Reviewed on the Nintendo Switch

Shovel Knight is a 2D platformer, reminiscent of the games from Nintendo Entertainment System (NES or FAMICOM, depending on the region) with has 8-bit sprite work and soundtrack. My first console was an East-European knock-off of NES, which played all its titles, including my favorite game at the time – Super Mario Bros. 3 (it’s still one of the greatest 2D platformers, I think) and many others classics I had at the time. So, in this review, I will try to establish what is it that Shovel Knight borrows from and on what it innovates, also I will touch on the level design and bosses.

I The composition

It is evident that Shovel Knight borrows from other games of the NES-era. It’s map layout is that of Super Mario Bros 3. and the frantic boss battles that of Mega Man. It also used other elements from other NES games, but dwelling on them is beside the point right now. Shovel Knight picks out the best elements from each game and adds them to perfect gameplay as there is no one-hit kill and the robust upgrade system makes collecting currency (jewels in this case) worthwhile. This game does not appear to innovate on any level per se, but it rather perfects what is already there.

Now, you must understand, I have huge “nostalgia goggles” with 8-bit games as my best memories are from that console and even I would have killed for this game back in the day, as it dwarfs all other NES games not only objectively speaking, but subjectively speaking – which is a huge deal as ones’ memories of a sweet game from the past are always sweetened and overcoming them is no small feat.

II The story, level design and boss battles

The story is lacking as is per 2D platformers, you play as a Shovel Knight trying to save your princess beloved from Bowser the Enchantress. In doing so, you must defeat her servants who are also knights, whom you will face at the end of each level (if you do not count the random encounters or chest-levels). Each knight (boss) feels distinct both aesthetically and gameplay-wise and so do their levels. For example, in case of the Propeller Knight you must traverse an airship to get to him and use fans (or propellers) that spew wind to get over huge gaps, when reaching the boss fight Propeller Knight will utilize his, yes, propeller to fly and try to push you over the edge of the map and he will call another airship to bombard you while doing all that.

What is more, the levels themselves are on the lengthy side, but still reasonable as with the Nintendo Switch I can easily just pop-in to the game and pop-out again on the PC the experience may vary in that regard. While I am not the best player, I found that the difficulty of the levels was very well-balanced and there was just the right number of checkpoints to keep it challenging, yet not frustrating.

One thing that I disliked was the fact that you lose 25% of the gold you had once the player dies (12,5%, if you buy the special armor), while yes, you can collect the money after your death, but often I died from falling into the bottomless pits of the map and had no way to retrieve the gold. This means that the worse you do, then the worse you’ll do. I understand that this is another nuance of the 8-bit era games, but I wish that they had let that mechanic go, death is punishment enough and it does nothing but lower morale for the player. Minor nitpick is that in co-op mode Shovel Knights were not distinguishable if one was wearing a specific custom armor, since their color would almost look the same.

Furthermore, I want to declare that the music in this game is not only thematically perfect, but stunning in its own regard.

III Value of the game

I bought the game for ~20€ at the Nintendo e-shop. While I say that this is a game worth your time and money I felt like there were too little levels in the main game. But that notion is erased when the free DLC landed, while I was a bit let down by the Plague of Shadows, I was impressed by the Specter of Torment and King Knight’s campaign and Battle Mode is still to come.

IV The Verdict

Yacht Club Games did a fantastic job on Shovel Knight, it blends the nostalgia of the 8-bit era with the graphical fidelity and capabilities of the present, the result is a beautiful 2D platformer, which has beautiful soundtracks, graceful controls and is a joy to experience overall. At the time of writing this review there is more content to come in the form of King Knight and Battle Mode DLC, and I will recommend anyone to pick up this game.

4/5 – Awesome

Reviewed on 19th of July 2018