Shovel Knight

There is a reason we can all remember so much from games that are almost 30 years old, and Shovel Knight has tapped into that reason in a profound way. We don't love the brands of our youth; we love the characters, the settings, the way actually playing those games made us feel. Shovel Knight doesn't settle for acknowledging those aspects; it includes them around every single corner. Shovel Knight is so much more than a love letter to the genre — it is, in fact, the kind of game people write love letters about.

It's challenging, it's faithful to the era Shovel Knight is recreating, but I don't think it's good design. Consider by comparison how Rogue Legacy, another take on retro platformers, handled death. It's also a difficult game where you fail a lot, but each failure is an invitation to roll the dice again and play as a new character. Shovel Knight is clever in all the ways mentioned above and more, but at times chooses tradition over its best interests.

Shovel Knight is a nice homage to old 8-bit games and it is so well done it is impressive. I was so addicted to Shovel Knight; I played it from beginning to end in two days and went back and started the more challenging new game plus right away. It has the charm of old school games while still remaining as accessible as possible with checkpoints and no need for lives/continues.