The Review, Episode 1: Spelunky XBLA
Hey friends, long time!
I’m reawakening this space in order to host a little podcast that my friend Charles Pratt and I are getting off the ground. It’s called The Review (because Charles claims that nobody else has used this name, which is absurd and a shame). The idea is to keep it simple and just talk about one game for 20-30 minutes. Not really a product review or even long-form criticism, just a conversation about what we like and what we don’t.
The kicker is we’re trying to answer a single question: “Is this game worth wrapping your life around?” Please enjoy!
Hey y’all! Quick note: I want to apologize for saying “dumbed down” toward the beginning of the cast. It’s a phrase I’m trying to remove from my speech, but it’s a lot harder to catch when I’m talking instead of writing. Thanks for listening!
I really enjoy this format. Thanks for posting this.
To add my two cents, because that’s what comment spaces are for: I agree with the assessment that the game’s possibility space is somewhat limited. I haven’t completed a run of the game yet, but I’m already “scumming” in order to get perfect spawn scenarios (mainly trying for a Yeti King, so I can start the ice level shortcut with a compass, or a graveyard so I can secure an easy shotgun). Having only three randomized room themes for each area (with clear benefits to certain themes) feels at odds with the game’s overall goal of teaching the player techniques to counter every situation.
Yes! I should have mentioned scumming, since I had that tiny contention about whether it made sense to call this game a roguelike. So, for people reading who don’t know, scumming basically means jerry-rigging a save file (usually in a game with permanent death, it’s how a lot of people “beat” Nethack) to continue from a safe state before you hit a new random room that might be bullshit/not what you’re looking for. If you read the comments on the fastest Spelunky PC speedruns, you’ll see that the runner mentions resetting something like 8600 times to achieve his time, and a commenter backhandedly complements his scumming abilities. On the 360, the closest thing to the practice would just mean restarting when you get a bad first or second level.
So, when I was trying to fill out my diary and unlock some of the extra characters, I definitely did some scumming. Because I knew the achievement goal for a worthy speedrun on XBLA was 8 minutes, I didn’t do much scumming — my 6:30 run did have a 1-1 jetpack spawn, but that just happened to be what I got on the run that I finally made it (I think I did 30 runs that night, 3 of them reaching Olmec but only one survived). I’d have to scum a lot to do much better than 5:30, which is where most of the scores ahead of me are orbiting.
I definitely think the limited number of special events is something that should have been expanded in the new version (a lot of work presumably went into crafting the new Hell level, which maybe 1% of players will actually see, as opposed to something like 2 new events in zone one that everyone would see and enjoy). In most cases, a special event occurring means you know exactly where to go to speed through a level or get an item you want–the way the Kali lava trap or the snake pit build the level, you can always tell where the exit is going to be while on the first floor. And I think it’s a bit crazy that they reduced the sight bubble in the dark rooms–I can make it through them in a lot of cases, but for most players it’s a complete death sentence.
Thanks for listening Zach, I think we’ll hit our stride and get a lot better in the next few episodes!
Nice! I can play it on my Droid. You should roll up to GameLoop in Boston this August, I’m going to be the resident Muggle who doesn’t have anything to do with the industry and is just gawking at people he always wanted to meet.
I was going to ask if there is an RSS feed for the podcast. But then I decided to poke around; http://simonferrari.com/category/podcast/feed/ works (in the sense that, when I plug it into iTunes, I get the behavior I want). Leaving that as a comment in case anybody else had the same question.
Thanks for that David! I didn’t know what all went into getting onto iTunes when we decided to do this, so the first thing I had to fix was hosting. I was going to make my own xml file for the RSS, but this might work. Once we get an episode or two more up we will do the logo, theme music, and proper iTunes setup. Thanks for listening man!
Hey, nice podcast. Great overview of what makes Spelunky both fun and frustrating.
I’m not sure I agree with the idea that Spelunky shouldn’t be considered a Roguelike. Maybe the only significant departure from the genre IMO is its real-time nature. I don’t think ASCII is a requirement. Everything else on the checklist is there, though: procedural content, destructible levels (most RLs have a pickaxe or some means of altering the environment), harsh difficulty, permanent death, an item economy, and food (in Spelunky, the ghost plays the part of hunger). It even includes the item shop and the theft game, which I would otherwise consider optional but are prominent in the most prominent Roguelike, and the altar/prayer game.
I play Roguelikes differently than most. I don’t care much for the end goal, and I don’t play for score. I’ve played Nethack and ADOM for years and never ascended. (I’ve only beaten some of the easier or less balanced RLs like Valhalla and Incursion). I like the journey, and I like the tension of pushing a character forward, without necessarily stressing about planning, not sure what sorts of challenges will present themselves in the next dungeon level. I love the surprises the developers put in, but most of all, and this is where Spelunky falls flat after time for me, I love the range of interactivity. I think you guys called it the possibility space. Think of the item identification game in Nethack – rings in sinks, inscribing words in the ground with wands, dipping things into pools and potions. I love drinking potions of booze and discovering new effects to old scrolls. Much of this discovery just doesn’t exist in Spelunky. If you find a new item you very quickly discover all of its possible uses, and that knowledge persists as the item artwork doesn’t change and the effects are non-random. the only thing extending its lifespan is the harsh (and in some ways artificial since it adds in platforming skills rather than just decision-making) difficulty that prevents you from seeing anything but a small quantity of the content at a time.
I find new things in Spelunky when I luck out and reach a new area. I find new things in ADOM almost every time I play.
Hey Francis! Sorry for the slow reply and the long pending status on the comment – it’s a new semester and I’m teaching for the first time, so things are a bit hectic! Will keep it short because I think what you wrote speaks for itself: fair point! I think the ASCII bit and the real-time bit are tied together, in that it’s always ASCII or simple tiles that are essentially pretty versions of ASCII art in a proper roguelike, and the real-time nature with animated sprites throws it off a bit for me. But I think the rest of your breakdown is enough to convince me that I spoke a bit too flippantly in the cast! Maybe what I think is that it’s a good game, but for the reasons I’ve mentioned and that you bring up here, I don’t think it’s a good roguelike.