Spelunky HD is a randomly generated platformer where you take your choice of adorably cute characters deeper and deeper into a legendary cursed cave. There is treasure galore, damsels to rescue, weapons and helpful accessories to discover and buy and more monsters and traps than you can shake a boomerang at!
Straight up, this game is uncompromisingly difficult. It presents itself as a series of randomly generated levels that take you through four different environments as you try to get to the ultimate treasure. In your way are snakes, spiders, scorpions, exploding toads, piranhas and yetis (and that just to name a few). There are so many ways to die in this that at times it seems like four lives are not enough, especially since falling on spikes or getting blown up is an instant game over no matter how many lives you have. Lives can be restored by finding damsels on distress and getting them to the exit of the level (which will give you one life back) but this tied in with the excellent risk versus reward aspect of the game means that sometimes you are better off just trying to make it to the exit as quickly as possible.
The dangers can be faced in a variety of ways. You can try to avoid the nasties using alternate paths or a limited supply of ropes and bombs to make your own path. There is also the platform staple of jumping on the monsters, but this does not remove every baddie. Throughout the game there are crates and treasure chests that sometimes contain handy weapons like spike shoes (which make your jumping attack more effective) to shotguns and even a boomerang. Additionally you will come across stores where you can replenish your bomb/rope supply or even buy weapons, or in the case of the kissing booth, lives.
If I had to put one disclaimer on this review is that this game is addictive. The "one more go" factor is high and the desire to see if you can just get a bit further definitely pulls you back in. Once you make it to a new area there is a helpful character who will eventually build a tunnel for you so you can bypass the previous areas, at a cost of course, but using these shortcuts means your game won't count on the leaderboards. The Steam version also comes with a daily challenge mode where a preset level set is presented and players can challenge to see who gets the best score. As this is not available on the GOG version I can't really comment, but I have no doubt that this adds an extra layer of replayability in an already addictive game.
Sound promising, but not sure if you want to lay your cash down? Don't worry PC players. Spelunky started out as a freeware games for Windows before being polished and marketed. The great news is the developers still have that original version available at Spelunky World, and it's still free. They have added more hazards and features in the polished up version of course, but the original is still excellent. Go on, try it out, it's free, the only thing you'll lose is time once you get addicted!
Overall Spelunky HD is a very difficult, yet extremely fun game. It has a great pick up and play feel and is great in short bursts or long play sessions. Best of all the original game is still available and free to download.
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