"Spelunky 2" lets you kill cavemen in their sleep. That's what makes this game unique. As of this writing, I've died nearly 400 times, and I'm just getting started. I'm just getting started, and in "Spelunky 2" everything is going well. You should be carefully setting traps with arrows, have a shotgun, and plenty of bombs and rope, but a deluge of unlucky shit wipes you out faster than you can say, "Nas run."

The original Spelunky, released in 2013, was a 2D roguelike phenomenon (and PC Gamer Game of the Year) born of freeware pixel art; Spelunky 2 is better and more: more worlds, more more secrets, interlocking paths, axolotls and "rock dogs" to ride, and at least three times as many deaths. A roguelike platformer, but with interlocking deadly threats waiting in the wings.

A sequel of this kind runs the risk of making its predecessor redundant. Some worlds return, slightly reshaped from the original, such as jungles, ice caves, and caverns (now called "Dwelling"). Angry shopkeepers are as nasty as ever, but a little easier to rob, and there are rivals for your gold: walruses with dice games and bodyguards, chuns with challenge rooms, and cavemen have evolved to try to sell you useless junk like skulls. There are more NPCs and more side quests. For example, the guy in Dwelling who wants you to save his turkey (he will kill you if you try to rob him), and Van Hoesing in Volcania, who for some reason will give you money without question.

And for a while you will ignore all these distractions and instead focus on unlocking the shortcuts. This critical path begins in Dwelling and culminates in a mini-boss before branching off into two possible second worlds. The game has many familiar areas, but for those players who have the patience to overcome the initial difficulties, it offers the most brilliant and surprising locations.

One is right to be concerned that Spelunky 2 is a bloated version of a near-perfect formula. The much-hyped pre-launch features, such as tiered worlds and branching paths, are not as complex; no one will get lost in Spelunky 2, and the game's new levels are much more accessible than before. Some levels are much bigger than before, but the general rules of Spelunky (mostly) still apply: go down and find the exit. The mini-bosses are the kind you can manage with your eyes closed after a couple of tries, and at first they mostly serve as a trick to help you choose which world to visit next.

Still, only the dedicated can make it all the way through this game. The new opening world is a preparation for this truth. It is more difficult than the next two areas and adds some really nasty guys like cave moles that dig holes and horned lizards that roll barrels. Because once again, Spelunky 2 is a game that produces comedic and beautifully physical anecdotes, and after nearly 40 hours of play, I continue to discover new states of the world while still being plagued by those damned purple bats.

Other modern action roguelikes are equally enjoyable on a basic level, such as "Flinthook" and "Enter Gungeon. Neither, however, can match "Spelunky 2" in terms of sheer scale. Yes, you can play it dozens of times in a row and not encounter anything noteworthy, but enter the jungle and you'll find abominable vampires there. Or there are strange industrial production lines in Volcania. Or you find a rideable fish that you can teleport (usually into the walls). Or you might accidentally fracture another layer of the boss's lair and unearth a whole new world.

What is most exciting about "Spelunky 2" is what the other challenge runners and secret finders do. This new world is as full of signs of undiscovered secrets as it is of hilarious new ways to die. There is no shortage of reasons to deviate from the critical path, and forgoing a promising run to test a possible secret is usually too tempting to deny. What is that giant drill in Volcania? Why is that man giving me free money? How am I supposed to get to the golden city? As of this writing, no streamer has yet accessed all the worlds in this game, but they are finding a lot of weird stuff.

Spelunky 2 feels busier than the original. A lot happens at once. The graphics are more detailed and the controls are more subtle. Enemy hitboxes seem especially finely tuned, and it is tempting to jump right over the head of the snake. As with the original version, controller use is strongly recommended, and while online co-op is not available at launch (the PS4 version had some issues), the game will support cross-play with console players once it is supported. This sequel offers a blank slate for secret hunters and speedrunners, a game designed to be watched as much as played. Rather than a sequel, it might be better described as a 2.0. It's a place for newcomers to start, but at the same time swollen with mysteries and feats for veterans to tackle. Part of me wonders what the creators could have done instead of creating this sequel, which is effectively an iteration. But I'm not going to argue that they should give us more "Spelunky," a truly ultra-violent game that can be played with kids, unfathomable secrets, magical GIF moments, sleeping cavemen that can kill, etc.