Spelunky 2’s second layer poses a sterner test for platformer veterans

Hardcore platformer and roguelike fans will look at Spelunky 2 and lick their lips. At first glance, this is the game they know well, having already sunk thousands of hours into the bright, cartoonish 2D indie, competing with their friends to record the fastest times and highest scores. They will assume that taking control of the titular, cave-dwelling spelunker will be a cinch, but they would be wrong. The reason? Spelunky 2’s tricksy second layer. The secondary environment lying beneath the main procedurally-generated landscape is the most significant addition to Derek Yu’s popular roguelike. For a series that is loath to explain many of its features at the outset, the mysteriousness of the many hidden areas dotted across this subterranean world makes sense for the series. That said, this mechanic is partly intended to address some of the limitations of the original. “In Spelunky 1 you can see familiar features in the levels even though they’re randomised,” creator Derek Yu says as he takes me through his GDC build of the game in co-op - although this will now be possible online. “I think people started to recognise certain kinds of formation and what that would mean, so that second layer really changes things up”.

from PCGamesN https://ift.tt/2Fr4pIt