Overview
- Number of Players
- 1 (Single Player)
- Genre
- Release Date
Wii (Wii Shop)
- 17th Mar 2008, 500 points
- 5th Sep 2008, 600 points
- 28th Aug 2007, 500 points
3DS (3DS eShop)
- 19th Dec 2012, ¥500
Wii U (Wii U eShop)
- 27th Apr 2013, ¥500
- 6th Jun 2013, £3.49
- 6th Jun 2013, $4.99
3DS eShop
- 27th Jun 2013, $4.99
- 18th Jul 2013, £3.59
- Series
- Controller Support
Reviews
Review Spelunker (3DS eShop / NES)
Go back to your cave and stay there
Ask a few western gamers about Spelunker and it's likely that barely any of them will have heard of the game, despite it being originally developed by an American company. Ask Japanese gamers, though, and it's a completely different story — the game is very well known to them and is joked about online all the...
Review Spelunker (Wii U eShop / NES)
Deeper underground
Ask a few western gamers about Spelunker and it's likely that barely any of them will have heard of the game, despite it being originally developed by an American company. Ask Japanese gamers, though, and it's a completely different story — the game is very well known to them and is joked about online all the time, though not...
Review Spelunker (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Going underground
Spelunker is a blast from the past. It started out life on home computers such as the Commodore 64 and was eventually ported to the NES. The game’s protagonist is tasked with working their way down a giant cave to find the great treasure that is rumoured to be hidden within the depths. Along the way, perils such as water, uneven...
Screenshots 6
Spelunker News
Nintendo Download 18th July (Europe)
Earthbound, Shantae, attacking Guild monsters, reduced Virtue and more
Update: EARTHBOUND!!! Original Article with updated entry: It's Monday, and as is now tradition Nintendo Download fans in Europe find out what's on the way in this week's update. There are some long awaited and potentially intriguing arrivals this week, along with a few price...
Nintendo Download 27th June (North America)
Sonic returns, urban style, shmup action, grooving and more
It's that time again, North America, when downloadable goodies arrive for your delight on Nintendo's systems. The 3DS shines with a variety of experiences this week, while the Wii U Virtual Console get an underwhelming retro release but a decent Virtual Console promotion; Wii and DSi are...
Nintendo Download 6th June (North America)
A New Leaf is turned, Wii U goes retro, discounts and Neo Geo goodness
It's Nintendo Download time once again, North America, with your goodies a little scaled back compared to the extravagances of last week. Alongside confirmation that there'll be extensive footage and coverage from the upcoming E3 Nintendo Direct on the eShop platforms, we have a...
Nintendo Download 6th June (Europe)
Spelunking, questing for jewels and discounts galore
It's the start of another week, which means it's time for those of us in Europe to dive into this week's Nintendo Download update. We have the most iconic puzzle game of all, as well as some alternative puzzling and strategy titles joining in. Only the Wii misses out this week, with its successor...
News EU VC Releases: DoReMi Fantasy and Ys Book I & II
Can you believe it? It's already time to say goodbye to the Hanabi Festival, as this is presumably the last week with imports. But it goes out with a bang - Not only are there two more imports available, they're accompanied by two Turbografx games, one of which is spectacular.
First, the new imports: DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure was...
News Hanabi Festival 3 Kicks Off
Our expectations have been confirmed - Today marks the start of the third Hanabi Festival. The Hanabi icons in the Wii Shop, next to the names of today's released games, Super Mario RPG and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, should have already tipped this off to you, but Nintendo of Europe has now published a short press release on the matter.
Thi...
News US VC Releases - March 17th - Super R-Type
This week’s theme for the North American VC releases is frustration. After getting DoReMi Fantasy last week Nintendo must have been concerned that they had been letting gamers have an easy ride. Not so this week as both of the games on offer this week are devilishly fiendish by comparison!
Super R-Type on the SNES isn’t such a bad game and is...
About The Game
The underground pyramid awaits! Grab your oxygen tank, dynamite and flares and prepare to explore miles of uncharted caves in search of the legendary pyramid and its vast treasures.
Along the way you will swing from ropes and ladders and make use of mining carts and rafts, collecting jewels, sacks of gold coins and other valuable items as you navigate the hazardous terrain. You must keep your wits about you, however, as the caves hold many dangers. Scalding steam vents, poisonous bats and the avenging spirits of dead spelunkers lurk in every corner of this massive underground labyrinth!
Comments 29
This game may look pretty fun but it's controls are very frustrating. It could have been so much better if they made the jumping controls easier. But if you get around this, it's a pretty decent game. As you see in the video above, it's also very short. He beats that game in about 6 minutes.
Looks like Montezuma's Revenge with scrolling.
