Shovel Knight

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 551 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 426 out of 551
  2. Mixed: 66 out of 551
  3. Negative: 59 out of 551

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. GBM_Fan
    Jun 26, 2014
    10
    You can describe "Shovel Knight" in one word: MASTERPIECE! Everything here is top notch, 8/16 bit graphics with modern touch, chiptune music, responsive control and last but not least: addictive gameplay!

    GOTY 2014 for me.
  2. cyanidhogg
    Dec 19, 2014
    9
    This is an absolute gem of a game. Shovel Knight is a platformer built on the bones of the very best the NES library has to offer, polished with great modern game design. The graphics are marvellous, the controls are tight and the level design fantastically designed. The true highlight of the game, though, has to be the soundtrack, which is one of the best video game soundtracks we've seenThis is an absolute gem of a game. Shovel Knight is a platformer built on the bones of the very best the NES library has to offer, polished with great modern game design. The graphics are marvellous, the controls are tight and the level design fantastically designed. The true highlight of the game, though, has to be the soundtrack, which is one of the best video game soundtracks we've seen in years. Don't miss this one.… Expand
  3. B-Knock
    Apr 10, 2017
    7
    Overrated and extremely boring to play. The game play is not addictive and truly nothing special. If you want to play retro games. Pick up a real NES or just buy the NES classic. You can even emulate old NES games. Shovel knight is just a rehash of Duck tales and Mega Man with a new original story. However nothing is new about the game mechanics or style of the game. This game received soOverrated and extremely boring to play. The game play is not addictive and truly nothing special. If you want to play retro games. Pick up a real NES or just buy the NES classic. You can even emulate old NES games. Shovel knight is just a rehash of Duck tales and Mega Man with a new original story. However nothing is new about the game mechanics or style of the game. This game received so much fan fare and high ratings because of this whole retro gaming trend that is currently going on. Developers are taking advantage of this fact and allows them to release low quality games like this, and make a quick buck off retro nostalgia.… Expand
  4. SuperKyle23
    Jul 29, 2014
    9
    A true masterpiece. The pixel art trend is common in indie games, but Shovel Knight does it so well and so originally, it's amazing. Tight controls, great level design, awesome boss battles, this game has it all.
  5. Dhulfiqar
    Jul 1, 2014
    7
    This game have so many reference from old games that it does not bring much original content even in the platforming. Why do you need always copy the concepts of the old games? Why can't you create your own concepts making the game look as much original and reducing the feeling of "having played this before many times".

    Graphics and animations are good, but sometimes you feel that some    This game have so many reference from old games that it does not bring much original content even in the platforming. Why do you need always copy the concepts of the old games? Why can't you create your own concepts making the game look as much original and reducing the feeling of "having played this before many times".

    Graphics and animations are good, but sometimes you feel that some of the enemy sprite does not even belong to the game environment. Controllers and it's physics needs to be upgraded, this is where most of the indies makes the same mistakes. The upgrade of health, armor and weapon is not interesting. The level design mostly is very good, but sometimes annoying. Sometimes the levels feels too long, making you thank the old mega man levels length.

    Music, very good, there are tracks that should added to best of video game music archive, but there are also song that sound very bizarre.    … Expand
  6. Terrier
    Jul 8, 2014
    5
    If you want to feel the nostalgia of nes games then, this game is for you.

    However, you can play nes games right now, via emulation, compilation and such (even legally and for free). So, for a real fans of old games, this game is more of the same, it is not a bad game but it does not shine or add a new value.
  7. hypernewbie
    Mar 16, 2017
    4
    Anyone who reviews this game 10 should immediately go get an actual NES and play actual good oldschool games.

    The shovel knight just feels like **** to control, very clunkey, especially mid-air. The stairs just make no sense in this game, at all. You will die on nearly every staircase in the game. Level cycles are too random to be memorized. Enemies are RNG galore and always feel    Anyone who reviews this game 10 should immediately go get an actual NES and play actual good oldschool games.

    The shovel knight just feels like **** to control, very clunkey, especially mid-air. The stairs just make no sense in this game, at all. You will die on nearly every staircase in the game.

    Level cycles are too random to be memorized. Enemies are RNG galore and always feel like they move faster than you giving you no time to react, UNLESS you wait for them. There aren't enough checkpoints.

