Is Spelunky Coming To Switch

The Switch is the all-time identify to play Spelunky and Spelunky ii

So long, Vita. Yous had a adept run

By Aug 26, 2021, 12:39pm EDT

I've written thousands of words on Spelunky, my height desert island video game, and I've written merely slightly less about its bright sequel. And then I'll exist direct: The Nintendo Switch is the best place to play two of the greatest and most influential video games ever made.

With that in listen, I'm going to quickly address two audiences: Spelunky newcomers and lifetime Spelunky fans. These ii groups will have different expectations, depending on their feel with the serial. Allow me to apace alleviate any concerns.

Should I play Spelunky in 2021?

Yes, you should play Spelunky. I mean, come on. Obviously.

If you haven't tried Spelunky or Spelunky 2, the Nintendo Switch is the platonic entry bespeak. Start with the original Spelunky. It'south comparably slower, and fans accept filled the internet with tips, tutorials, and guides.

Normally, the first entry in a video game serial acts as a rough draft for refined sequels. That's non the case with Spelunky. Information technology stands on its ain equally one of the most important games of the by decade.

In a 2019 retrospective, I wrote that "this refined Spelunky revived an underappreciated genre; fostered a customs of critics and sleuths, modders and speedrunners; and has unmarried-handedly kept my PlayStation Vita charged since it got ported onto the forsaken portable."

For the offset fourth dimension since Spelunky appeared on the Vita, I feel OK mothballing the love gizmo in my box of rarely played retro game systems. Though the Switch's screen tin't compare to the quality of the Vita'southward OLED screen (not yet, at least), the game runs notably improve on it — especially in the ice caves area, which had a notorious slowdown problem on Sony's little-portable-that-could.

Does Spelunky 2 run well on Nintendo Switch?

This is the question on the minds of longtime fans. Spelunky ii added fancier visuals, liquid physics, and multilayered stages, exhausting some lower-end and midrange PCs. Because Spelunky had struggled at times on the portable machines of its day, I was skeptical the sequel would run smoothly, from beginning to terminate, on the Switch.

Fellow Spelunky obsessives, worry not. I oasis't beaten Spelunky 2 on Switch just nevertheless, but my colleague Russ Frushtick has reached the true ending, deep within the bowels of its many divergent paths towards the credits. He can confirm every phase runs nicely. Or, in his words, "It runs amend on Switch than it did on my PC."

Spelunky two didn't appear to notice every bit much attending on consoles and PC. That's perhaps considering people prefer the serial when it'southward portable. Or perhaps considering information technology was released alongside Hades, arguably the great roguelike of this decade. Whatever the case, Spelunky 2 deserves its moment in the sun.

The pleasance of Spelunky 2 is discovering the means in which it subverts the expectations of its predecessor. "This isn't a sequel," I wrote in my Spelunky 2 review. "It's yet another chance to play Spelunky with fresh eyes; everything is merely a little different, another stroke that proves perfection is imperfect. Even the best tin become better."

With both games on Nintendo Switch, millions of folks can find or rediscover these not-and so-hidden treasures.

Spelunky and Spelunky 2 are available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation four, and Windows PC. The game was played on Switch and PC using download codes provided by Mossmouth. Vocalisation Media has affiliate partnerships. These practise not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can observe additional data about Polygon's ethics policy here .