Things have been quiet on the Spelunky 2 front pretty much since it was first announced in 2017. Last year, Mossmouth's Derek Yu explained that development was taking up more time because of the "density and details of the game," which stopped it from arriving in 2019. There's still no release date, but Yu has shared some new screenshots and a progress update via the PlayStation Blog.
Yu wants each run in Spelunky 2 to feel like a unique adventure, so Mossmouth has been adding more items with obvious and less-than-obvious interactions, as well as more characters like the shopkeeper, who'll both help and hinder players. The screenshots do a good job of showcasing even just the visual variety.
Recently, Mossmouth has been polishing up Spelunky 2's visuals. "I think we’ve struck a good balance now," says Yu, "where the graphics are crisp and easy to parse, but the details still stand out enough so that you can easily soak them up as you play the game. Effects like lighting and liquids are more vibrant now, too, contributing to that feeling of a dynamic, living world that has been our goal since day one."
Each area also has its own musical theme, while every creature, surface and item will have different sound effects. "Landing on grass in the jungle will sound very different than landing on a conveyor belt in Volcana," says Yu. He also teases the Deathmatch mode, which Mossmouth is apparently trying to expand this time, making it an equal to the Adventure mode.
Although we're still waiting on a release date, Yu says it's getting "closer and closer."
Check out the new screenshots below:
