Shovel Knight (2014)

Shovel Knight is retro overburst: it looks, feels and plays EXACTLY like a 90s (S)NES platformer and might probably have been partially responsible for the return of pixel graphics in indie gaming.

Unfortunately, it is really not more than that. It fails to add anything new to the genre, it simply reproduces the classics. I don't think it's absolutely important to be a good game, but Shovel Knight sort of started something. It could have, but it did not start a renovation of our beloved old platformer genre. It probably simply inspired people to copy the classics like itself did.

I know Shovel Knight is perfectly fine with this, and it doesn't want more than being just that and it's a good game, but this had to be said.

Pixelart is beautiful, but it has nothing individual to it, as the art of Hollow Knight for istance. Sometimes Shovel Kight's dialogues seem to start being ironic, but really they don't. Self-ironic humour would have suited the game perfectly. It also lacks an adequate contemporary story with sweet and funny dialogue, like Celeste.

En Yacht Club Games son conscientes de que el proceso de desarrollo debe tener al jugador en mente. A lo largo de esta primera campaña de la saga Shovel Knight, quizá la más icónica por su novedad, se pone a disposición del jugador toda una serie de habilidades, a cada cual más única que la anterior. Por ello, para ejercer un dominio absoluto sobre cada una, sus niveles se han diseñado con el control a la vanguardia: cada pantalla se plantea como un pequeño desafío que, o bien desafía las habilidades aprendidas del jugador, o bien enseña una nueva técnica en su arsenal. En el equipo de desarrollo hay auténticos talentos que saben que un jugador, neófito o experimentado, es capaz de pensar por sí mismo y atar cabos. Así, las pantallas se suceden sin apenas indicaciones mecánicas (más allá de las extradiegéticas), de modo que el jugador deba aprender a superar cada pantalla con el conocimiento de las mecánicas básicas.

El diseño de niveles de Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope roza la perfección. Aun si algunas pantallas son algo más obtusas de lo permisible, la gran mayoría de estas siguen una filosofía de diseño excelente que no solo trata al jugador de adulto, sino que también plantea recompensas por superar cada desafío. Es accesible sin ser petulante, desafiante sin ser condescendiente y entretenido sin salirse de su foco de diseño. A causa de este hecho, la historia es extremadamente sencilla. De base, habría agradecido algo más de esmero en sus interacciones de personaje y la relación principal, pero, al final, la atención está puesta en el excelente apartado jugable. Es más, el diseño llega más allá, haciendo que el jugador más experimentado o más deseoso de un desafío se atreva con las pantallas de coleccionables (siempre bien indicadas) y se vea siempre recompensado con dinero, la sensación de haber superado un gran desafío y el conocimiento de que, más adelante, habrá otra recompensa monetaria por haber obtenido el coleccionable.

Cabe destacar también que las mecánicas son intuitivas, sencillas de usar en su inicio y complejas en su final, pero con un viaje tan de la mano que permite explotar tu arsenal sin despeinarte hacia sus últimos compases. Quizá algunas habilidades como el anillo de invisibilidad o la espada voladora están algo rotas; me he visto en algunos combates abusando de los frames de invencibilidad del anillo para hacer polvo a los enemigos y, especialmente, a los jefes. Sin embargo, este tipo de recursos se acaban sintiendo más como una forma de facilitar los desafíos (que ya de base siguen siendo complejos) que no como exploits.

En relación con lo anterior, me gustaría destacar a los jefes. Son todos excelentes en diseño y carisma: es tan fácil quedarse con ellos como difícil es finiquitarlos antes. No son extremadamente consejos, pero sí obligan a hacer uso de todo lo aprendido a lo largo de sus niveles y siguen esa filosofía de diseño que convierte a Yacht Club Games en unos genios.

No resta mucho más que decir. Esta primera campaña de la saga ofrece una experiencia redonda. Es casi perfecta en su apartado jugable y, aunque ciertamente mejorable en su apartado argumental, fluye con tanta gracia y es tan divertido que apenas importa, todo llevado con una estética pixel art fabulosa y realmente agradable de ver.

