Shovel Knight Reviews
Overall Shovel Knight is quite simply one of the best side-scrolling platformers in recent years and in my opinion ranks up there with the best of them. Not only does the game look and sound fantastic it also plays well and has a surprising amount of depth. The level design is some of the strongest I have come across in a long time and I appreciated the tight and responsive controls that are critical in a game like this. Its clear that this is a game that was carefully crafted with a huge degree of love and care and is easily one of my favourite games in recent years. I can’t recommend this game enough, so if you haven’t played it you should do so right now.
Shovel Knight continues 2014's fantastic indie lineup, but its polish, creativity, beauty and charm might just make it the pick of the bunch. Yacht Club Games has delivered more than anyone ever could have hoped for, and created an experience that gamers young and old will thoroughly enjoy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
Shovel Knight is one of the best "8-bit" video games to come along since the actual days of 8-bit systems.
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.
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.
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.
Shovel Knight is just what any veteran gamer's inner child needs. Between the tight platforming, nostalgia-inducing graphics, and pitch-perfect sound design, old-school gamers need look no further for their fix. Younger gamers will appreciate the modern additions of checkpoints and Cross-save functionality, while hardcore gamers can simply smash those checkpoints and reap the rewards. It's incredible to see a game that doesn't just imitate the 8-bit era, but perfectly embodies it.
It can be challenging, frustrating and cause unwanted headaches, but despite all that you'll keep wanting to come back for more. Not everyone will be drawn in by an 8-bit, side-scrolling death fest in this day and age of gaming that seems overwhelmed by retro aesthetic titles, however, Shovel Knight rightly deserves a place among modern games. The amazing soundtrack and rewarding gameplay will spur you on right to the end, and even then you'll probably want to go back for another round of smacking things in the face with a shovel. The inspiration from 8-bit games of the past has caused a great feeling of nostalgia for many, and Shovel Knight is well worth the money and trip down memory lane if you prefer to be challenged on a regular basis. The game is proof that, although 8-bit side-scrollers look old, they certainly aren't outdated.
Everything Shovel Knight does, it does incredibly well. It's balanced enough so that both old-timers and newcomers can find something to enjoy, and never once does it falter in its mission of paying tribute to classics.
'Shovel Knight', from Yacht Club Games, is a well-crafted love letter to the 8-bit era of gaming, as well as being a fantastic and addictive 2D platformer.
Shovel Knight on PlayStation is just as spectacular as it was last year and the extra content, while minor, is a welcome addition to an already awesome game.