Kosong Sen is a series that covers free games that are free to play. Since I'm on a roll with Indie games, this weeks game will be another indie game.
Spelunky is an indie game from Derek Yu, co creator of Aquaria, that combines the gameplay mechanics of a 2D platformer, puzzle and adventure game. In essence it is a 2D platformer, but it has a lot more depth that makes it more than just a platformer.
Spelunky embodies the essence of old school games. It is one hard game. Very Megaman like. You play the role of a treasure hunter and your goal is to accumulate as much treasure as possible as you move from level to level.
The game is populated with very diverse range of worlds, from a rocky underground world, a jungle world,to even an ice world. These world are populated with all sorts of enemies like spiders, bats, giant spiders, piranhas, poisonous plants and even devious traps ala indiana jones(giant boulders and spiked floor to name a few).
What makes this game unique is that it's levels are randomly generated. Everytime you play a new game, you will never be faced with the same level layout. This leads to some problems with pacing and difficulty scaling.
Due to the random nature of how levels are arranged, difficulty may wary from level to level as you may find yourself blocked off a path to the exit of a level. In some other levels, you may have a more direct path to to exit. The random generations of levels work quite well most of the time though and presents a challenge to the player.
As the player, you have your trusty whip as your default weapon. You get a lot of other weapons too like bombs that help you get to walled off areas, guns, pick axe, and even rocks or whatever you pick up(you can throw these to the enemies to kill them).
Ropes can be important if you find yourself stuck in a situation(just like bombs). You can use ropes to get to hard to reach places or get out of a blocked path. There are tonne of items that have unique abilities for you to discover. I once discovered a teleportation device that teleports me towards the direction i was moving towards.
Levels are littered with gold and crates that you can bust open. They give you special items or gold. You might run accross a damsel in distress in some levels. Rescuing her will give you one life(when she kisses you after you complete the level).
You will also come across shops in some levels too(also completely random). These shops are from the 'weapon shop types' to 'gambling' and even 'kissing dens'(you'll get what I mean when you play it). There is a lot of personality in these shops and the shopkeeper will react to you(if you hit them or bomb them) to humorous effect.
As I said in the beginning of this write up, Spelunky reminds me a lot of old school 2D platformers. There is so much of content and diversity in this game compared to even many retail games. I love it that the game manages to surprise me with something I haven't seen before even after two weeks of playing.
The sheer amount of stuff Derek Yu has been able to put into this little game is astounding. The game is extremely difficult and it makes no apologies for being so. You will be challenged playing this game. My personal best is going all the way to level 9.
Download Link : http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=4017.0
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