Spelunky

This was a fantastic platformer which made great use of its rogue-lite mechanics. As is common for the genre, after the first couple dozen deaths without making much process, I initially found it a bit too difficult. However, as I kept at it, I come to realize my mistakes I was making and with perseverance, I made it to the game's ending. It was very rewarding. It's quite a casual experience, being a great game to play in short bursts. It loads fast and provides a shortcut key to skip the intro and menu to get straight into the gameplay. There's no save feature but as a single playthrough is short (roughly twenty minutes for me, an average player), there's no need for one. The path to the bottom of the cave isn't entirely linear either, with a number of hidden branching paths to discover, complete with other endings too. There's numerous items and monsters to discover as well, keeping each game feeling very fresh. There are a few flaws though. It was annoying that whenever a shopkeeper or his shop is damaged, even if not directly caused by you, they immediately become hostile towards the player. As the levels are randomly generated, I once saw a chain of events occur right as I entered it, causing this. When this occurs, the difficulty spikes up greatly. Also, when you take damage, you're stunned for a moment, unable to move and going limp. In many occurrences, during this you can be thrown around like a rag-doll and you're quickly able to lose a lot more health than the initial hit. It certainly makes you become cautious of your surroundings, but its a little frustrating that a good game can be over in a blink of an eye. Despite those, I'd highly recommend this game, especially for those who are fans of platformers and/or rogue-like mechanics. In fact, Spelunky is probably the best mash up of these two genres.

I won't go in much detail for the single player since you can try it out with the classic version for free. It's the same, but with a lot more enemies, bonus levels and items. The multiplayer for this game is simply amazing. Each player control a character, but the camera only follow one of them, there is no split screen. It may sound horrible, but it forces you to stay together and try to work as a team. Note that I said "try", because the game is way more difficult, not because there is more enemies and traps, but because there is friendly fire. Communication is key if you're not a fan of getting shot in the back by a clumsy friend armed with a shotgun. Control is essential if you do not want to whip your buddy in a spike. It may sound dump, but half of the fun come from the failure you'll have with your friends. Because there is always a new way to mess up in Spelunky. The nasty part is that there is no online/LAN play, you will need to gather your party of spelunker on your couch and it's sadly not always an option.

I already own this game but wanted a DRM free version so signed myself up for a GOG account and bought it again. It's that good! I've sunk over a hundred hours into this gem of a game and still have a few secrets to find. It's endlessly re-playable and the rogue-like nature of the game means that the challenge never really ends, it just starts afresh. It has a high difficulty curve and is very unforgiving but ultimately, is fair and true in its design. The mechanics are tight, the levels are awesome and the enemies, items and secrets to be discovered are many. The only real criticism I have of the game is its soundtrack which isn't the strongest and some tracks feel out of tune with the levels but in a game of this quality, I'm really nitpicking here and in no way does this lessen the experience in anyway. If you're the type of gamer who likes a challenge and laughs in the faces of those who claim Dark Souls is hard, pick this up and prepare to be fulfilled. This is perma-death platforming at its finest and at it's current sale price, you'd be crazy not to try it. I'll see you in Hell!

I pretty much bored-quit this game several times as I don't starting a game over, over and over again. I am not a fan of rogue games, trial & error game-play is frightfully boring to me so rouge-styled games are not for me...However, the fact that my liking a genre, should have no impact on whether or not that game is an excellent game in it's own right. I gave this game 5 stars because it IS a quality game, from the graphics, control and presentation, and of course to the fact that this game came in a low-cost bundle and not a sole purchase makes this game (For Me) simply a nice addition to the main game that I bought the bundle for! So if you aren't bored to tears over rogue type games then by all means buy it now! Otherwise note my title and stay away!

I find the game boring though many people will love it that way.. But i hate the sudden death and repeat everytime.. Not fun for me.. I wish I can refund..