Shovel Knight

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 449 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 324 out of 449
  2. Mixed: 60 out of 449
  3. Negative: 65 out of 449
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  1. houjo2000
    Jan 26, 2016
    10
    I am not huge into 2D platformers, even as a child they were never my forte, so I was tempted to give this game a pass. I'm glad I didn't- this may be my favourite indie game since Castle Crashers.

    Everything about this game works. It takes the recognizable style and retro graphics of Mega Man, and makes a control scheme and level lay out that is not only unique and their own- but works    I am not huge into 2D platformers, even as a child they were never my forte, so I was tempted to give this game a pass. I'm glad I didn't- this may be my favourite indie game since Castle Crashers.

    Everything about this game works. It takes the recognizable style and retro graphics of Mega Man, and makes a control scheme and level lay out that is not only unique and their own- but works perfectly. The addition of free, well done DLC the size of the base game is just going above and beyond.

    The game works brilliantly- bringing in plenty of things you'll recognize from NES (Mega Man bosses/boss rush, Super Mario 3 map encounters), quick and precise controls, great level variety. It tells a simple, cute story without wasting my time- letting me get straight into the action.

    There's a lot of replay value and collectibles as well, and of course NG+ which definitely increases the challenge.

    Highly recommend this game.    … Expand
  2. actionist83
    Jan 4, 2018
    10
    As someone who grew up playing NES/SNES/Genesis games, I was blown away by Shovel Knight! Not only is this game authentically retro, but the world and gameplay is incredible! This is the greatest side scrolling platformer that I ever got my paws on. Dig in!
  3. Jreilly89
    Oct 6, 2015
    10
    Shovel Knight is a classic gamer's wet dream. The game is near perfect, offering tight controls, a kicking soundtrack, great backgrounds, memorable bosses, and a decent storyline. The game throws plenty of challenges your way, with some stages being almost too difficult. There is also plenty of challenge to be had in the extra modes, as well as secrets and easter eggs. On top of this,Shovel Knight is a classic gamer's wet dream. The game is near perfect, offering tight controls, a kicking soundtrack, great backgrounds, memorable bosses, and a decent storyline. The game throws plenty of challenges your way, with some stages being almost too difficult. There is also plenty of challenge to be had in the extra modes, as well as secrets and easter eggs. On top of this, Yacht Club Games just released free DLC of Plague of Shadows, a great continuation, in addition to the two free DLCs they'd released previously. At $15, this game is an absolute steal, and truly a classic among great games.… Expand
  4. FogCityRoller
    Jun 25, 2015
    10
    In a world where people rate actually rate the graphics of games based on what they are instead of what they are not, Shovel Knight is everything it is supposed to be. From a gameplay perspective it is a stellar nod to the 8-bit icons of the past. It excels everywhere from story to mechanics to screen design.
  5. Diesel_Fox
    Dec 11, 2015
    10
    This is one of the few retro style games to completely encompass the 8-bit era, from controls, style to music, and does them all seamlessly while adding some modern gameplay components that make it surpass games from that era. Some of the post NES gamers might, not appreciate it, but I consider it to be pretty much a masterpiece for what it set out to accomplish, and highly recommend it!
  6. ForsetiX
    Apr 28, 2015
    10
    Fantastic homage to old school video games!!! The great gameplay makes you forget about the graphics, that some may complain about, and immerse you heavily into the game. Play this game **** cause it's only like $10.
  7. 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
  8. Paulo-Lameiras
    Sep 1, 2016
    10
    One of the best 2D platformers i have ever played, which includes games from 8bit, 16bit, etc generations
    Beautiful pixelart visual direction, good soundtrack, addicting gameplay, diverse environments, lots of powerups and very challenging.
    Fantastic game!
  9. Minge
    Apr 16, 2016
    10
    Fantastic game remembering the old classic games from it really REALLY good side scrolling adventure hope more developers go back and make some old school games 10/10
  10. skatevid
    Apr 27, 2015
    10
    Fantastic homage to old school video games. The great gameplay makes you forget about the graphics, that some may complain about, and immerse you heavily into the game. Play this game **** cause it's only like $10.
