Knack is a Rare Gift for Hardcore Gamers
Did you grow up playing games in the 8-bit or 16-bit era? Have you ever enjoyed a brawler that started life as an arcade machine?
Do the names Final Fight, Double Dragon, or even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game conjure up fond memories for you?
Then Sony’s Knack is made fully and specifically for you, you ungrateful so-and-so!
Wait, really?
Yes, really. Knack is a game made for the hardest of the hardcore, the oldest of the old school. It’s a game with design sensibilities hearkening right back to the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, with all of the modern polish you’d expect from a big budget triple-a game.
The lead designer was Mark Cerny. Not only is he the guy that created the hardware spec for the PS4, he’s also the designer of several classic arcade games you might have heard of. Like Marble Madness.
Marble Madness!
The guy is a legend, and he made a game just for you…and you didn’t even care.
Well okay, just enough people cared for Sony to take a chance on a sequel…which they’ve now released on the same day as Destiny 2.
Wait why would they…
Sigh.
Old school gameplay lives
The Knack games are focused entirely around precise gameplay. You’ll have to jump, dodge, block, and attack with perfect timing in order to conquer their many challenges.
Fortunately, the controls are perfect. They’re as good as a mainline Nintendo game. Any time you fail in Knack, it’s 100 percent your fault.
The combat is not that complex on the surface, involving only a few buttons. But the timing and the collisions are so well programmed that you’ll really get into the groove, and defeating each new enemy requires new understanding.
In spite of their “family-friendly” appearance, these are challenging games on all but the easiest difficulty. Fortunately, they are also fair. When you die, and you will, the game almost instantly loads a recent checkpoint. So you can bang your head against the glorious combat and enemy design until you figure out the best strategy.
The thrill of overcoming these challenges rivals the likes of beating any of the great 8 or 16-bit classics. And just like many of those games, it even has couch co-op.
A seamless world
Like the cartridge-based games of yore, Knack loads almost immediately, and all of its levels come right on the heels of each other. This makes for an experience unlike the stop-and-start vibe even some modern open world games exhibit with their load times between areas.
Knack feels like one big thing, and its checkpoints come often enough that you can stop just about whenever you want.
The camera operates in an almost isometric perspective, pulling into the action occasionally for dramatic flair. When was the last time you didn’t have to worry about moving a camera once while playing a game? Like successful modern action RPGs, Knack doesn’t even let you touch the camera position, and it’s better off for it. The focus is entirely on the gameplay, as it should be.
Gorgeous, functional visuals
Knack’s visuals are at the forefront of modern graphics technology. Both games support the PS4 Pro, and let the user toggle between high frame rate and high resolution modes. And they look pretty amazing on regular PS4 systems as well.
Sure, the visuals might not be the most realistic out there, but they’re amazingly clear and clean, and have a cartoon vibe that I’ve dearly missed in most modern games. Each object is fantastically designed, with a silhouette and color palette that expresses immediate feedback. At a glance, you’ll be able to tell what’s interactive and what isn’t. You’ll be able to tell where your enemies are, and when they’re about to attack. You’ll have an easy time spotting secrets, too.
As graphics have become more realistic, detailed, and elaborate, sometimes they’ve lost their functional purpose. This is a failing on multiple levels. They’re called video games for a reason. Truly great graphics are both artistic and communicative. Knack succeeds in both areas.
Final thoughts
If you like retro games, or even modern indie games that have retro sensibilities, I urge you to try out Knack. The first game is pretty cheap these days, and the sequel launched for just 40 bucks. Both games have free demos, too.
I have no idea why Sony decided to release Knack II against Destiny 2, especially when they paid for exclusive PS4 content for the latter game. But at least it exists.
Knack is a love letter to classic games from one of the guys who made those games happen. I’d recommend it to just about anyone. It’s a wonderful thing, and I’m happy it’s getting another shot.
