When it comes to games, I’ve played a lot of them. I’ve played them since I was a kid. The two genres I’ve always pined for are the RPG and Platformer genres. When it comes to platformers, one shining example, is Shovel Knight.

Shovel Knight is a 2D platformer developed by Yacht Club Games. The main selling point of Shovel Knight is that it utilizes presentation and gameplay elements from games of the early days of the medium. However, it utilizes these elements without feeling as outdated as it’s sources of inspiration. The presentation of Shovel Knight is heavily inspired by 80s NES games, but it also uses modern elements of presentation to make a visually appealing product. It preserves the nostalgia of those games, while also feeling like a new game.

The gameplay of Shovel Knight is also quite outstanding. The mechanics of each playable character are subtly taught through the design of the levels, and the mechanics themselves are very fun to utilize. The levels themselves are well designed and challenging.

Overall, Shovel Knight is a great game. With Treasure Trove, a $40 compilation of the base game and it’s DLC, you get the main 10-ish hour story, 3 DLC stories that are each around the same length and quality, and a brand new multiplayer game, Shovel Knight Showdown. I highly recommend this game to all lovers of the platformer genre.