A running list of stupid bullshit that has ruined a seemingly perfect run of Spelunky 2:

- getting hit by one of the arrow machines because I was not paying enough attention
-successfully dodging the arrow machine, only to have it shoot directly into the shop and make the shopkeep go berserk mode, killing me with his shotgun
-Panicking and jumping when I see one of the yellow lizards, only to get pinned against a wall and have my whole health bar get owned
- the fucking moles
-having one of the hired hands decide to kill me for some unknown reason
-lava. I hate the fucking lava
-lava monsters. I hate the fucking lava monsters even more than the static lava
-stepping on a bear trap that was hidden behind a plant, which immediately wipes my 15 points of health in one fell swoop.
-getting crushed by the eye block in the pyramid
-thinking I successfully dodged the eye block in the pyramid, only to have it slide in a horizontal direction and crush me anyway
- an unseen chain reaction of explosions sending a ufo hurtling from the heavens to perfectly land on me mid-jump in the ice caves, sending me careening into the abyss
-everything in neo-babylon
-and a million other things I am definitely forgetting.

Despite this absolute bullshit, I love this game, and I cannot stop playing. I've completed the base run a few times, and am working on finding more secrets//getting to the deeper levels, and fully expect to be playing this game for a long time to come.

Evolves on Spelunky HD's ideas in tons of creative ways. Super fun to play and (attempt) to master, all the new levels and mechanics and everything are great. It is punishingly difficult though, even more so than the original, and my one genuine gripe with the game would be that sometimes the level generation can give you a level that's actually just bad, which isn't something that really happened in Spelunky HD. I suppose the more sprawling, complex levels leave more room for bad generation, compared to the more simple levels of the last game. Still, a whole lot of fun, and one that I'm sure I'll still be coming back to for the forseeable future.

Spelunky was a weird one for me, as someone who hadn't played a more classic roguelike, i had previously watched a lot of it on twitch and played my first roguelikes in Hades and Spire before deciding to pick it up.
The thing is, Spelunky 2 gameplay is great, the platforming here is impressive and rewards good play, you are constantly having to jump and use the space to your advantage, so in that way, was a nice fit.
But, this is still a rogulike, so if you die you will restart from the beginning, and that would be fine, however the first area is really hard, like the hardest in any game i've ever seen, and is not just "fair stuff", you can die for a million reasons, the rate of which the death was your fault is like 50/50.
With that in mind, is hard to move on in the game without going well at the beginning, you ended up without itens and dying again, so that is kinda frustating.
i'm shelving this, i made it through first boss and to stage 4, but i've had enough of going throw those moles and sandshrews again and again, for now, i'll say it's great gameplay, but is realy hard, so it's up to you to say.

Firstly, beating the first game is sort of a requirement to play this one, that being said...
This game cranks everything from the first game to 11.
A tad more frustrating, as there are now significantly more ways to die, but the sheer content and quality here is insane. Somehow the sequel to one of the greatest roguelikes ever made managed to surpass the original and not overcomplicate itself too much. The gameplay mechanics are constantly combining and creating unique situations that either catapult you closer to victory or (more likely) catapult your corpse the other direction.

Don't think I will EVER 'finish' this game down to sheer lack of skill but holy heck what a joy ride. Truly satisfying discovering mechanics and unique interactions and feeling yourself 'get better' all the time. Has its share of cheap deaths and frustrating stretches, but really what game with this kind of procedural generation doesn't? Worth mentioning that the multiplayer co-op has been fantastic for connecting with family members that I can't see but I understand that many people still don't have access to this feature on PC which is really sad! Here's hoping it won't be too much longer. Co-op does make the game easier in some aspects but comes with its own caveats that makes it almost as dangerous as any solo run.

EDIT:
Edited to reflect the fact that as of (23/03/2021) I have actually "finished" the game solo. It's one of the hardest video game accomplishments I've made by a long shot - it did definitely feel like some runs were just terrible luck at work - but when the platforming really clicks and you get into the flow of the game it's pure magic. I've played maybe 70-80 hours in co-op and another 20-30 solo and I can see either having their own advantage but there's much to say about this game as a communal experience. Much of my progress was made in the company of friends, sharing what we'd discovered with each other or playing online in co-op and figuring out new worlds together and I think the deliberately opaque details of much of Spelunky really lends itself to that kind of discussion. An experience to treasure if you've got people around you who will enjoy it with you.

I've been having an absolute blast playing through this game. Multiplayer released just over a week ago now as well and that is just as phenomenal. I've got over 100 hours on Spelunky HD and I've played almost just as much on the 2009 release of the very original. I have to say that this is the best release of the game. For entry level players, you might as well pick this one up. The other two are fun as hell but this is absolutely the best way to play Spelunky now.

There is so much content. Even the very base ending of the game will take hours (I haven't even beaten the base game single player yet). And after that there is so much to do anyway. I literally found out about more stuff in this game YESTERDAY.

It is almost a masterpiece. Unfortunately multiplayer still isn't in the best situation. Playing with friends is easy enough but you have to get used to lower FPS, and also you can't unlock new characters if you are with friends, which is probably my biggest gripe.

Despite all of that though, it's brilliant. Check it out!