Modders are turning Spelunky 2 into a sprawling Metroidvania, and you can try it right now

Steam tells me that I have 381 hours in the first Spelunky, but a mere 74 in Spelunky 2. The reason for this is simple: I'm terrible at it to such a spectacular degree that my clumsy attempts in Spelunky 1 look like virtuoso performances by comparison. But perhaps I'd get more into the second game if it were transformed into a Metroidvania.

Thanks to Spelunky: Wrath of Kali, I can find out. Spotted by GamesRadar, Wrath of Kali is a sprawling mod for Spelunky 2 that converts its constantly shifting world into a fully-authored Metroidvania. Created by a "small dedicated team of modders in the Spelunky community," it's currently only available in demo form, with a release planned for later this year, but even that demo looks impressive.

Right now, the demo contains three zones, a unique boss, shortcuts, save game functionality(!), and tantalising "hidden stuff". Plus, the team has plans for more bosses, areas, power-ups, and secret endings in its full release planned for later this year. 

Spelunky 2 seems to translate to a Metroidvania rather well: Its myriad upgrades—jump boots, jetpacks and the like—become permanent enhancements that let you reach new zones and overcome new obstacles. There's also a Soulsborne-style healing system now in the form of potions you can refill at checkpoints (checkpoints! In Spelunky!).

I'm eager to see where this goes. I've been meaning to get back into Spelunky 2 for, well, years at this point, but it's never managed to get its hooks into me like its predecessor did. Perhaps this is just what I need. If you fancy trying out the demo, you can pick it up over at Spelunky.fyi. Just remember to pick up the nightly build of Playlunky to install it with.

Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
The starting chamber in Portal, but the floor is covered in lava.
Portal Randomized mixes up Valve's beloved puzzler by turning the floor into lava and filling chambers with a deadly neurotoxin
Monster Train 2 screenshot
Choo choo, here comes Monster Train 2: One of our favorite deckbuilders is getting a sequel and you can play a demo today
A look at four heroes in SHape of Dreams, a new action roguelike by Lizard Smoothie.
Shape of Dreams' demo shows off an ingenious roguelike that wields Risk of Rain-tier finesse with action MOBA chaos, and I think I might be in love
Fantasy adventurers face a giant foe in Solasta 2's key art.
The homebrew Dungeons & Dragons 5E CRPG alternative returns, with a demo you can play right now
A cartoon nun looks shocked and scared, bathed in green light.
The new game from the Blasphemous devs is like if Commandos was a metroidvania set in a Spanish monastery, and also the Green Beret kept losing his mind
Blade Chimera art
Blade Chimera ditches the usual metroidvania progression in favour of a radical idea: skipping straight to the good stuff
Latest in Action
The First Berserker: Khazan review - Blade Phantom
How to claim The First Berserker: Khazan pre-order bonus and deluxe edition DLC
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
A plastic duck dressed like a circus weightlifter
The 5th highest-rated game on Steam in 2022 is back with a multiplayer sequel
Latest in News
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'