Shovel Knight Reviews
Shovel Knight combines everything that was great about some of the best games from the NES era, and turns those beloved mechanics into something fresh. It's a brilliant 2D action-platformer, which simply demands your attention.
This isn't just a nostalgic copy of the games of the medium's youth, but also a fever dream of what the 8-bit era was capable of.
Yacht Club Games has a hit on its hands with Shovel Knight. With brilliant game design, charming presentation and a ton of content, this is a wonderful first title from the fledgling developer. It will only get better with post-release content, and if Shovel Knight becomes the hit it deserves to be, gamers will hopefully be seeing much more of Yacht Club Games — and its plucky mascot — in the coming months and years.
Shovel Knight is one of the best "8-bit" video games to come along since the actual days of 8-bit systems.
Bringing back all that made older classics into unforgettable games and pushing aside all their technology constraints using modern methods of game design, Shovel Knight is the perfect flagship of a piece of retrgaming made in the 21st century.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If we first have the impression that it will be only a sequence of winks addressed to Mega Man, his main and avowed inspiration, Castlevania or Duck Tales, Shovel Knight remains a unique title. Beneath its NES-typed game nature are treasures of original ideas, level design and maneuverability combined with an overall creation that will seduce the nostalgic. Released 25 years ago, it would probably be considered a cult today.
Review in French | Read full review
Due to its impeccable level design, art direction, memorable soundtrack and addictive gameplay, Shovel Knight established itself as a true contemporary classic, a tribute to a golden age of the platform game genre; an indie that will be remembered for many years.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It is surprising that, so many years after the birth of 2D platformers, we can still design a title that bases at least half of its charisma on level design, especially without upsetting the fundamental canons of a long-lived and probably immortal genre. Shovel Knight shows that studying the past can be the first step in reinterpreting the great classics in a modern way, even going so far as to lap the quality of the milestones of game design.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Shovel Knight is yet another indie not to be missed at all. The metroidvania genre reaches its peak with a game that is not a simple ready-made, but a title with its own identity. If you haven't experienced the 8-bit era on your skin, maybe you'll struggle to fully appreciate the game of the small Californian team; the excellent control system and a wide variety of enemies and settings will satisfy even the youngest and most demanding gamers, who will nevertheless have to deal with punitive gameplay and a not indifferent difficulty curve.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Shovel Knight is a fantastic game, which deserves all of the praise that it's received since launching last year. Now available on the Xbox One with iconic bonus content, it's even better than before and is a no-brainer of a purchase.
Shovel Knight is more than just a great platformer; it's a celebration of classic gaming. Excellent controls, gorgeous graphics, an incredible soundtrack and endearing characters make the game worth playing, but top-notch level design, varied gameplay, hidden rooms, optional challenges and a deceptively rich combat system make it brilliantly memorable. The entire experience comes together so naturally that it feels more like a recently unearthed gem from the days of the NES than it does a latter-day attempt to milk nostalgia. Shovel Knight is the rarest kind of game: one that set sky-high expectations prior to release, and then managed to exceed all of them. It's a must-buy for platformer fans, and one of the most charming and satisfying experiences on the 3DS eShop to date.
All in all Shovel Knight is delightful, amusing, and oftentimes challenging. It’s surprisingly deep, with enough secrets and charm to warrant at least one more run through on New Game+. The game controls like a dream, is simple enough to pick up immediately, and knows just when to up the ante to make you a more skillful player over the course of its six to eight hour campaign.
Maybe you missed the great games of the 8-bit era, or maybe you're a parent who wants to subject your children to the punishment of Castlevania, Battletoads, and Mega Man that you went through. For you, I think Shovel Knight goes beyond being a polished, fun, challenging experience. It's a curation of gaming history in a package that's palatable to today's audience.
Shovel Knight perfectly encapsulates what is so great about playing modern-retro games inspired by the 8-bit era of the 1980s and early 90's without being derivative or trapped in the past.
The controls are tight; the difficulty has a fair ramping curve, there are many secrets to uncover, and the Relic sub weapons are satisfying to use. For anyone who's been dying for a game in the vein of Megaman, they should dig this retro styled gem.
When we reviewed Shovel Knight at its initial release back in June 2014, we were amazed by its impeccable design, rock-solid mechanics and loving homages to classic games. All of those aspects still ring true on PS4, and Yacht Club Games has without a doubt successfully replicated one of 2014's finest experiences on Sony's flagship console.
Shovel Knight is a game that you should buy, plain and simple. It takes what could have been a simple nostalgia trip to a new level and shows that shovelry is alive and well.
Creating a title like Shovel Knight requires a boundless love for the great classics of the NES era, as well as an absolute understanding of their mechanics. The work of Yacht Club Games is a tribute of the highest quality, which does not reinvent anything but shuffle the best of the masterpieces of the past to the great and boasts a gameplay with enviable solidity. Put simply, it's yet another indie not to be missed. Nostalgic or not, give us a thought.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Xbox One edition of Shovel Knight adds an exciting challenge to the Battletoads, which alone, for the most avid nostalgics, could be worth the ephemeral cost of the ticket, but the real reasons to download it are the same as those already highlighted in previous reviews, starting with an immediate and fun gameplay and passing through a soundtrack to applause.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Make no mistake, Shovel Knight is a classic, side-scrolling, retro platforming, and if that’s the kind of game you’re looking for, it’s one of the best out there.