Spelunker (NES) Playthrough- NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Broderbund's 1987 action arcade game for the NES, Spelunker.

This video shows all six of the unique loops. After the sixth, the game merely repeats the last loop again and again. I collected all of the secret treasures in the first loop, but not in the loops that followed since their locations don't change.

17:25 Loop 2
Walk through the now invisible keys to collect them.

31:58 Loop 3
Jump to collect invisible keys.

45:00 Loop 4
58:42 Loop 5:
Fire flares to collect invisible keys.

1:11:36 Loop 6:
Jump and immediately fire flare to get invisible keys.

Spelunker is an old classically-styled arcade game that wasn't actually an arcade game - not at first, at least.

It began life as a game for Atari computers back in 1983, and was in 1985 picked up by Irem for a release as a coin-op. The Famicom version came out later that same year, and a Japanese-exclusive sequel was put out in 1987.

Spelunker is an extremely simple game. The cave that you find yourself spelunking is comprised of four major chambers, and each is locked with a set of keys that have to be found to clear the way forward. You'll also have to find flares to temporarily stun bats and bombs to wipe out stalagmites to open up passages. That's about all there is to it. Nothing complicated, but it sure does take a lot of practice to get good at.

The original version is a classic, no doubt, and the NES version is in many regards an improvement. However, many people have a big bone to pick with the Nintendo version's controls. They are super touchy, and you'll die endlessly trying to jump across vines: since you die if you fall too far (I believe the limit is 15 pixels!), you have to be extremely precise with your timing. In jumping from one vine or ladder to the next, it's very easy to plunge to your death by hitting the jump button just a moment too late, or by banging your head on the ceiling. I lost a lot of lives during this playthrough, and this was after a ton of practice. It's nowhere near as easy as it looks. The controls do get far more manageable with practice, but if you lose focus for even a second... well, splat.

Once you get over that hump, though, the game is quite addictive. The open(ish) level structure allows you to chose the order in which you do things, and the loops all change things just enough to keep it interesting.

If you want a cave exploring game on the NES but hate Super Pitfall, let me recommend Spelunker. It ain't pretty, and it doesn't hold your hand, but it's a much fairer and more satisfying experience.

_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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