I think what you mean is actually him falling from a platform - This game's got a similar system to Donkey Kong which means you die if you fall even the slightest distance. Remember that it's also a speedrun abusing every possible exploit and glitch, so it might be a glitch you mean.
The controls of this game aren't exactly what you call 'fun'. Not only is it difficult to control, but it is about as short as Yoshi's Story cut in half.
The guy in the video is much better at Spelunker than I am.
Regardless, this game is crap. Frustrating controls, vindictive traps, and a tight time limit make for a maddening gaming experience. Broderbund should've stuck to their "educational" games and left platforming alone.
i actually liked this game as a kid... it can be considered short (the guy in the video) but its actually really challenging and can take a while to figure things out. The one suckish part though is that if you fall a teensy bit you will die.
so that was the whole game?
it looks like a case for The Angry Video Game Nerd...
Why does the bat make such a unholy noise?!
darthmix,
I love me some Montezuma's Revenge. What are the odds they'd release that on the VC?
It's not a bad game, really, but the NES port does some ridiculously stupid things, like including that "die by falling an inch" crap. The video was a poor choice, given that it's a speedrun - the game will take much longer to beat than that guy showed. It's not THAT short, and it's rather tricky at times. Worth a download? Eh... maybe. It's not a good port, but it's still a decent little game.
Just a note we changed the video from the old speed-run video we had originally
I remember this game from my adolescence as being one of the most difficult & simulatenously cheap/frustrating games ever. The kid that lived across the street from me had it & neither of us could ever finish it.
However, not having played it in 20 years, I'm a little curious to give it another shot. Though, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Look like an old arcade game called "Bagman". I will get this.
This game is not good as a VC download... but I have the NES cart and it's one of my favorite games to play. It can be frustrating but I never feel like it's the game's fault I'm dying. The controls are very nuanced and it's satisfying once you actually get past a level and move on to the next. You feel like you've actually accomplished something. The only thing I wish is that they would have added some sort of game save. Doing the first level over and over is very frustrating.
OMG the character looks just like King Graham from the Kings Quest series. I would LOOOVE to see Kings Quest make it to the VC sometime.
Parser games are generally completely unplayable without a keyboard, and the Wii pointer keyboard is honestly not very practical to use.
There's a King's Quest Collection for the PC that retails for 20$ or so, I'd recommend you pick up that one instead.
ugh, come on...lol
wait in the car-
Now that we're getting C64 games on the Virtual Console, Montezuma's Revenge is at least a possibility.
yeah.................. i never realized that this was put out by Brøderbund back in the day...
i really really hope that this means that The Guardian Legend will see light of day on VC as it involved Brøderbund, compile and irem. i've always wanted to play that game. maybe now i will get my chance
This game epitomizes the worst of old skool gaming design and execution. Yes, there are worse examples in bootleg titles, but how this game ever got the Nintendo Seal is a true mystery.
The control is pretty awful. However, it's the terrible control coupled with insanely unforgiving gameplay that make this one the winner of suck. This game has so many ways to kill you that you'll eventually be paranoid to move in any direction once you've achieved staying alive for more than 20 seconds. Yes, you literally get shell shock playing this frustrating pile of crap.
There is a big difference between playing a game like Megaman, which was extremely challenging, and playing a game like Spelunker. Megaman is a challenging game. With Spelunker, the game is quite simple and the challenge is in the awesomely lousy controls and stupid "fall three feet and you die" game design. Avoid this turd.
Do real people even get bruised falling at that height? And that bat sounds like a cricket. Hey Broderbund, how about giving us The Guardian Legend next time, Hmm?
@jcasetnl: "but how this game ever got the Nintendo Seal is a true mystery."
No kidding. If you want a modern example of a equally horribly bad game, try "NinjaBread Man" for Wii.
*yawn*
Huh? What? Oh, sorry. I was remembering the time I actually bothered to play this, and then I remembered the theme song and instantly fell into a boredom coma.
The main theme is featured in Smash Bros. Brawl!!
I don't actually own the game for VC, but I own the famicom cartridge, and I'm very fond of it. Might be a bit tough due to the difficult jumping-off-ropes moments and the sheer amazing amount of things that can lead to your death, but I don't think it deserves to be rated so low.
..Then again reviews and ratings are highly subjective, so they don't really matter whatsoever as they don't prevent me from enjoying this, so why am I complaining.
I owned the Commodore 64 version of this game and in truth, it never really caught on with me. Just didn't have that addictive quality that many of the similar style games from the early 80's had.
Wow. Don't like this one at all.. IT's badly done in so many ways.
If you liked the idea of this at all, you may want to check out Spelunky, which is free on both PC & Mac: http://www.spelunkyworld.com/index.html
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...