  11. KidCritc
    May 22, 2015
    10
    Retro-gamers are transported to heaven with this game the story is simple but emotional the gameplay can rival huge games like super mario world and the controls are tight in my opinion one of the best games of all time no doubt.
  12. Jakubris
    Jun 9, 2015
    10
    If your childhood entailed blowing on cartridges and changing the tv to channel 3 then Shovel Knight is a must play for you! The graphics bring us back to a time when things were simpler, the classic 8-bit style combined with smooth game-play make for a stunning match. To top it all off the sound design and music in this game are top notch. All these pieces come together in one thrillingIf your childhood entailed blowing on cartridges and changing the tv to channel 3 then Shovel Knight is a must play for you! The graphics bring us back to a time when things were simpler, the classic 8-bit style combined with smooth game-play make for a stunning match. To top it all off the sound design and music in this game are top notch. All these pieces come together in one thrilling experience that present challenges and hours of entertainment to keep you locked in and remembering how things used to be! But we're not sad that they've changed!… Expand
  13. AbyssTreader
    Aug 26, 2015
    10
    This game is a love letter to old titles like Mega Man. After all the purest form of flattery is imitation, and yet Shovel knight manages to be nostalgic and quite new and unique at the same time. The controls are simple and intuitive. The stages are varied and imaginative, ranging from underwater levels to flying airships, with each one introducing some new mechanic to challenge you. TheThis game is a love letter to old titles like Mega Man. After all the purest form of flattery is imitation, and yet Shovel knight manages to be nostalgic and quite new and unique at the same time. The controls are simple and intuitive. The stages are varied and imaginative, ranging from underwater levels to flying airships, with each one introducing some new mechanic to challenge you. The boss fights are simply fun. Rest assured that the order of no quarter is one of the most impressive rogue gallery you will ever come across. With a few RPG themed mechanics and some old staples of the genre Shovel Knight can surely be attractive to a large crowd.With a lot of replay value this game is over all a must have, for both players who want to take a trip down memory lane, or newcomers. As an an indie title with a lot of love in the making as well as a lot of new content coming in the future I recommend Shovel Knight to any player who is looking for a good time.… Expand
  14. consolfreak1982
    Sep 29, 2016
    10
    So much has already been said about this gem of a game -
    whar I want to mention is that the boxed Version is not only including the Soundtrack as a download, it contains a colored handbook (!!!!) with artworks, hints and so on - how awesome is that? :D
    Theres not a single, NOT A SINGLE Thing about this game that is not STELLAR. Its so well made and so full of love for the Detail that    So much has already been said about this gem of a game -
    whar I want to mention is that the boxed Version is not only including the Soundtrack as a download, it contains a colored handbook (!!!!) with artworks, hints and so on - how awesome is that? :D

    Theres not a single, NOT A SINGLE Thing about this game that is not STELLAR.
    Its so well made and so full of love for the Detail that its already considered an instant classic - even in years to come.
    Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Controls - theres not a single part of the game thats not flawless and crafted with care to the finest.
    oh - and theres quite some DLC comin up still - one campaign was already released for free, and two more will come too - for free as well.. how can you make an outstanding game even better?
    On any System - this is a MUST BUY    … Expand
  15. KrisTrajkovski
    Nov 17, 2015
    10
    This game pretty much brings back the 2-D platforming genre to the mainstream. I don't know why people are hating on this game because of its 8bit or 16bit graphics and the fact that this game should belong to the 90s but it was the cornerstone of the video game industry and we should be proud about it
  16. Cosmozerk
    May 22, 2016
    10
    Shovel Knight is a 2D platformer made by Yacht club games. Since its release it's been getting perfect scores all across the board with 9 and 10 all over the place. Now personally i also think this is a great game..., but it does have some little but noticeable flaws.

