Review: Spelunky 2 is the best indie game of 2020

Almost a year into the life of the PlayStation 4, I got my first taste of Spelunky when it was one of the free games included in October 2014 for PlayStation Plus members. I sank a tremendous amount of time into the roguelike precision platformer (especially on Vita!) but embarrassingly, I never was able to beat it. When Spelunky 2 was announced three years ago I immediately was ready to dive back in, despite my previous personal failure.

Whatever amount of time I put into the first game, I can assure you I have played exponentially more hours of Spelunky 2. It is one of the most punishing and rewarding indie games I have ever played and I love it for that. The setup is pretty simple, this time you play as Ana, the daughter of the main character from the first game, whose parents have gone missing after traveling to the moon to explore what they believe were signs that Olmec, the big boss of the first game, may still be out there causing trouble. This time, the ever evolving cave is on the moon. After fears her parents may need rescuing, Ana packs up her pets on a rocketship and sets out for the moon to try and save them.

I have played my fair share of precision platformers like Super Meat Boy or Celeste. I have also played more than my fair share of roguelike games like Enter the Gungeon (platinum trophy, baby) or Dead Cells. Spelunky 2 manages to take these two genres and perfectly blend both of them, with just the right amount of familiarity from platformers to learn the basics immediately and plenty of chaos to always (and I mean ALWAYS) keep you on your toes.

You are never safe in Spelunky 2. As you progress down the caves, you will get better at adapting to all of the threats that can end a run. Every time you fail (die horribly), you will return all the way back to the entrance and have to start completely over. It is so easy to get comfortable and make just the teeniest, tiniest mistake to screw everything up. It could be not seeing an arrow trap until it’s too late, missing a jump over a spike pit, or accidentally striking an NPC causing them to turn on you and do everything they can to kill you right then and there.

Oh, did I mention it’s a roguelike game? That means every time you try again, the level layouts are completely different, so you can’t memorize where enemies are, where item crates are or basically anything other than the basic mechanics of how the game works.. You have to “git gud”. For the most part the vast majority of my failed runs in Spelunky 2 were my own fault, but even in those rarer cases where it was just bad luck and there wasn’t much I could do, I still couldn’t help but shrug and tell myself, “that’s Spelunky for you.” Sometimes you die in an incredibly comic fashion that you just have to laugh at it.

Most of those dangers will be familiar to anyone who has played the previous game, but Spelunky 2 has added new enemies, items, biomes, bosses and most importantly, secrets that will keep you coming back and trying to make it to the end in an almost infinite number of ways. I can happily report that yes, I have beaten Spelunky 2…sort of. Without giving too much away there are multiple endings to a successful run in Spelunky 2. I have only been able to finish the most common and straightforward ending, but I am still determined to dive straight back into the caves and prove to Olmec I am a worthy player that can conquer everything Spelunky 2 has to offer.

Learning how to navigate the dangers of the cave takes time and multiple failures. Don’t expect to get the hang of it quickly. Once you finally make it out of one biome, you’ll step into a brand new area with completely new ways to die. Spelunky 2 does bring back familiar biomes like the Jungle, which I was able to get through a little easier with some muscle memory from my experience with the first game. However after entering the new Tide Pool area for the first time, I was immediately eaten by a giant clam trap, which I had no idea about. I had to start all the way at the beginning and take that new knowledge with me to every run thereafter.

There are a number of items you can find or purchase that will help you during your run, most importantly in my opinion is still the jetpack, which allows you to basically fly for a period of time. But again, each run is completely random and these items may or may not always show up, so learning the benefits and downsides of them all is key in choosing what will help you advance deeper down into the caves.

Another awesome new feature Spelunky 2 has to offer is branching paths. Once you get to the bottom of the first area, the Dwelling, you have the choice of taking an exit on the left which leads to the Jungle area, or an exit on the right which leads to the new lava-filled area Volcana. This leaves players with more options as to where to go depending on the items you have and condition that your character is in.

Like everything, Spelunky 2 is not perfect. Dying so often and starting completely over back at the Dwelling leaves a player hearing the same repetitive music pretty frequently, to the point where it becomes stuck in your head if you’ve played it enough as I have. Additionally, while the controls of Spelunky 2 have greatly improved from its predecessor, it still seems like they could be better. I actually completely ruined the down button on the D-pad from using it so much to check what threats are down below but also because it is necessary to hold the down button to pick anything up with the square button, otherwise you will just crack your whip. This can be especially crucial if you are trying to pick up a pet to bring to the exit for an extra heart. If the pet has already experienced some damage during the level, a hit from a whip can kill it.

The Verdict

The long year of 2020 has yet to come to a close, but if I was asked today Spelunky 2 would absolutely be my indie game of the year. There has not been a more challenging, rewarding, delightful and just plain fun game that even comes close. Everyone at Mossmouth really did a fantastic job bringing a worthy successor to an already beloved cult classic. If you love platformers or roguelikes and you have not checked out this game yet, it just may be your favorite game that you’ve never played.