Shovel Knight
Platform: PC, Mac, 3DS, WiiU, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Linux, and Amazon Fire TV
Price: $14.99
Time to Beat: 6-8 hours
In a sea of pixel-art 2D platformers released on current-gen consoles, Shovel Knight quickly rose to the top in 2014 becoming a serious contender for Game of the Year. The reason? The game had a soul that few in the genre at the time displayed. No stone was left unturned by Yacht Club Games. The soundtrack, level design, boss battles, and story all had the quaint charm of a game molded by people with a deep respect for the genre.
Creativity bursts at the seams in Shovel Knight. From level designs that include being guided through the pitch black by quick bursts of lightning, to bosses that each have a unique set of skills and attacks. Each stage offers players a different set of challenges and it is this diversity in design that gives players the sense of mystery when entering into a new level.
There is also an expansion, Plague of Shadows, that allows you to play a whole new story as a boss from the original game, Plague Knight. The expansion alone, which is available for free, doubles the amount of content available for Shovel Knight.
For a full review, check out our thoughts here.