    STORY: You are this knight called Shovel Knight and you have this partner called Shield Knight. Shield Knight gets    Shovel Knight is a 2D platformer made by Yacht club games. Since its release it's been getting perfect scores all across the board with 9 and 10 all over the place. Now personally i also think this is a great game..., but it does have some little but noticeable flaws.

    STORY: You are this knight called Shovel Knight and you have this partner called Shield Knight. Shield Knight gets captured, Shovel Knight retires, the forces of evil appear again, Shovel Knight must go save the day, etc ect ect. In a platforming game the plot is the least important factor for me and Shovel Knight is no different. There's actually a really obvious plot twist, but i'm not gonna spoil it, but if you don't see that twist coming the first time you see the intro...then you are blind as all ****.

    PRESENTATION: Yachtclubgames wanted to do a throwback to the original NES days.

    Every level is colorful and charming with detail all over the place!. I'm one of those guys who doesn't thinks that this game uses the original NES colorpalette because...well...just look at it!. Even Megaman 6, Super Mario Bros 3 or Punch Out, wich are some of the better looking games on the NES, had this many details and colors at the same time. The enemy design is also very creative and the animation of the incredibly beautiful sprites is fluid. And the music is also phenomenal, it has that 8-bit style and just like other NES titles the melody is very strong, making it very catchy. They even got the Megaman composer to do some songs...that alone is a testament to the greatness of the music. The game runs at full 1080p and 60fps and it makes everything look so...clear.

    GAMEPLAY: Like i said, Shovel Knight is an 8-bit 2D platforming game. The game has different levels with a boss to reach at the end, usually being the nights of the order of no quarter.

    The levels have amazing level design with many secrets to be found and some of them can only be reached if you have a specific equipment, where do you buy this equipment?...in the towns!. The towns are little places which are just a means to buy new armor with different effects, extend your life bar or extend your magic meter.

    To enter the town or levels, we have an overworld that is clearly based on Super Mario Bros 3 overworld. You can also find mini-bosses in here, but i'll go back to that later.

    Anyway let's go back to the levels for a bit. One of my complaints i see some reviewers point out with the game is that the levels are too freaking long. Some of the stages have 6 checkpoints!, and you might say: "Well that seems totally fair", well yeah, but the bad part of making a long level is that it tends to drag out and become less fun because of it. I totally understand this point, but as someone that has played the Yoshi's Island games...i don't really think that longer levels is a flaw, but i just wanted to pointed out in case you are not the kind of person that tolerates long levels.

    However! one complain i agree with is that everytime you die you loose a whole lot of gems, but you do have the opportunity to get it back. The problem is that most of the time the jems get in places completely unreachable and while you can use the fishing rod for those situations, the other 80% of the time you can't get the gems back no matter what.

    The bosses are very easy to defeat, even if you don't have the locket (which is an equipment that makes you invincible for a short period of time) you can just bounce on their heads until they die. Some of them do have moves that negate that strategy, you just wait a bit and then go back to bounce on their head. On the overworld you find some mini-bosses, some hard, some easy, it depends.

    This is more a recommendation than a complain. Through levels you find some secret passages, some of them unlock special equipment, but most of them just give you more jewels. The problem is that jewels are ALL OVER THE PLACE, so tell me: why would you go into a different, harder, pathway, when the reward you get i just the same stuff that you get by normally playing the level?. I would've preferred if the secret rooms give you a special jewel that you can give to an NPC in some side-quest and then they give you something cool. Something like that would give you more incentive to go out and find those rooms.

    Each version of the game also has some bonus thing to it. The PS4 and Xbox ONE versions have extra boss battles with Kratos and the Battletoads respectively. And if you defeat them they will give you special weapons. The Wii U version on the other hand gets a sweet Shovel Knight amiibo, extra challenges and a co-op mode.

    Overall Shovel Knight is not a perfect game like many say, but it's still a stupidly strong game with great graphics, music, level design and mechanics. A great indie-game and i can't wait what Yacht club games is gonna make next!.