    Should I mention the **** feel of the control again? Shovel knight controls like a rock. Just go outside, pick up a really big rock and move that around, and you will get the general feel of moving shovel knight through the levels.

    Game isn't bad, it's okay. The presentation is the best part of it, oldschool gfx are well done, especially the animations, they are amazing. Music is great too. They got so carried away with the presentation that they forgot to like, actually make the game.    … Expand
  8. Molvanian
    Dec 30, 2015
    0
    This game is old school Nintendo, at its best AND its worst. The problem is, no one makes games like this anymore for a reason.

    There's a lot of good to the game, the mechanics are interesting, the feel is very nostalgic, the sound track is amazing. ...The gameplay is not. It's frustrating, it's repetitive. It isn't 'hard'. Anyone can beat Shovel Knight. Anyone can walk through    This game is old school Nintendo, at its best AND its worst. The problem is, no one makes games like this anymore for a reason.

    There's a lot of good to the game, the mechanics are interesting, the feel is very nostalgic, the sound track is amazing.

    ...The gameplay is not. It's frustrating, it's repetitive. It isn't 'hard'. Anyone can beat Shovel Knight. Anyone can walk through barbed wire. The experiences are very similar. Endure the pain long enough and eventually you win. At the end, you're unsatisfied. And bleeding.

    It boggles my mind the game is so well reviewed. I can only assume it's pure, unadulterated nostalgia blinding people to, what if viewed on it's own, would be a very average, flawed game, and this is coming from someone who owned an NES when it was new. Literally the target audience. Get Splunkey or La Mulana if you want a platformer.    … Expand
  9. VonSeux
    Jun 26, 2014
    8
    The PC version of this game misses the second-screen item manegement, Comunnity from the Wii-U / Miiverse version, 3D and streetpass featrues from 3DS. It's still teh same game, but the missed features are too cool to miss, if you can. Get the wiiu/3ds version.
  10. dnlhern
    Jul 2, 2014
    9
    Shovel Knight is like cookies baked by your grandma. Sure, you could go out to the store and buy those cookies that come in packs, but nothing beats the taste of one's made with ingredients right off the shelf. It may not be the perfect game, but looking past the flaws, you are in for a treat. No, more like a feast.
  11. Nile3
    Jun 29, 2014
    9
    The graphs are amazing, more realistic than Crysis 3 imo and the story is so good that it feels more realistic than CNN news can be.

    Great Game! I loved it. I encountered a bug early on where I couldn't load the game, but right after everything went smoothly. I have 2 smallish problems with it: 1. it's too short. I want more. I'm already through with it. 2. Shovel knight ought to    The graphs are amazing, more realistic than Crysis 3 imo and the story is so good that it feels more realistic than CNN news can be.

    Great Game! I loved it. I encountered a bug early on where I couldn't load the game, but right after everything went smoothly.
    I have 2 smallish problems with it:
    1. it's too short. I want more. I'm already through with it.
    2. Shovel knight ought to have an epic quest to find a different shovel or get more tricks!
    Otherwise it was great.    … Expand
  12. Naveen196
    Jun 27, 2014
    10
    This game takes the best games from the retro era, and makes a splendid display, while still feeling fresh. The music is nice and catchy, the boss battles are well done, and there are a lot of different upgrades to choose from. Oh, also, New Game+ is present, for extra challenge.
  13. djfpforever
    Jun 26, 2014
    10
    TL; DR - Shovel Knight is a refreshingly original 8-bit experience that steeps itself in nostalgia, paying deference to the most solid NES game experiences (DuckTales, Mega Man, Castlevania, SMB3): 10/10.

    What an amazing game! As a child of the 80s, I had an original NES and LOVED Mega Man, Mario, Zelda et al in the prime of their 8-bit glory. Shovel Knight dips into that nostalgia    TL; DR - Shovel Knight is a refreshingly original 8-bit experience that steeps itself in nostalgia, paying deference to the most solid NES game experiences (DuckTales, Mega Man, Castlevania, SMB3): 10/10.

    What an amazing game! As a child of the 80s, I had an original NES and LOVED Mega Man, Mario, Zelda et al in the prime of their 8-bit glory. Shovel Knight dips into that nostalgia while being genuinely engaging and entertaining in its own right. The game provides the perfect balance of fun, challenge, minor rpg elements (powering up mana vs. health), and level progression. The game includes fun achievements, which is something that I appreciate. Combine the excellent game play elements, a fantastic score, and lovingly created 8-bit art, and you come away with the total package here!

