Spelunker is familiar to me. Namely, the hilariously difficult NES version! I have a memory of playing it on Nintendo when it first came out. I had a little black & white television in my bedroom. My sprite on screen had a tiny whip and an even tinier fall distance. It was an exploration game that made "exploring" a very scary experience! lol. I wonder how this will be on the C64.
Here is the cover:
Status: Played it
Thoughts: I like the idea behind Spelunker. It combines action gameplay with the puzzle-solving bend of adventures. I liked having dynamite to drop and flares to shoot.
Just be warned: Spelunker is tough and it requires precise movements. You won't just stub your toe on a small stone on the ground. You will be rebounded backwards as if you stepped on a landmine. That rebound often ends with you sailing right into a pit. The fall will kill you long before you reach the bottom! Every jump is fixed and has the potential to kill you, which is tense for a platformer. You better fully commit whenever you decide to hit the joystick button! Imagine Super Mario Brothers, except the entire game was World 8-2.
I just wish the controls were better. I believe that the reason why Spelunky (the modern spiritual successor to Spelunker) was such a big success is that they drastically tightened up the controls. Every time you die in that game, you know that you deserved. Whereas in Spelulnker, my guy would often not do what I wanted him to do. Part of that is definitely a skill issue on my part. The other part is that it wasn't quite fun enough for me to continue. I had my run and I am satisfied with that!
Rating: 2.5 out of 4 Phantom Blasters
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