Spelunky 2 is a great game. A brilliant action roguelike and worthy successor to an all-time genre classic. But it turns out Spelunky 2 could have achieved absolute perfection, if not for the (frankly criminal) omission of a bumbling fuzzy mount.
Over the past week, developer Derek Yu has been tweeting a few "random thoughts" on design, cut content and recent happenings to celebrate the game's first birthday. One of these included a look at this absolute delight who, for reasons unknown, never made it into the final game.
I'm back for another #Spelunky2 fun tweet! I did mention during our Nintendo Switch AMA that there was a bumblebee mount that never made it into the game. Here is that bumblebee! More memorable than frogslug? 🐝Transparent PNG here: https://t.co/bULjmDDfwq pic.twitter.com/vyBKj2eajhSeptember 30, 2021
Look at that fuzzball! A warm sweater for a body, with large eyes and a slight smile painting an expression of empty-headed joy. Yu doesn't explain how the bee mount would have worked in-game, or why it ultimately never made the cut. But if modders want, he's provided a full sprite-sheet for our bumbling chum.
Bumblebee mounts weren't the only thing omitted from Spelunky 2 during development, mind. Following news of a small update that fixes a few resolution bugs and expands language support, Yu also teased a more horrifying creature that never made it into the final game. Here, let me introduce you to frogslug:
"We often get asked about things that didn't make it into [Spelunky 2] and for some reason we never remember frogslug," Yu tweeted. "Maybe frogslug doesn't want to be remembered. But we'll remember them anyway. Here's frogslug."
I'll always remember frogslug from now on. Even if I dearly wish I was able to forget them.
