Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

Shovel Knight was a game I knew I'd like as soon as it came out, but I held off until recently because of a backlog of other games. I'm so glad I finally purchased though as it is a fantastic tribute to some of the iconic games of the past while still maintaining an identity of its own. First impressions were: 8-bit/NES look and sound, awesome and clean for those who remember those days. The map screen feels right out of Super Mario Bros 3, looks good and is easy to follow. Second, the play style follows a similar pattern to Mega Man (my personal favorite series from the old days) in that you go through a semi-linear (you can't choose whichever knight you want, only certain ones are open, defeat them to access the others, but you can choose which order to face the available ones); basically go through the level and battle the unique boss at the end. Unlike Mega Man, you do not gain the boss' power upon defeating him, rather, similar to the Adventure of Link you can find a unique weapon within the stages (or buy it later at a higher price), but these do not do extra damage to bosses, they just have their special abilities (very useful in most cases). Third, there's more to it than just boss levels as there are special 'short' stages and wandering fighters to engage along the way. The couple of towns feel like they are out of the Adventure of Link, too as does Shovel Knight's downward attack (downthrust), though this is also akin to the DuckTales Pogo stick move. There is great attention to detail and a lot to find in each level making it worth coming your way through. The writing is clever and there is a lot of humor/puns mixed in the game. Controls are excellent and responsive. Lastly, as of now the Plague Knight expansion is out (with 2 more expansions planned I hear), and it is a wonderful addition that makes playing the same essential game very very different, both in terms of play style and how you see certain characters. Love the game, check it out!

Shovel Knight is a fun game and it has everything you'd expect from a game that revisits the olden days of 8-bit gaming. I especially liked the little campy details in animation and presentation. But I find it hard to justify calling it a fantastic game like so many others do. The controls feel clunky sometimes, but I guess I got used to that. The game has difficulty issues. I don't mean it's too hard or too easy, but the hard parts come interspersed in more easy parts. Often, there are less-than-ideal continue points which force you to play through the same boring part again and again before you get to the challenge again. What surprised me the most is that so many people praise the soundtrack, but there is hardly anything notable going on there, unfortunately. It simply cannot compete with the fantastic soundtracks of games like Super Meat Boy, Hotline Miami or Super Hexagon. To me a good soundtrack is important, so I found this point especially disappointing. So if you are expecting an overwhelmingly awesome game like so many others here said, I think you will be disappointed a little. I can still recommend it though, it's a fun game, especially if you play it with tempered expectations!

Shovel knight is a beautiful piece of craftmanship. It has all the best parts of the best NES classic and simultaneously manages to feel refreshing and original. The graphics: characters are charming, backgrounds interresting and vivid. The chibi style suits the overall atmosphere of the game: not to serious but not riddiculous. There are tons of fun animations and you can "interact" with characters in more than one way. The music: It is NES music, just perfected. The song "Strike the earth!" makes you want to reply level 1 over and over again. Difficulty: The levels are designed in a way that forces you too learn new tricks to proceed without any boring tutorials. Nothing is too easy or too hard. Controls: Perhaps my only criticism of this game: it simply does not recognice my game pad! Anyway this game is not ideal to play using a keyboard so you better find out what game pads will work before buying it. Content: This game is richer than it gives appearance of. There is a lot packed into each level but not soo much that it feels complicated or cluttered (yet again perfect balance). The "feats" system strikes me as exciting and original. In summary: This is a game made by heart rather than for the wallet (contrast to the average generic 3d first person shooter which seems to be all game companies develop now adays). I hope to see equally good sequals in the next few years and a bright future for Yacht Club Games.

I almost feel like playing on my Pegazus (clone NES), this game is wonderful only, "a bit" too demanding in the end.

its fun. really fun. i swear.