    I Kickstarted this game, and my only regret is not chipping in more. Definitely well worth the 14.99 retail for those that purchase through Steam. I can't wait to see what else Yacht Club Games come up with in the future. A highly enthusiastic 10/10 for Shovel Knight!    … Expand
  14. Rizefall
    Jun 27, 2014
    9
    Megaman + Ducktales + Super Mario Bros 3. That's pretty much what the game is, but with a new character "Shovel Knight" who instead of his butt/shoes, blaster or cane uses shovel to take down his foes.
  15. aqurban
    Jun 26, 2014
    10
    Shovel Knight feels familiar from the get go, with a beautifully designed 8-bit world, flawless game mechanics, a nostalgically unforgettable soundtrack and a handful of things that makes it just the right amount of retro-dose you'll ever need.
  16. ComradePB
    Jun 29, 2014
    8
    There are many games out there that go for that retro aesthetic, so you might wonder what exactly it is that sets Shovel Knight apart from all those games that borrow from what has come before them. The creators of Shovel Knight are obviously fans of classic games on the NES like Mario Bros., Megaman, and Castlevania just to name a few and great care has been taken to use the moreThere are many games out there that go for that retro aesthetic, so you might wonder what exactly it is that sets Shovel Knight apart from all those games that borrow from what has come before them. The creators of Shovel Knight are obviously fans of classic games on the NES like Mario Bros., Megaman, and Castlevania just to name a few and great care has been taken to use the more memorable elements from these games both the loved (Duck Tales style pogo attacks, Megaman style bosses, and Castlevania style sub weapons) and the hated (knock-back deaths and difficulty on the level of Megaman 2). Even so, Shovel Knight does enough to set itself apart as it's own game with it's quirky cast of characters, awesome music, amazing sprite art, and rather odd choice of weaponry. It is not perfect however; even though I would consider Shovel Knight a fair game, there were times where I felt that no person playing for their first time would be able to avoid death just because an enemy popped up over a bottomless pit when they weren't expecting it. A death in a video game is fair when the player sees danger coming and simply doesn't respond to it accordingly, it's not fair if you get sucker punched. Even so this only emboldens that classic NES feeling where a gamer will play again but this time with memory on their side. Shovel Knight is a game that is well worth your time.… Expand
  17. wingnut5k
    Jun 27, 2014
    9
    Now, I did not grow up with consoles, so I have no nostalgia except from what I played from the ambassador program and virtual console. But this is a masterpiece, with the only issue being some mechanics are infuriating. The combat is tight, the game has charm, a plethora of content, and loot a plenty. The game can be brutally hard (paying homage to the titles its based on), but makeNow, I did not grow up with consoles, so I have no nostalgia except from what I played from the ambassador program and virtual console. But this is a masterpiece, with the only issue being some mechanics are infuriating. The combat is tight, the game has charm, a plethora of content, and loot a plenty. The game can be brutally hard (paying homage to the titles its based on), but make beating a particularly hard boss that much more satisfying. The game features stages cleverly based on other titles, while bringing its own charm. Who can forget Treasure Knight and his Metroid themed level? Or the towns based on Zelda 2? It brings everything that was amazing (from my limited experience) of the older generation, but updated everything that was awful and made me shake my head. This is one you definitely don't want to miss, if you are up for a little challenge.… Expand
  18. fabio77
    Jun 26, 2014
    9
    Played a couple of hours and I can say it's a great old-style game! I don't know how long will it last, but had a lot of fun so far. Game has a lot of secrets and hidden paths, and so you''ll probably reply the levels a few times.
    Great 8/16 bit graphic and music
  19. Overanalytical
    Aug 6, 2014
    0
    While there is some value I'm certain many of those reading this can find I cannot this is due to a) me being a new gamer and not having an idea of what this is based off if making it seem like either a total rip off to something heavily inspired I can't connect to b) graphics like these tend to make me nauseous this is something of an issue I have and can take me out of the game a lot c)While there is some value I'm certain many of those reading this can find I cannot this is due to a) me being a new gamer and not having an idea of what this is based off if making it seem like either a total rip off to something heavily inspired I can't connect to b) graphics like these tend to make me nauseous this is something of an issue I have and can take me out of the game a lot c) this was overhyped and for reasons I've mentioned above did not deliver c) the difficulty is inconsistent making a lot of the already rather awkward controls and level design feel more well awkward I would go on but this short game isn't really worth my time and please note my actual score would be a 3… Expand
  20. TitaniumDragon
    Sep 13, 2014
    7
    Shovel Knight is a retro 2D platformer game deeply devoted to its aesthetic and its puns. Designed as a pseudo-NES game, it harkens back to a long-ago era in gaming, and the game itself feels as if it fits into the era of Megaman. You are the Shovel Knight, a knight armed with a shovel who must beat his way past 12 stages to confront the Sorceress and rescue Shield Knight.

    Story For    Shovel Knight is a retro 2D platformer game deeply devoted to its aesthetic and its puns. Designed as a pseudo-NES game, it harkens back to a long-ago era in gaming, and the game itself feels as if it fits into the era of Megaman. You are the Shovel Knight, a knight armed with a shovel who must beat his way past 12 stages to confront the Sorceress and rescue Shield Knight.

    Story

    For being such a simplistic game, there is a clear story to the game – Shovel Knight feels guilty because he could not save Shield Knight, and has recurring dreams of catching her while she is falling. Black Knight stands in between Shovel Knight and his goal, not out of loyalty to the Sorceress, but out of loyalty to Shield Knight. The Knights of No Order stand in the way for their own reasons.
    Is there much story here? No. But there is enough of a story – and enough reinforcement of the central theme of the game – that it works, and is a bit more than an excuse plot due to the recurring dream of saving Shield Knight.
    The game is also wonderfully full of terrible puns, and there are various townsfolk in a couple towns who can be spoken to and who often have silly dialogue.

    Gameplay

    The gameplay is very straightforward – Shovel Knight can hit things with his shovel, or use relics (of which there are 10), each of which has some special ability. Later on, Shovel Knight also gains the ability to charge up his shovel attacks to make them more powerful, and to switch which armor he is wearing for some minor bonus, frequently counteracted by some minor penalty.
    The game is very much classic platforming, with the ability for shovel knight to attack enemies from the side with his shovel or spring up and down on top of them using his shovel like a pogo stick, occasionally necessary for navigating the levels or accessing secrets. The levels often make use of the fact that the protagonist wields a shovel, forcing them to dig through obstacles, sometimes taking advantage of the fact that the pogo sticking has to be stopped manually, and sometimes making use of the shovel otherwise by having Shovel Knight dig stuff out or dig through walls. There is a surprisingly decent variety of enemies, harkening back to Megaman type games, though some of them are repeated with only minor variations between them.
    The relics add an additional complication to gameplay; however, I found that I didn’t end up using most of the relics very often, while the basic fireball attack relic, which granted a cheap ranged attack, and the temporary invincibility relic, were very versatile and useful. The rest were all very situational or just less cost efficient, though there were areas which specifically relied on the special properties of specific relics to navigate, which were interesting.
    The levels themselves were reasonably varied, in a way somewhat reminiscent of the Megaman games, where each of the 8 major bosses had a specific world, and there was a prologue stage and 3 end-game stages which combined elements from all the previous stages. In addition to the main stages, there were a number of additional mini-stages which often focused on some specific aspect of the game; the overworld map even had Super Mario Brothers 3-esque enemies pop up and walk around on the world map, encouraging you to go fight them.
    The levels also had various secrets hidden around them, and in hiding its secrets the game did quite well – the secrets are not immediately obvious, but if the player knows how to look, they stand out, and again remind me of secrets from the era. In addition to the relics, there are also musical tracks which serve as collectibles in the game, with one hidden in every level.
    The bosses themselves were reasonably varied and had a decent variety of abilities, but unfortunately suffered from being rather too easy; only two bosses ever killed me, and both of those were because of environmental hazards in the stage which spelled instant death, rather than the actual boss whittling away my health. They were reasonably interesting to fight, but unfortunately the ease of beating them combined with ready access to relics and a couple items reminiscent of E-Tanks from Megaman (fully restoring both magic and health – you could refill them before every stage, too, and could carry two of them) meant that losing to them was extremely unlikely, making them a bit disappointing in terms of difficulty level.
    On the whole, the game does a good job of recalling the 8-bit era, and it feels like a very solid game from that era. It is worth noting that the game also recalls the 8-bit era in terms of length as well – the game is pretty short, likely clocking in at 6-8 hours to complete, if not less, depending on how good you are at it and how much time you spend trying to collect achievements and gather money and search for every secret in the game.    … Expand
  21. Johangir
    Jul 2, 2014
    10
    This is an incredible game that respects and recreates the fundamentals of gaming's roots. It draws its aspirations from Zelda 2, Megaman, Mario 3, and Ducktales, but has so many creative concepts to form its own identity.

