Even though we’re in the middle of a second golden age of side-scrolling platformers, very few of them attempt to recreate what was so great about the graphical look of games in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Most of them (Mega Man 9 and 10, Contra ReBirth, Gradius ReBirth) just serve as distant sequels to some NES favorites. So it’s amazing that something like Shovel Knight, a wholly original game from Yacht Club Games, was able to perfectly capture the mood of late 80s game design. It feels more like a lost cartridge rediscovered in the modern day as opposed to a modern game created with modern gamers in mind. Yacht Club’s Sean Velasco told us last year that the company’s goal is to create “really awesome retro/modern fusion games.” I’m glad they got the chance and I’m not sure I’d want it any other way.
Platforms: 3DS (Version Played), PC (Version Played), Wii U (Version Played)
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Developer: Yacht Club Games
Genre: Side-Scrolling Shovel Action
Release Date: June 26, 2014
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Taking its cues from the insane stories found in most NES games, Shovel Knight follows the titular main character on a quest to rid a formerly peaceful valley of The Enchantress and her knightly mob, The Order of No Quarter. Rather than raising a sword in battle, Shovel Knight carries his… wait for it… trusty shovel. It’s good for digging and breaking up rocks, but it can also be swung like a sword and used like a pogo stick to bounce from enemy to enemy.
Yacht Club Games was formed in 2011 as an offshoot of WayForward Technologies, another developer that has a vested interest in creating retro-styled games. Besides having personnel in common, the two companies are linked by their love of the pogo bounce. Before Velasco and the members of Yacht Club left WayForward, they helped bring the pogo bounce to BloodRayne: Betrayal, after which WayForward used it in the DuckTales Remastered remake. In Shovel Knight, it’s a bit more of a Zelda II-like downward thrust than a pogo stick, but the fact remains that bouncing off bad guys appears to be a bit of a thing with WayForward/Yacht Club.
It’s a rather odd quirk to get hung up on, but as I said, “Captain” Velasco and his team have managed to create one of the purest expressions of 8-bit gaming ever made. Taking bits and bobs from many of their favorite games, the developers have created an almost literary pastiche that will have players saying, “Hey, I recognize that from…” The genesis of the pogo bounce/downward thrust is obvious (hint: it ain’t the Genesis). The eight bosses/evil overlord structure is a direct reference to Mega Man, but the overworld map (borrowed from Super Mario Bros. 3) allows the game to progress at its own pace instead of letting players choose their path. This allows Yacht Club to gradually scale up the difficulty in the perfect manner. There’s no sudden difficulty spike (a problem that plagued dozens of NES games), but the end of the game feels considerably tougher than the beginning. And after you defeat The Enchantress, an included New Game+ mode cranks the difficulty up to thumb-torturing levels.
In between battling The Order of No Quarter, Shovel Knight can visit towns and outposts populated by a very diverse citizenry. Horsewomen, Bird-nobles, and Frogmen all populate the village, and none of them seem out of place. And off in a far corner of the map is the Troupple King, a giant trout-apple hybrid that sings songs and provides magical potions with a haughty tone. Which is a all just a roundabout way of saying that the game is ridiculously funny. Shovel Knight speaks with just the right mix of gravitas and blowhard-ery while another character speaks solely in puns. There’s even a Bird-noble who scolds our hero for paying for something without knowing exactly what he’s getting (a subtle Kickstarter joke). And then there’s “Butt Mode.”
In support of all this crazy humor is a meticulously-crafted platformer. Shovel Knight’s weapon of choice is perfect for bouncing from enemy to enemy in search of higher ground (and alternate routes through a level), but it can also be used to break open the walls in search of secret passageways and hidden gems. However, Shovel Knight isn’t just a one-trick pony. He can also obtain Relics that can be used offensively (the Flare Wand), defensively (the Phase Locket), or as a way to avoid obstacles (the Propeller Dagger). Unlike Mega Man’s weapon stealing (which was really only useful against the Robot Masters), Shovel Knight’s Relics are meant to be used throughout the entire game. Speaking of bosses, the members of The Order of No Quarter are an eclectic and interesting group, as are the Wandering Knights that occasionally appear on the world map. I was heartbroken when I ran out of Wandering Knights to challenge.
While Yacht Club sought to honor and emulate the classics of the 8-bit era with Shovel Knight, a few modern touches did work their way into the game. For example, Shovel Knight is in possession of unlimited lives, but in a world where games no longer require passwords, it makes total sense. Instead, every time Shovel Knight dies, a quarter of his gold flies away. But it can be recovered if you make it back to that point in the level without dying. It’s not the most devious punishment in the world, but once you realize how important gold is to Shovel Knight’s success, it becomes something you think about all the time.
Shovel Knight also doesn’t play entirely fair with its pixelated graphics. Backgrounds pop in a way that they never could on the NES and there’s a smoothness to the game that the NES could almost never achieve (for example, no flickering sprites). Think of Shovel Knight as some kind of supercharged NES game that may have appeared on a mythical “12-bit” system from Nintendo.
If I had to find a flaw in Shovel Knight, it’s that the game seems to require that the Wii U GamePad is fully charged to play, even if you use a Pro Controller or one of the Wii control options. More than once, the game locked up and I had to hunt down my GamePad and charging cable to keep playing. Not a major annoyance, but not something I’ve run into on the Wii U before either.
For everyone who loves retro gaming, Shovel Knight is the game for you. It looks, and plays, like all of those 8-bit classics you know and love. Side-scrolling hasn’t been this fun in a long time, and I can’t wait to see what else Yacht Club has in store for us.
Review Disclosure: A review copy of Shovel Knight was provided by Yacht Club Games for the purposes of this review.
