Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

imagine it's 1988. imagine it's summer. you read nintendo power and you've seen these rumblings about a game called shovel knight that looks radical! it's due out soon, but then...something happens. who knows what it is, but shovel knight is never heard from again until 2014, when yacht club games present an unearthed treasure. and boy, it's absolutely everything you'd hoped for from those nintendo power shots. shovel knight is simple: it's an old-school nes platformer from the days where that meant they were ridiculously difficult, but shovel knight does "difficulty" in a way few other games manage, by presenting various controls through gameplay to tone the difficulty down. are you bad at boss battles that require only one life? extend your life bar and take troupple chalice ichors of renewal with you. are you terrible at jumping across pits? go grab the propeller dagger to make those pits a breeze. there's lots to like here, from the simple, clean 8-bit graphics to the wonderful soundtrack. and playing the game is a blast: shovel knight is very responsive as he runs and leaps and pogos off of the head of an enemy. should you beat the game and want a more difficult challenge, new game+ awaits you. new game+ naturally ratchets up the difficulty: no more food in levels and half the checkpoints, plus guys hit harder. even if you manage to finish your original game, there's still /lots/ to do as you fill in feats [achievements] - all-in-all, shovel knight is a fantastic history lesson done right. i'm deducting a star because there are small niggles: done with a level? forgot a music sheet? good luck, you're doing the whole level again. some of the boss battles at the end are a little cheap. is the boss under the stage making death pits? check. does the boss appear on a surface and open spiky blades of doom while you're whaling on him? check. that "recover" screen? not necessary. otherwise: a blast! and you should totally play it.

cool

Slow inaccurate controls, respawning enemies, weird collision boxes. I bought this because of all the praise, i have big regrets!

The game is absolutely brilliant. If you grew up in the 80s or love classic side scrolling platformers than you owe it to yourself, and the developer, to buy this game. I really hope SK2 is already in development.

Although i dont exactly regret my purchase, and appreciate the free content-updates, i wouldnt buy the game again. I dont like the presentation, was hoping for more complex mechanics, and while i have been entertained for a couple of hours, the difficulty did increase so drastically, and the level-design has become so difficult. that playing frustrates me more than anything else, with no way of making things easier.