Fancy title for this one, right? This review consists of the currently released Treasure Trove - this means both Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment.

Before we dive into what makes Shovel Knight special, let's go over the basic mechanics. The main character is Shovel Knight, using his (or her) shovel to dig up treasure, hit enemies, and bounce off of obstacles to invade hideouts of a group of Knights called the Order of No Quarter before facing off against their leader, the Enchantress. Treasure can be used to buy upgrades, as well as trinkets that can be found somewhere within the knights' hideouts. There is a slight risk-or-reward to be found in checkpoints and dying, where dying releases a fraction of the player's total treasure and needs to be picked up later, along with checkpoints that can be destroyed for extra treasure.

Plague Knight and Specter Knight are extensions of Shovel Knight, and work fairly well in similar stages. Plague Knight uses expanded jumping capabilities like a charge jump and double jump and throws bombs while Specter Knight climbs and jumps on walls, along with using his scythe to slash through obstacles to reach other areas. They also have their own unique upgrade systems that stand out from Shovel Knight, whether it is testing out Red Skull curios in a mini-dungeon or finding Cipher Coins to research new upgrades.

Now what makes the tale of these three knights really special? The world of Shovel Knight is a short and difficult one, but it is filled to the brim with gorgeous, unique visuals (even for the tired 8-bit aesthetic, it makes it feel new) and tunes that stick in your head for weeks to come. The story could be a simple one-off but features interesting and fun characters lying around every corner, whether it is the show-off between Shovel and the Order or travelers on the world map. As the player goes through the Plague and Specter campaigns, characters are seen from even richer and newer angles and adds to a story that begs people to enjoy the full gamut of Shovel Knight and its DLC.

Challenging design, beautiful world, and unforgettable characters, Shovel Knight is one of the most top-notch games of its ilk. A must-have on any system that you can play the full version on.

How can people say platform games are dying with games like Shovel Knight around? It may not be in its golden age, but the genre continues to have strong games that show that it won't go away any time soon, with Shovel Knight serving as proof.

So what is this game about? And if you are thinking: "It's just another SNES game with a shovel instead of a sword", you are half right and half wrong. First the gameplay. If you played SNES games in the past, or NES for that matter, you will find the gameplay familiar. You jump, you attack and, while on the air, you can attack downwards. As the weapon in this game is a shovel, you can also dig up piles of dirt and stone. So it's pretty much any SNES/NES game for that matter. And that's the half that is right. But then the game combines that retro gameplay with the best that modern games have to offer: a well written plot and great characters. Starting with the plot, it could have been another " rescue the princess" type of game. But, they managed to make me care about a character I didn't even met until the end of the game. You can feel and see that Shovel Knight wants to save her not only for love, but to redeem himself from his past failure. It's full of adventure and twists, while using humor to entertain the player. The plot has, definitely, a little for everyone. And now onto the characters. They are perfect. End of story, we can all go home.

Ok, bad jokes aside, every character is full of personality, from the villagers to the villains. And those villains... They manage to be unique, fun and awesome at the same time, each one of them with a different personality and powers. So now you understand what I tried to say earlier. Yes, it is Retro style gameplay, nothing you haven't seen before. But it features along stuff that most retro platform games do not possess: memorable characters and a good story. And going back to gameplay for a bit, controlling Shovel Knight feels responsive and smooth, almost, if not, Mario level of quality. Level design is always good, and I didn't come across one bad level. Bosses are fun and most of them fair but difficult. However, there are some bosses that are noticeably easier than other ones. This ends up costing the game, because after passing a hard but great level I want to take it out on the boss. And then it ends up being easy as hell. Which kinda of takes the reward of passing a level away. Honestly, there are bosses that are not needed to be faced to complete the game that are better than some of the obligatory ones. Also, talking about difficulty, this game isn't hard at all. It has it's moments but it's nothing unnatural. It's not easy, but it's not hard. And that's fine by me. To end this review, let's talk about the amazing retro soundtrack in this game. Soundtrack is not something I normaly mention, but man, in this game they went all out. And to all the Kickstarter backers for this game, all I have to say is thank you for making this possible. And when you think that Kickstarter is lost and is unable to give us something worth supporting, please remember this game, and never lose hope. I give this game a 4/5 stars.

