History VideoGame / Spelunker

That one involving falling is particularly nasty, due to the game's play mechanics. The spelunker can only jump a short distance, can't change his direction in midair, and falls straight down instead of slightly forward when walking off an edge. Your jumps must be very precise, or you will die from the fall -- in midair, no less.

** Notably, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures The later Square Enix versions WOULD give the bombs a visible blast radius]]

That one involving falling is particularly nasty, due to the game's play mechanics. The spelunker can only jump a short distance, can't change his direction in midair, and falls straight down instead of slightly forward when walking off an edge. Your jumps must be very precise, or you will die from the fall - in midair, no less.

On the original 8 bit computers, it was fairly well received, but the NES game was widely forgotten in America, but became a CultClassic in Japan due to its hilariously unforgiving difficulty and the ludicrous weakness of the player character. The game ended up being returned to used video game stores in high numbers when players got frustrated with it, but later developed a following among fans of NintendoHard games. As a result, there have been several Japanese sequels and fangames, including an arcade release by Creator/{{Irem}}, an InNameOnly sequel that turned it into an action RPG, and even a remake for Playstation Network in the form of ''Spelunker HD'', which adds multiplayer play and cartoony animations mocking the deaths, but also adds a lot of AntiFrustrationFeatures like lives and a save feature to soften the blow. More recently, ''Spelunker Party'' was developed for {{UsefulNotes/Steam}} and the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

The game actually inspired a Japanese expression: スペランカー体質, literally "constitution of a spelunker", which means someone who gets hurt badly from minor injuries.

!!This game contains examples of:

* AWinnerIsYou: Expected in the NES version. Incredibly aggravating in ''Spelunker HD'' when you've just gone through 100 levels of PlatformHell to get there.

* ShoutOut: A possibly unintentional one, but Spelunkette looks very much like [[{{Music/Vocaloid}} MEIKO]]

On the original 8 bit computers, it was fairly well received, but the NES game was widely forgotten in America, but became a CultClassic in Japan due to its hilariously unforgiving difficulty and the ludicrous weakness of the player character. The game ended up being returned to used video game stores in high numbers when players got frustrated with it, but later developed a following among fans of NintendoHard games. As a result, there have been several Japanese fangames, and even a remake for Playstation Network in the form of ''Spelunker HD'', which adds multiplayer play and cartoony animations mocking the deaths, but also adds a lot of lives and a save feature to soften the blow. More recently, ''Spelunker Party'' was developed for {{UsefulNotes/Steam}} and the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

* FallingDamage: Taken UpToEleven in this game, and part of what makes it so difficult. The player character dies in mid-air, even if he could have grabbed a vine or something on the way down. He can't even walk over very tiny gaps the way many other 2D platformers allow you to.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'', which has the same premise and hatred toward the player, but with RandomlyGeneratedLevels and more features in general.

* SmurfettePrinciple: Spelunkette, who only really gets prominence in ''Party'', where the storyline has Spelunk'''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ette]]''' as the ChosenOne, while the Spelunker... [[IdiotHero They don't want to go there...]]

* SmurfettePrinciple: Spelunkette, who only really gets prominence in ''Party'', where the storyline has Spelunkette as the ChosenOne, while the Spelunker... [[IdiotHero They don't want to go there...]]

* SelfDeprecation: In the Nintendo eShop page for ''Spelunker Party'', the titular character is labelled "the Weakest Action Hero", and even the game's own ExcusePlot practically has the CallToAction wonder if he really would help going on the quest at all.

** Notably, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures The later Square Enix versions WOULD give the bombs a visible blast radius)

** On ''Spelunker World'' and ''Spelunker Party', all of Spelunker's techniques are clearly explained to you when you first need them.

* On ''Spelunker World'' and ''Spelunker Party', all of Spelunker's techniques are clearly explained to you when you first need them.
** Also, the bomb radius problem is fixed by having the explosion cause a noticeable ring of death.

* SelfDeprecation: In the Nintendo eShop page for ''Spelunker Party'', the titular character is labelled "the Weakest Action Hero"

On the original 8 bit computers, it was fairly well received, but the NES game was widely forgotten in America, but became a CultClassic in Japan due to its hilariously unforgiving difficulty and the ludicrous weakness of the player character. The game ended up being returned to used video game stores in high numbers when players got frustrated with it, but later developed a following among fans of NintendoHard games. As a result, there have been several Japanese fangames, and even a remake for Playstation Network in the form of ''Spelunker HD'', which adds multiplayer play and cartoony animations mocking the deaths, but also adds a lot of lives and a save feature to soften the blow. More recently, ''Spelunker Party'' was developed for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.