Parents' Guide to Spelunky 2

When the original was released back in 2008, it quickly became an indie favorite with its retro look and feel, randomly generated levels, and challenging play. Now, more than a decade later, Spelunky 2 has finally broken ground. It's no exaggeration to say that the game improves on the first game in almost every way. Although returning spelunkers are sure to enjoy the sequel's wealth of riches, is it possible to overindulge and have too much of a good thing?

Spelunky 2 includes more characters to rescue and play. There are brand-new wacky weapons and tools to use. There's even an assortment of cute creatures to ride as mounts while exploring. Meanwhile, the game has added multiple new layers to its randomly generated stages, giving literal depth to the 2D gameplay. Coupled with a new assortment of deadly traps and enemies to contend with, this cranks up the difficulty quite a bit. And that's where the game loses just a little bit of ground. The original Spelunky was already known as a challenging game for even the best player. But the sequel makes that look like child's play by comparison. The difficulty's only magnified by the random nature of each playthrough, as the new and more complex pieces used to create each stage occasionally fail to fit together nicely. This can lead to some playthroughs feeling almost impossible to beat. Usually, failing out of a stage and restarting, complete with a brand-new build of a stage, can fix the issue. But it's still one bit of shaky ground left on an otherwise solid gaming foundation.