    The environments and characters have so much detail and personality to them, it's suprising and fresh to see that level of detail in an NES 8-bit styled game. Mostly    This is an incredible game that respects and recreates the fundamentals of gaming's roots. It draws its aspirations from Zelda 2, Megaman, Mario 3, and Ducktales, but has so many creative concepts to form its own identity.

    The environments and characters have so much detail and personality to them, it's suprising and fresh to see that level of detail in an NES 8-bit styled game. Mostly because it treats its genre (8-bit retro game) with the utmost respect and seriousness. There's no stupid gimmicks or references or winks to remind the player they're playing an 8-bit NES style game: the style is used to deliver a genuine oldschool experience with a straight face and the best of intentions.

    The music is amazing, catchy, and fits each theme very well. Jake Kaufman is a brilliant composer and his experience truly shines here, as it has when creating/remixing music for other games he's worked on (Contra 4, Ducktales Remastered, Shantae, etc).

    The challenge has the perfect gradual shift throughout the entire game. It starts off normal enough, then consistently increases in challenge until the very end. While you can improve Shovel Knight with new upgrades and abilities, as the player you will feel your own skill increase as you become familiar with how Shovel Knight handles ingame and learn to use him and his abilities much more efficiently. It's a magical learning curve that I haven't experienced since having played games from the golden age when I was a kid back in the 90's.

    Regardless of what console you purchase this on, it is a fantastic game in its own right, and provides an incredibly genuine experience and challenge that so many games are lacking nowadays. Perfect 10 out of 10.    … Expand
  22. FantasicGamer
    Jul 4, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. WOW! Amazing masterpiece and potential GOTY. Let me help the fanboy here, and shout out their slogan.

    This amazing 8-bit graphic style provides a perfect opportunity for the player to enjoy eye bleeding, and the interesting bunny jump makes the player to have an excitement like climbing to the top of mountain by overcoming the outdated and crappy controls.

    Oh yeah, old school graphic, checked. Old school rogue platform, checked. Old school controls, checked. Oh my, masterpiece and GOTY!!!!

    This is the standard of easy money these days.

    Now, the fanboy reaches the top of hill, EPIC!    … Expand
  23. Dwalde
    Jul 28, 2014
    10
    This game is simply amazing! Even though it's retro, it feels so good. The best part of this game must be the amazing level design and music, everything else still being of very good quality. If something, I disliked the rather short length of the game.
  24. daniel318
    Jun 28, 2014
    10
    My childhood of gaming wrapped up into one challenging, but forgiving game, with an amazing art style! Worth a buy at 15 dollars if you are in your 20's or 30's and want a true blast from the past with a brand new edge.
  25. ninesthousand
    Jun 28, 2014
    10
    Shovel Knight is as close to a perfect game in the style of oldschool NES platformers. Everything about it is perfect for what it does. The music is amazing as are the levels and features. It pays homage to older NES games like Ducktales, Mega Man, Castlevania, etc in a very beautiful way. A must buy on any system
  26. SaLDjouN
    Jun 27, 2014
    10
    This game is so awesome it's a mix of the best things you can find in megaman, duck tales, zelda (2 especially ) and smb 3 mixed with some modern thing like the dark souls style death. in one word : this games is really great
  27. jerry5278
    Jun 29, 2014
    10
    I really enjoyed shovel knight from beginning to end. Everything about this game blew me away. I just beat it, and am now playing through it again with new game +. This is not a game to be missed!!!!! 10/10
  28. Blacklist
    Jul 29, 2014
    10
    Shovel Knight combines smooth platforming with classic graphics to give gamers who enjoyed classic NES games what they want. The game features several equipable secondary items to use throughout, and a simple yet great storyline. Fantastic game, and if you enjoy platformers in general or played games on NES or SNES, this game is for you.

