming session. A Spelunky run, whether a few seconds or a few minutes, is like a compete satisfying experience.

I think that is why the Daily Challenge is so great. It's just one shot and that's it.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by Flabyo »

I'm kind of split on Spelunky. Let me explain.

On the one hand it's a very polished and entertaining platform adventure. Lots of secrets to find, bonus levels, and the procedural level generation means there's plenty of replay value to be had.

On the other hand it has a lot of very frustrating instant death mechanics, often feels very unfair, and has a skill barrier in it that means I'm unlikely to ever get close to completing it.

I don't dislike it. But I don't play it anymore cause I'm no good at it.

I found Rogue Legacy more to my tastes, it just feels fairer.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by Alex79 »

I must admit I'm expecting to be a little in the minority here, but Spelunky, for me, has always been a game that didn't really live up to my expectations. Possibly, unfair expectations. I'd heard and read so much about it, and been looking forward to it for so long, that when I finally got to play it I thought it was just a bit, well... boring. I'd heard tales of weird, wonderful and crazy adventures, you never know what you're going to get! Except you do have a fair idea because other than the layout, you generally get the same old stuff every game. I never really found anything whilst traversing the admittedly great looking worlds that surprised or amused me. I might sound like the grumpiest man ever, but I found it all rather tedious. It wasn't the repetition that put me off, I can put hours in to other randomly generated games (hello Binding Of Isaac) and never get bored, or the difficulty, it was just that I found the core gameplay quite boring. Don't get me wrong, I don't actively dislike the game, indeed it still lies on my Vita memory card and is played a couple of times every month, but it's never quite struck the same chord with me as it has others. I never really seemed to get that sense of exploration and wonder that appeared to be what drove people on to keep playing.

THREE WORD REVIEW : Indiana Jones hardcore (and I'd suggest you don't attempt to Google that phrase at work...)
Woodfella

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by Woodfella »

Three word review: Near perfect game.


I avoided spelunky at first having played the demo and disliked it. I decided to give it another chance when everyone started uploading their daily challenges and they were banging on about it a load on [name of other podcast redacted] Now I flipping love it. I've put well over 100 hours in to it and at university, I started every day I had lectures with a daily challenge run. Which, depending on the result could either make me late or put me in a horrid mood.

Recently me and my brother have started playing it cooperatively and recording it. It erupts in to hilarious mayhem at times and it is the most fun I've had in local multiplayer. Having two characters on screen can make this a little harder, every move has to be planned out and communication is key!

I've been stunned in to silence when a mammoth set off a mine which launched a rock which hit a ufo which flew towards my face, exploding on impact. My lifeless body was then tossed in to the abyss my a playful yeti. My carcass doomed to fall forever along with 250,000 gold.

That's Spelunky.

I don't like the music (apart from wet fur levels) but a bigger problem for me is what the game becomes when you are trying to get the highest score possible. Ghost running, as the kids call it, I find to be quite tedious. It takes bloomin' ages! Bomb some gems out and then wait until the ghost drifts glacially over them. Repeat. Snore fest.

Theres been so much said about spelunky so I won't waste your time further, I just love it and struggle to think of another game I now like that I initially was completely turned off by
Woodfella

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by Woodfella »

The 360 version also has this really irritating glitch where when one player is rescued from a coffin he is immediately absorbed by the other. All equipment and extra life is then lost. It is so effing annoying especially in hell.
User avatar
Tleprie
Member
Posts: 144
Joined: November 2nd, 2014, 4:13 pm
Location: Indoors
Contact:

Re: This week's podcast recording: Spelunky

Post by Tleprie »

Spelunky is one of my favorite games of all time, possibly my #1.

I originally heard about the free version somewhere, I think someone related it and the Binding of Isaac (another one of my favorite games), and I decided to check it out. The original didn't really grab me, but when I heard an updated HD version was coming to 360 I decided to get it. I put several hundred tries, never even beating Olmec once. Then, last winter, I got a Vita and Spelunky was one of my first buys. It is perfect for the Vita, being able to play whenever. As of writing this, I have over 5300 deaths on the Vita, about 2000 on the 360, and a few on the PC and PS4. So what is it that makes me play this game almost every day?

The main appeal is, as many reviewers state, the rules of the game. Everything behaves in a particular way, and all that you need to do to win is learn all these behaviors, and how to best react to them. This is obviously easier said than done. With almost 7500 attempts I would hope that I have a decent amount of wins. I have less than 30 Olmec wins, and only 3 Hell wins. Just because I know the rules of the game, does not meant I have mastered the skills to follow them. This is what keeps me coming back. I can pick it up for only a few minutes at a time and have a few attempts. Lately I have been only doing challenge runs. I have completed no-gold both on a normal run and hell run, and have done low% for olmec.

Regarding the multiplayer, I love it whenever I can convince people to play. The co-op is frustrating trying to guide others through the traps and monsters, but is still very enjoyable, and the deathmatch is so ridiculous that it is hilarious.
Post Reply