Where it Shines:
Pixel Art - 8/10
Platforming - 7/10

The Good:
Shovel Knight is a really nice throwback to 8bit games. Reminiscent of classic sidescrolling platformers like Ducktales for the NES. It's got a lot of charm, feels very nostalgic but with modern conveniences, and is overall a pretty fun playthrough.

The Bad:
So why don't I rate it higher? I don't know honestly. It just didn't live up to the hype for me. Maybe I had heard too much about it and my expectations were set a bit too high, but it just sort of felt like an empty playthrough. I had fun with it, but it didn't really feel like I accomplished much besides just rubbing one out of the backlog.
I think I'm probably judging it too harshly however.

Summary:
It's a good game, I don't think anyone will regret playing it, but don't be surprised if it isn't the masterpiece people claim it is.

Note on my ratings:

Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.

1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite