Shovel Knight
- Retro Platformer
- Pogo Simulator
- £10.99/£14.99 with the glorious soundtrack
- FOR SHOVELRY -
What is it?
Released back in June 2014, Shovel Knight is an 8-bit 2D platformer in the vein of old Castlevania games for PC, 3DS and the WiiU from Yacht Club Games. It began life as a Kickstarter campaign and is one of the few things we can safely call a success when it comes to Kickstarter.
Story
One day whilst out adventuring with your favourite gal pal Shield Knight you stumble upon the ominously named Tower of Fate where you both fall prey to a cursed amulet, when you wake up Shield Knight is gone and you're left feeling quite upset by the whole thing and sack adventuring in favour of early retirement. Big mistake really. During your extended vacation a formidable team of nasty chaps make an appearance and begin terrorising the realm, including the all powerful enchantress and as you might guess she's not too friendly. When news reaches you about all the bad things that have happened since you've been gone the decision is made, time to once again pick up shovel and put a stop to it all.
Gameplay
When you hear the words "8-bit 2D platformer" you know what you're getting and admittedly that isn't always a good thing since this is a genre filled with quite a lot of shitty games. Shovel Knight stays true to the genre and it's levels are laden with holes to fall down, spikes to fall on and secrets to be found, oh and enemies that will go out of their way to get you killed. You even get a Ducktales style pogo jump when you jam your mighty shovel into the moist brains of enemies.
When you do die, and you will a lot, you lose a portion of your money which you have a chance at reclaiming by getting to the spot you died and collecting the bags ala Dark Souls. The controls are incredibly responsive and whilst I prefer to play with an Xbox 360 pad (despite it having one of the worst D-pads in the world) using a keyboard will not be a hindrance on you.
It's worth mentioning that if you're playing on PC check your V-sync settings because I went through over half the game before I realised turning it off made the game run much better and made me run much MUCH quicker, or rather run at the speed I'm supposed to.
Graphics
Again, you know what you're getting when it comes to 8-bit. Yacht Club have gone above and beyond when it comes to the stylistic feel of Shovel Knight, even using a colour palette nearly identical to the original NES and their effort shows because the game is simply stunning to look at. The character design is incredible and each environment is varied and conveys the theme of each level so well. The 8-bit style isn't for everyone and it isn't always done right but you would have a hard time looking at this game and not thinking it looks beautiful.
Audio
Before I gush about how good the music is I want to touch on the sound design because it's really good and has a lot of satisfying bit-crush throughout, okay music time. Oh it's so good, seriously it's just so damn good! Jake Kaufman did outstanding work on this game, truly inspiring. I love chiptune music and this is no exception, it's so well written and an absolutely perfect match for the game, it even has 2 tracks written by Manami Matsumi who wrote music for Mega Man! How amazing is that! Go to Jakes Bandcamp page and listen to it, just, do it. Now.
Yay or Nay?
There's a reason I like this game a lot that I've yet to touch on and that's the character of Shield Knight, she's not the usual woman that needs saving, she isn't a love interest she's your partner and the two of you are a well oiled machine together. Much better than whining about being in a castle or some other plot device. The games biggest failing is its length, I got a lot of enjoyment out of my first playthrough (which would've gone faster without the V-sync issues) and while you have the option for a new game plus it feels artificial since all it does really is make things a bit harder. That having been said I really do like this game and find it hard not to recommend it to anyone and everyone because it's just a really enjoyable experience and who doesn't love that?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/250760/
http://yachtclubgames.com/shovel-knight/
http://virt.bandcamp.com/album/shovel-knight-original-soundtrack
