clickbliss

Spelunker HD Deluxe brings a legendary kusoge wrapped up in a modern package

by Amr (@siegarettes)

• Spelunker HD
• Developer- Tozai Games
• Publisher- ININ Games
• Switch, PS4

Despite preceding it by decades, Spelunker is more likely to draw comparisons to games like Spelunky, which draws direct influence from Spelunker, than the other way around. Spelunker’s harsh, unexpected deaths can be seen as the predecessor to modern roguelike platformers, and plenty of the elements that made it into a cult hit continue to influence modern titles. Spelunker’s one of those titles that forms a missing link in the chain of history. A game like Lode Runner, or Wizardry, that had reasonable success in the West, but became the basis of plenty of imitators in Japan. 

Unlike Wizardry or Lode Runner, Spelunker isn’t held up in popular memory for its compelling gameplay or endlessly replayable structure. No, Spelunker is remembered for being the ultimate kusoge, and with the release of Spelunker HD Deluxe, it’s finally wrapped around to drawing influence from its imitators. 

Spelunker appears to be a regular platformer of the PC era at first. You play as an explorer, diving into ancient cave systems, navigating puzzles and picking up gold and raiding ancient treasures. Each stage has you heading to different parts of the stage to collect keys, then doubling back to open up the doors to the next area, dealing with a set of hazards along the way. 

What makes Spelunker stand out is that you’re playing as the most fragile protagonist of game history. The titular Spelunker will meet instant death if he so much as sprains his ankle, and that’s not an exaggeration. Walk off a lift instead of jumping and you’ll die before you even have time to hit the floor. Move too far to the side of a rope you’re climbing–dead. Get crapped on by a bat–dead. Your character might have all the equipment he needs to explore a cave, but that doesn’t mean he’s equipped for it. 

What follows is a loop of shock, frustration and anger, where you curse the bullshit limitations the game has put on you, scream at their unfairness, then swear you’re gonna finish this stage despite this. And as you continually get to grips with its expectations, it gradually gets easier to complete a stage and you find yourself running through earlier stages with ease, the controls becoming surprisingly fluid when you have the confidence. 

For anyone familiar with the rapid fire deaths of modern indie platformers, Spelunker HD will feel immediately familiar. It’s got that same rapid fire pace of punishment and iteration, and remains compelling in the same way. The only thing that keeps it from feeling wholly modern is the structure. Spelunker HD simply asks you to complete way too many stages in a row before marking your progress, and replaying earlier stages quickly becomes tiresome, especially as they ramp up in complexity of layouts. 

Spelunker HD’s structural problems stand out even more given the earlier release Spelunker Party, which adapted Spelunker World, the free to play sequel built on the mechanics of Spelunker HD (which is of course an adaptation of Spelunker on the NES, an adaptation of the PC game). Absurd genealogy aside, Spelunker Party was built on more bite sized levels structured for multiplayer, making it a much better fit for both portable play and multiplayer, allowing you to more consistently tackle and progress through stages. Spelunker HD is more archaic in both structure and graphics, sticking more closely to the original game, and showing its origins as a PS3 downloadable title.

That doesn’t necessarily make it less worthwhile, just less immediately accessible, which will probably suit fans of its harsh, unforgiving platforming just fine. HD Deluxe also brings in new Endless Cave NEO mode, closing the loop on its influences by adding in an endless cave system with ever changing layouts. It’s not quite Spelunky, but rather a tunnel that slowly closes the screen on you, daring you to outwit the next set of obstacles before you’re crushed, and see how long you can survive. 

If I’m honest, it’s not the most compelling addition, and on its own doesn’t make a great case for anyone who’s played the previous versions of the game–which to be fair is probably isn’t a huge group. As a complete package then, Spelunker HD Deluxe lands somewhere between the original game and Spelunker Party. Party makes a more compelling case as a multiplayer game that requires coordination and fits into smaller sessions. HD works better for people who want to experience the original with modern features, complete with the option to return to NES style graphics. 

Whichever game you decide to go with, you’ll be sure to be cursing up a storm.