Shovel Knight

[Slick_36]

So I finally got a chance to play this game and it's lived up to the hype. Right off the bat, the graphics and music nails the old school vibe before you've pressed a button, and it looks gorgeous with the extra depth in 3D. The dialogue is humorous and the story seems like it's deceptively strong but I'm still pretty early in the game. The gameplay is so solid, classic feel but without the frustration, and the mechanics are so creative and feel satisfying to use. The difference between characters gives the game a lot of depth, Shovel Knight feels like an original Megaman game and then you switch to Specter Knight and it feels like you've jumped to Megaman X. The level design is probably the strongest aspect of the game, hard but fair, logical progression, and tons of room for exploration that often leads to death which has you trekking back to reclaim the treasure you've dug up so far.

It's a near perfect homage to the classic games of the past. Built on a solid foundation of the best mechanics of the 8 bit era with some modernization in all the right ways. Death feels like a new challenge instead of an arbitrary obstacle. I'm psyched to keep playing through this and King Knight's story is coming out soon so if you've already played through the game, you've got that to look forward to.

 

[HereticBD]

Fun game, only behind Mega Man 9 for retro done right.

I never did finish up the second run, with the other character you get after beating it.

 

[KidBaize]

I only cleared a few levels IIRC so I should go back and finish it sometime. Fun game but I really suck at platformers.

 

[JohnSAFTAHess]

Shovel Knight was a classic.