Quick Recommendation: Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight released in 2014, three years ago, yet it still’s giving us fun times. It’s the game that keeps on giving. I’m not gonna do a review about it simply because there isn’t much to say aside from the fact that it’s brilliant.
For starters, the base game itself is a brilliant platformer. Fantastic level design, humorous story and characters, amazing music, easily one of the best 2D platformers I’ve ever played. Three years ago, if you were into platformers, you definitely should have bought this. Since then, Yacht Club has given us even more reasons to buy this.
Since it’s release, it’s gotten two significant updates. Updates that add an entirely new playable character complete with their own story. For free. The first one, Plague Knight, was pretty good. It offered a totally new playstyle, and a fun story about this crazy alchemist. The overall level design didn’t get changed to much though. It was a fun little alternate way to play the game. Specter Knight though? This one is a different beast.
For starters, this one takes on a more serious tone. Though it doesn’t forget it’s roots. It never takes itself too seriously, and there’s always a decent bit of humor to prevent things from getting melodramatic. The real star though is the new gameplay style. Specter Knight’s main attack is a basic slash, and the much more interesting dash slash. When specter knight is airborne, you can dash at enemies or other objects. This gives you some real interesting mobility. Another neat mechanic is a wall jump, which is of course fantastic.
To compliment this, the levels are completely re-designed. They’re basically entirely different levels made with the bones of the original ones. There’s also a handful of new level gimmicks as well. There’s also additional abilities you can buy such as various projectiles, a way to slow down time, even an ability that lets you zoom right to an enemy, bypassing any obstacles.
In short, it’s fantastic. I even think it’s more fun than the original game. This little side thing would be worth $15 on it’s own, but the mad men at Yacht Club just give it away for free. If that wasn’t enough, there’s ANOTHER story coming out featuring King Knight.
Shovel Knight is a game with three games in it, any of them strong enough to stand on their own. If you even have a passing interest in 2D platformers, I’m sure at least one of the three games here will grab your attention.
