I'm sure some of you guys have played both. If someone was going to buy one, which would you recommend?

I don't know about Spelunky (although it looks nice), but personally, I didn't like La-Mulana that much. I found it boring, repetitive and unfair. But that's my humble opinion... (:P)

I've played both, and while they're both very different, Spelunky was much more enjoyable to me. La-Mulana is super hard, and not always in a just way. For instance, there were way too many times I just wandered the ruins, looking for something to do, rubbing items against walls. Spelunky, while hard toward the end (especially the bonus levels!) is always mathematically fair. There is literally no situation that you can't get out of; the generator proves that. Also, Spelunky has kickass multiplayer. Spelunky all the way, for me :3

P.S. La-Mulana's not bad, it's just not as good as Spelunky. Hope I didn't come off the wrong way.

La Mulana is masocore.
Spelunky is roguelike.


Whatever you're into.

Well, both require some patience and reflexes.

La Mulana: one of the best metroidvania games evar. Challenging and satisfying as hell. The soundtrack is phenomenal.
Spelunky: a highly engrossing and mechanically tight roguelike-like platformer that rewards quick thinking.

Both are excellent in their own way.

I got La Mulana for $5 and Spelunky is currently running for $14.00.

La Mulana nuff said.

Hey, there is a difference between thrifty and broke. :P

Honestly, the best answer is to play both. They are awesome. Buy them, cherish them.

why not just play the free versions first, then buy the one you like more? >_>

I prefer messing around in randomly generated Spelunky where I don't really feel any pressure if I fail, rather than trying to make progress in La Mulana. (Though I don't really care much for the new graphics style which is part of the reason I haven't bought it yet. it does seem to add a lot of new features though; IDK if La Mulana added anything besides graphics)

Having played about half an hour of Spelunky now, and sucking at both games, I'd have to say La Mulana.

Spelunky is kind of nice but, as a roguelike, it's procedurally generated. I prefer the properly crafted levels of La Mulana, part of that comes in the form of puzzles which liven up the world.

La Mulana is a dreadful port with clunky menus, I know that much.