    Thank you Yacht Club Games, well done.
  29. SuperkenGaming
    Apr 30, 2015
    10
    Shovel Knight
    A must Play For all
    Shovel Knight is a beautifully charming action platforming game. Shovel Knights art style screams nostalgia sale, but I was happy to find that this game isn’t just here to pull money out of your pockets with heart strings, Shovel Knight is it’s own game, an instant classic. Shovel knight consists of 12 main levels all with their own boss battles, each    Shovel Knight
    A must Play For all
    Shovel Knight is a beautifully charming action platforming game.
    Shovel Knights art style screams nostalgia sale, but I was happy to find that this game isn’t just here to pull money out of your pockets with heart strings, Shovel Knight is it’s own game, an instant classic.
    Shovel knight consists of 12 main levels all with their own boss battles, each level and stage getting progressively more challenging.
    The pacing is really some of the best ive ever seen in gaming.
    Every level has checkpoints, this may annoy the hardcore gamers at first, but you really come to appreciate them, platforming can get really trick for those of us that are impatient.
    These type of gamers are who the checkpoints are for, they are essentially training wheels.
    Shovel Knight is really more than just a flat forming game, it truly is an experience, and im happy these checkpoints exist so all can experience and guess what… checkpoints are COMPLETELY optional.
    Don’t like them?
    Break them, they drop cash so now you have nothing to complain about.
    I wouldn’t recommend doing such a thing your first time through as again, shovel knight gets increasingly challenging.
    Enemies will start throwing projectiles, youll have to dodge lava and spikes and look out for enemies while you seek out secrets.
    There are tons of secrets to be found in shovel knight that I wont spoil, but they add such a great deal of wonder to the game, you never know what youre going to find in a room you just uncovered from an exploding rat.
    It could be a music page for you to sell in the villiage, or a new relic waiting for you to grab to help you out through the rest of the game.
    I wasn’t expecting relics, but im so happy they exist, these relics all cost magic to use so cant really be spammed, but they are all varied and make you look at levels for better, more efficient ways to traverse them.
    You can also save your gold for armour and shovel upgrades, maybe increased magic or meal tickets to increase your health, the choice is yours, but unless youre completely confident in your skills walking into an unknown area you better make that choice before going back out, because every time you die you drop 3 pouches of gold much like in the souls series.
    If you want that gold back youre going to have to go grab it, if you die on your way back then its gone forever..
    The risk reward makes traversing these gorgeous levels even more enjoyable.
    Not only did this development team due a great job with level design and enemies, but also with bosses.
    Each boss has its own attack style, so no 2 relics will be equally handy in these encounters, gratefully though, they all die the same way, hit them an x amount of times.
    Games can get in the habit of making bosses a little too unique, what shovel knight does so great is make the encounters similar enough to give you a sense of pride and feeling like you used skill to defeat a new enemy rather than you just got completely lucky.
    It isn’t common to die during your first encounter with a new boss and that is so refreshing.
    I wont get into story all too much, but I will say that it is there, there is reason to the madness and it, at least to me is beautiful.
    After you’ve completed the game and have picked every level apart for its secrets and treasures, you have the option to start a new game +.
    New game plus lets you start from the beginning with everything you collected in your previous play through, but this time levels are a little tougher as youll notice some checkpoints are missing, enemies do double damage, and there are no health pick ups.
    There are tons of challenging feats to accomplish in shovel knight.
    Totally worth the playthrough just to experience, a highly recommended game title to both casual and hardcore gamers alike.
    I truly believe that everyone can find something to love about shovel knight.
    For what it is
    Action platformer 10/10
    and as an overall game my first ever 10/10    … Expand
  30. Akumala
    Mar 28, 2015
    6
    Terribly dated and simple plattformer in NES technique, with a frustratingly high difficulty.
    After having tried to like this game for about 20 hours, i cannot recommend this game.
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best PC Game of 2014
60
#60 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
48
#48 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 46
  3. Negative: 0 out of 46
  1. Gamer.nl
    Nov 13, 2014
    85
    Shovel Knight is a beautiful tribute to the era that used to be. With it's graphics and gameplay it refers to 8-bit games, but it does have a unique touch of its own. It might be a bit short, but it sure has a strong personality.
    Read full review
  2. GameStar
    Nov 1, 2014
    82
    A modern retro platformer that plays in the same league as the classics.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Oct 22, 2014
    90
    If you spent your childhood playing DuckTales, Super Marios Bros. or Contra on your NES, no one can convince you that a pixel art indie game can bring that feeling back. Except for Shovel Knight. Shovel Knight can. [Sept 2014, p.68]
See all critic reviews »