Spelunker is one of the hardest games I’ve ever reviewed — and I mean gameplay wise and score wise. The game has elements of a good game, and yet it’s plagued with design choices that’ll make you scream in frustration. While some games have aged gracefully, Spelunker feels more like could have been something special.
The goal is simple: You descend into a huge underground cavern to nab all the treasure. Many obstacle get in your way, and the limited amount of air forces you to work fast. Ghosts and bats will make your life miserable — along with tons of traps and boulders to block your path. Skills and reflex will get you through most of the traps, but ghosts requires you to blow them away with your air gun. This air gun uses air from the oxygen tank, depleting your supply faster. Luckily, there are plenty of refills throughout the cave. Each area is designed like a Metroid game with a relatively non-linear area to explore. Collect different color keys to unlock the corresponding doors to reach the lower levels. Collect as much treasure as you can, and use tools you find in the cavern to help you clear the way. So far so good right? This game doesn’t sound so bad now, does it? Yeah well, read on to find out.
Now then, here’s the kick in the nuts. This game is hard, and I don’t mean R-Type hard — I mean old school game design hard. I swear, your guy dies from the smallest drops. Drop in a small pit, die. Drop from a rope, die. Hell, the minute you press forward on the controller can kill you! If you even so much as loiter a second too long on the raising platforms, you could end up jumping to your doom. Yes, this is just like Donkey Kong. Maybe it’s just me, but I had a pretty hard time jumping from rope to rope. I often plummet to my death during those rope jumps. Had it not been so easy to die from such short falls, this game would be all too easy. See, that’s the other problem, the game’s not very long. The amount of deaths only serves to make it look longer than it really is. Once you’ve reached the bottom, you just restart the game in a different color cave. Other than the color difference, everything is the same. Well, actually, I COULD be wrong, since I pretty much gave up after a minute or two in the second cave, but I doubt it.
Like I said before, this game’s wasted potential. Had they designed more levels, and balanced the deaths a little better, this could have been a great game. Unskilled players will get easily frustrated, while skilled players will grow tired of the game very quickly. If only this game had more to offer.
Graphics: 60%
Pros: You can tell what everything is in the game.
Cons: You’re really not going to see much variety. That’s also the reason why I only gave it one screen shot.
Gameplay: 42%
Pros: The concept is cool, and it would have been pretty fun…
Cons: …but the game doesn’t have much to offer, so they decided to lengthen the game by making it extremely easy to die.
Sound: 60%
Pros: What little music that’s there is actually very enjoyable. The remix you hear in Syobon sounds awesome.
Cons: There’s not much there. Maybe 5 tracks or so? At least they don’t suck.
Controls: 75%
Pros: They work well enough.
Cons: The jumping’s a bit stiff, and jumping from rope to rope can be a pain.
Story: 42%
Pros: I just randomly taped the keyboard, then put a percentage sign next to it.
Cons: It’s so awesome. Too awesome in fact, that I had to give it a con.
Recommendation: If you’re a speed runner, you might want to give this game a try. Everybody else, stay away. There are much better playing games on the VC to choose from.
Overall: 46%
Actually, there is a major difference on the second go-around (aside from the colour change). The colour changes to a dark version to let you know that there is less light to work with and as a result, the red and blue keys are no longer visible. Granted, they are still in the same place as before, but you’ll have to remember where they all were if you want to finish the level.