Edit: This ended up becoming a review for Shovel of Hope, and after I finish Kings of Cards I'll update this with my score for Shovel Knight as a whole

“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!” ―Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

“What if development for the NES never stopped? How would an 8-bit game feel and play if developed today? We imagined the gameplay would benefit from modern design lessons, and the tech would receive subtle but substantial upgrades… Being aware of the rules in this case led to the game feeling clear and simple; one of the hallmarks of a great NES game.”

These questions, posed by the developers at Yacht Club Games, show they understood what made the games of the NES so good. For this reason, among others, Shovel Knight is a seminal retro-styled 2D indie platformer. Successfully and more than adequately funded through its Kickstarter campaign, this action side-scroller isn’t one to be missed. It isn’t just another pandering lookalike manipulating our nostalgia for the 8-bit era to make a few bucks. It’s not like other games which vividly capture that aesthetic yet turn out to be hollow on the inside. Shovel Knight is much more than that.

A lot of games in this vein seem to just adopt the aesthetic while forgetting the mechanics. The 8-bit look was a necessary symptom of hardware capabilities and limitations at the time. It’s been over-glamorized since but the mechanics of those 8-bit games were examples of early developers pushing through limitations to create engaging game experiences. In other words, the best and most significant thing was gameplay in the games that filled the library of the NES, titles which Shovel Knight sought to imitate, not the 8-bit graphics.

Perhaps Shovel Knight is also a success because of its specific influences. It doesn’t grab at the 8-bit era with sweeping generalities. It aims at pointed icons of the past. To my mind, this game is DuckTales meets Mega Man II and Super Mario Bros. 3, or as I like to call it: “melee Mega Man”. Other noted influences include Zelda II and the NES Castlevanias. Shovel Knight takes the attacking mechanism from DuckTales and Zelda II, the world map modes from SMB3, and the tight platforming and arsenal systems from the Mega Man and Castlevania games. Shovel Knight handles like a classic Capcom side-scroller.

Those among our readers who are familiar with the aforementioned classics can exude a hearty noise of satisfaction, for Shovel Knight represents the best of their platforming, responsiveness, tightness, skill, difficulty, level-design, personality, and craftsmanship. If that sounds like hyperbole, then you really just need to get down from the stupefying height of your high horse and play Shovel Knight for yourself.

Click here for the full review... https://thewellredmage.wordpress.com/2017/06/03/shovel-knight-treasure-trove/

Really fantastic game, save for the two things that most people seem to agree on 1) the bosses are disproportionately easy compared to the levels and 2) Plague of Shadows is a bit off-putting initially due to game play changes. Overall, however, I had a ball playing Shovel Knight.

Update: Having now completed Plague of Shadows I feel that four stars is insufficient this is a truly wonderful game packed full of challenges.

Pros:
-- Great nostalgia trip with a solidly built 8-bit style action/platformer
-- The music is great and really gets you into the mood of the stage
-- Counting challenges and DLC content, there is plenty to keep you going, if you want to

Cons:
-- If you only enjoy the style of the core game, the challenges and DLC may be lost on you
-- If you go in expecting NES level difficulty, you may be disappointed
-- Lots of superfluous features that could be explored further to make them matter

Check out my full review at TheKlotzNet

Loved the game.

When you beat a 10 hour sidescroller and the only bad thing you can came with is that is too short, you know the game was addicting as hell. The game is just a fresh old school nintendo doing the things that good nes games did well and updating the things that where, in fact, horrible. I love Megaman and Castlevenia, love the music, love the stories and characters but when you play them nowdays you get instant frustation,. Each time I fall down a pit in castlevania I just want to turn the nes off and curse at the level designer, but when you fall in shovel knight (and you will...) you just blame yourself: "Aaarg.. i missed!! - Let's try again". And it's good to see a kickstarter project that can trace a path for modern retro gaming as it must be, We've played the good games in retro catalogue so many times we need new things, and shovel knight gives you exactly that. Give it a try, for real!