Shovel Knight is out on Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Steam today. And, you should buy it. You should buy it with money and play it with your hands because it's one of the best indie games in years. It evokes the golden age of Super Nintendo better than any other game that has tried. It's not perfect, but it's the kind of game that only comes around once in quite a long while.
Shovel Knight Review: The Great Things
We talked a lot about the reasons why Shovel Knight is awesome in our Shovel Knight preview, which came out all of, well, last night. We still stand by those reasons. Shovel Knight is a AAA Super Nintendo or NES game. It's Mega Man meets Castlevania meets Metroid meets the good parts of Zelda 2. I think Mega Man is the most obvious, myself, at least in terms of the level structure. Each level is themed around its boss, and has an item you can get and use anywhere based around that theme (although, unlike Mega Man, you don't get the item from the boss).
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Shovel Knight gameplay is, simply, a blast. The first level starts off a little slowly, it's too easy, but by the time you get to the first boss called Black Knight you'll be getting into it. After the village, and once you start getting items, the game really takes off. The retro gameplay is extremely polished, and one of the game's signature successes is how it teaches you about itself. There are no tutorials here. Instead, rooms or screens will simply have challenges that introduce a new obstacle in a low-risk environment, before throwing you off the deep end in the next room. The first time you have to use a downward attack to bounce off a bubble, there's no bottomless pit underneath it. The second time, there is. The third time, there are two bubbles. It's a move typical of NES and Super NES era games, and it's great to see it back in action. It's not hand-holding-it's teaching.
We touched on the sheer charm and whimsy of Shovel Knight in our preview, but I think it bears repeating. This is an extremely inventive and clever game. From horses in dresses to a cross between a trout, an apple and a god, from a rooster who owns an airship to a pun-making frog, there is no shortage of strange and generally hilarious characters in Shovel Knight. All that in only two towns. All the wandering heroes and most of the bosses are pretty great, too.
Overall, the game simply evokes a simpler time and then treats that simpler era in gaming history with all the innovations you would expect from a modern game without ever tarnishing that legacy. This game is a must-buy, whether it's on Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, or Steam.
That said, it's not perfect-check out part two of our review for our gentle criticisms.