    I'll give it a 10/10.

    Oh! and did i mention that it also has...FREE DLC!, which i'll review later.    … Expand
  17. ThePigeonManCan
    Feb 20, 2016
    10
    I have never played such a wholesome game. All together it's a beautiful story with fantastic characters....And free DLC ? Yacht Club Games got this right. 10/10
  18. marykaymylove
    Jun 19, 2017
    10
    Shovel knight captures the essence of a side scrolling NES style game. This game is a gold mine. This is obviously the spiritual successor of megaman.
  19. FromKanga
    Jan 29, 2017
    10
    This is my favourite 2D platformer of all time, I loved every second of this game

    The story and characters are really simple but there is a retro charm to it, like the good old days, just defeat the villain who wants to take over the world (with a few twists). What makes this game incredible is the level design, each level is dynamic and enjoyable, there isn't a single level or moment    This is my favourite 2D platformer of all time, I loved every second of this game

    The story and characters are really simple but there is a retro charm to it, like the good old days, just defeat the villain who wants to take over the world (with a few twists).
    What makes this game incredible is the level design, each level is dynamic and enjoyable, there isn't a single level or moment that feels dull in the game.

    In conclusion, It's one of my favourite games of all time and I highly recommend it.    … Expand
  20. Randomguy67
    Apr 28, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game has a butt code so it is one of the best games of all time.

    Ok, jokes aside this game is amazing. The game play takes big influnce from the best games of the 80's and 90's, the rocking soundtrack by Jake Kaufman, the mixture of school nostalga and new mechanics make one of the best indie games ever.

    And if you want the butt code, it's:WSWWAEAW    … Expand
  21. Dr_Unk
    Oct 6, 2020
    10
    What a great game! Brings back memories of playing some of the classic NES games,
  22. Red-Eyes
    Oct 7, 2020
    10
    Absolutely **** perfect! I cannot believe a game from this generation could go straight into my Top5 side-scrolling games as fast as this one did.
    The gameplay is perfect balancing platforming and combat as one entity like bouncing on enemies to reach higher places. Each level has its own little twist in the gameplay to makes things fresh everytime: from the exploding estructure at the    Absolutely **** perfect! I cannot believe a game from this generation could go straight into my Top5 side-scrolling games as fast as this one did.
    The gameplay is perfect balancing platforming and combat as one entity like bouncing on enemies to reach higher places. Each level has its own little twist in the gameplay to makes things fresh everytime: from the exploding estructure at the Explodatorium to the bouncing jellies (yes, bouncing jellies) at the Lost City; every level is unique and you never get bored.
    The bosses are amazing and each of them has its own different m.o. to fight. And considering the game signature charm and style, chances are you'll remember those battle for a long time.
    The icing on the cake is the perfect soundtrack. it is the best soundtrack I've ever heard in a 2D game! Remember how we used to play super nes games humming the music while going right? That's how I replay this game.
    All in all this is one of my favorite games of the newer generations, if you grew up with Mario, Donkey Kong, Megaman and stuff and like a good challenge I'm pretty sure you'll find enjoyment here    … Expand
  23. JRG
    Aug 10, 2015
    9
    There is a 150 character lomit for reviews? Okay dude. Gonna see if my score can influence the user score. Great game, lots of enemies and worlds and cool places. Great if you wat a colorful platformer with character.
  24. endtransmission
    May 4, 2015
    9
    Excellent game.

    The people that are saying this is overpriced are insane. Every screen, every song, every bit of text: all made very lovingly and bursting with charm. Great gameplay with simple mechanics but a lot of variety in which to use it - which makes the game fresh at most turns. It has elements, of: Dark Souls (Repeating sections to perfection, having to recover your cash),    Excellent game.

