Shovel Knight has arguably become the face of retro-inspired indie games, and it’s pretty easy to see why. The game successfully captures the spirit of classic 8-bit titles on the NES. It lifts the best elements from many games of that period such as Super Mario Bros. 3, Zelda II: Link’s Awakening, Castlevania, Mega Man, Ducktales, and I’m sure other games that I don’t recognize, and puts them together in a surprisingly cohesive fashion. This makes for a memorable and very enjoyable platforming experience.
The levels are very well designed. They take a lot of cues from the Mega Man games, with each level having one or two gimmicks that relate to the correspondingly themed boss you fight at the end of the level, which leads to interesting platforming challenges. The level gimmicks are actually quite clever, as they go beyond your typical elemental hazards in platforming. Polar Knight’s level is ice themed, and includes traditional ice level hazards such as slippery platforms. However, there’s also this platform with a Nordic statue on it that when struck by your shovel will launch forward and shoot out a rainbow bridge that Shovel Knight must traverse across. I really like the thought and care that was put into these levels and their gimmicks. One I’m not personally a fan of though is Specter Knight’s level, which is enshrouded in darkness, allowing you to only see the outlines of yourself, enemies, and platforms. I hesitate to actually call it bad, but having my sight robbed from me like that made his level and his boss fight in particular extremely frustrating, especially since this level was one of the earlier levels in the game and I wasn’t quite acclimated to the game’s feel yet.
One of the elements the game takes from its inspirations is a high difficulty. The game does get rather tough, especially in the latter levels. However, it's never unfair, even if it does feel cheap at times. This is because the game provides numerous checkpoints throughout levels and lacks lives/continues. Instead, you lose an amount of gold collected during your travels, which you can even recover when you go through the area where you died again. Gold can be important in Shovel Knight, but you don’t really need gold for very much. You do need it for meal tickets if you want to increase your health, and you do need it for the hidden treasures you can find in levels (which can be very useful) but those are the best uses for gold that I could find. There’s even a set of armor that you can purchase that halves the amount of gold you lose when you die, and it’s one of the cheapest armor sets you can buy in the game. This means that you have many, many chances to retry levels over and over again. As long as you don’t give up, you will make progress, and you will finish the game.
The story, keeping true to its 8-bit roots, is rather light and straightforward in terms of its content. However, that small amount of story that’s there is rather charming and well executed. The dialogue in particular does a great job of demonstrating each character’s personality, and it’s all quite likable. I’m also a big fan of how the game communicates just how much Shield Knight means to Shovel Knight with the dream sequences. These sequences, combined with the game’s ending, are actually quite emotional and I was surprisingly moved by them.
Shovel Knight is an all-around excellent title that truly lives up to the games that inspired it. It’s short, sweet, to the point, and very satisfying to finish. It manages to retain the difficulty of those classic 8-bit titles, but in a way that’s fair and minimizes frustration. The levels all manage to be fresh and unique. I can see why this game is held in such high regard, and I very much regret letting this sit in my Steam Library for nearly a decade before finally sitting down to play it. It’s a must-play title that truly lives up to the hype.
The levels are very well designed. They take a lot of cues from the Mega Man games, with each level having one or two gimmicks that relate to the correspondingly themed boss you fight at the end of the level, which leads to interesting platforming challenges. The level gimmicks are actually quite clever, as they go beyond your typical elemental hazards in platforming. Polar Knight’s level is ice themed, and includes traditional ice level hazards such as slippery platforms. However, there’s also this platform with a Nordic statue on it that when struck by your shovel will launch forward and shoot out a rainbow bridge that Shovel Knight must traverse across. I really like the thought and care that was put into these levels and their gimmicks. One I’m not personally a fan of though is Specter Knight’s level, which is enshrouded in darkness, allowing you to only see the outlines of yourself, enemies, and platforms. I hesitate to actually call it bad, but having my sight robbed from me like that made his level and his boss fight in particular extremely frustrating, especially since this level was one of the earlier levels in the game and I wasn’t quite acclimated to the game’s feel yet.
One of the elements the game takes from its inspirations is a high difficulty. The game does get rather tough, especially in the latter levels. However, it's never unfair, even if it does feel cheap at times. This is because the game provides numerous checkpoints throughout levels and lacks lives/continues. Instead, you lose an amount of gold collected during your travels, which you can even recover when you go through the area where you died again. Gold can be important in Shovel Knight, but you don’t really need gold for very much. You do need it for meal tickets if you want to increase your health, and you do need it for the hidden treasures you can find in levels (which can be very useful) but those are the best uses for gold that I could find. There’s even a set of armor that you can purchase that halves the amount of gold you lose when you die, and it’s one of the cheapest armor sets you can buy in the game. This means that you have many, many chances to retry levels over and over again. As long as you don’t give up, you will make progress, and you will finish the game.
The story, keeping true to its 8-bit roots, is rather light and straightforward in terms of its content. However, that small amount of story that’s there is rather charming and well executed. The dialogue in particular does a great job of demonstrating each character’s personality, and it’s all quite likable. I’m also a big fan of how the game communicates just how much Shield Knight means to Shovel Knight with the dream sequences. These sequences, combined with the game’s ending, are actually quite emotional and I was surprisingly moved by them.
Shovel Knight is an all-around excellent title that truly lives up to the games that inspired it. It’s short, sweet, to the point, and very satisfying to finish. It manages to retain the difficulty of those classic 8-bit titles, but in a way that’s fair and minimizes frustration. The levels all manage to be fresh and unique. I can see why this game is held in such high regard, and I very much regret letting this sit in my Steam Library for nearly a decade before finally sitting down to play it. It’s a must-play title that truly lives up to the hype.