    The people that are saying this is overpriced are insane. Every screen, every song, every bit of text: all made very lovingly and bursting with charm. Great gameplay with simple mechanics but a lot of variety in which to use it - which makes the game fresh at most turns. It has elements, of: Dark Souls (Repeating sections to perfection, having to recover your cash), Zelda/Megaman (Equipment, format (in places)), Super Mario World (Music and graphics in places).

    Difficulty is actually quite high depending on how you play the game, you can use a standard armour set to increase the difficulty if it's not quite as tough as you'd like. It's not Dark Souls hard but it's pleasingly difficult.

    Story is whatever but the game is all about gameplay and the writing is supernaturally charming and nicely written, taking loving jabs at classic, genre-specific cliches.

    Graphics are lovingly made and perfect for the job.

    Some people will complain that it's too short but for the money it isn't short at all. Roughly 10 hours of gameplay on a normal playthrough and then a NG+ option.

    In short: It's the most legitimate homage to old-school gaming I've ever played and to someone like me that's in his early 30s and played games through the NES and SNES era it's a legitimate joy to play.    … Expand
  25. mumbles
    Apr 27, 2015
    9
    Fantastic 8-bit throwback title. I know lots of people are probably sick of the retro indies on systems like the PS4 but this game truly does live up to the hype with it's fantastic soundtrack, pixel art and controls as well as humour. If you're into retro gaming I say give this a spin and if not, maybe wait for a sale. The huge bonus is that it's cross-buy/save... so you can buy it onceFantastic 8-bit throwback title. I know lots of people are probably sick of the retro indies on systems like the PS4 but this game truly does live up to the hype with it's fantastic soundtrack, pixel art and controls as well as humour. If you're into retro gaming I say give this a spin and if not, maybe wait for a sale. The huge bonus is that it's cross-buy/save... so you can buy it once and get it for the PS4/Vita/PS3 and play it across all platforms. The only big downside to this is that the cross save isn't automatic like Fez. You have to manually upload/download each time you want to save/load to/from the cloud. Don't listen to all the haters that want to play COD shooters or are just into games for the graphics. It's GOTY material.… Expand
  26. looom
    Apr 20, 2016
    9
    Stellar game! If you are out of 80s and you love old platform games like mario, robocop 2,megaman then its a must have. Beautiful pixelart, nice story lot of loots to find our:) Its huge step back to 80s/90 however its great:)
  27. AkodoRyu
    Apr 28, 2015
    9
    The game is tight as hell. Pretty much perfect execution for the genre.
    It's also a lot of fun, It's been a while since I've played such purely fun game.
  28. Markolius
    Apr 27, 2015
    9
    Fun gameplay, great personality, and well-paced. It's one of the best side scrollers in years, retro or otherwise. Think classic mega man with a humorous fantasy theme. Definitely worth having in your PS4's digital library if you don't already have it elsewhere.
  29. blopho
    Mar 23, 2017
    9
    This game is an awesome platformer in the style of 8/16bit consoles. This game is one of the few for Ps4 that deserves all the praise it gets. I'd say this and Rayman Legends are the best traditional platform games on Ps4 by far.
  30. Grigann
    May 4, 2015
    9
    Excellent old-school plate-former, combining various gameplay elements from classics like Super Mario 3, Mega Man or Duck Tales with a simple but nevertheless good story, great levels, great bosses, great trophies, and an incredible soundtrack.
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Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best PS4 Game of 2015
54
#54 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015
60
#60 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Impulsegamer
    Sep 25, 2015
    84
    Shovel Knight perfectly encapsulates what is so great about playing modern-retro games inspired by the 8-bit era of the 1980s and early 90’s without being derivative or trapped in the past.
    Read full review
  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Jun 30, 2015
    90
    A glorious, funny, occasionally touching and often maddening tribute to the 8-bit platformer. [July 2015, p.87]
  3. Play UK
    Jun 27, 2015
    90
    A well-written love letter to the classic games of the Eighties that blends a variety of classic platformers into a game that works regardless of any nostalgia. We dig it. [Issue#258, p.72]
See all critic reviews »