Shovel Knight

It's hard to find something to complain about in Shovel Knight because it does everything it sets out to do perfectly - to an impeccable standard.

It deserves wholeheartedly to be on a list of nominees later this year. Play Shovel Knight. It is a damn delight.

But more than anything else, Shovel Knight oozes personality and charm more than any game I’ve played in recent memory.

Shovel Knight is one of the best platformers I've ever played, period.

I can’t help but love Shovel Knight. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of why I love gaming; the joy I felt as a kid playing games in a time when graphics and hardware didn’t matter. While paying tribute to the classics, Shovel Knight still feels unique with fantastic level designs that are extremely challenging and rewarding to complete.

Old school gamers will love Shovel Knight’s retro sensibilities, but they’ll also appreciate its modern touches.

This game is a true classic, and hopefully the first of many more to come from Yacht Club Games. Bravo.

This is one of the best games of 2014.

Bringing back all that made older classics into unforgettable games and pushing aside all their technology constraints using modern methods of game design, Shovel Knight is the perfect flagship of a piece of retrgaming made in the 21st century.

Shovel Knight is a great challenging game, not only for retro gamers but for anyone who loves platform games. With brilliant level design and music, Shovel Knight is THE game to download on the Nintendo eShop.

This is an absolute gem. [Oct 2014, p.76]

Shovel Knight isn't just inspired by 8-bit classics, it is inspired in and of itself.

Yacht Club Games has a hit on its hands with Shovel Knight. With brilliant game design, charming presentation and a ton of content, this is a wonderful first title from the fledgling developer.

Indie throwbacks to video games of the early ‘80s are a dime a dozen, but Yacht Club Games successfully rises to the top. The tried-and-true game design principles and elegant checkpoint system make Shovel Knight worth a try no matter which era of gaming you prefer.

Shovel Knight is a well-made action platformer. Old school gamers will love it.

Shovel Knight is a great example of the importance of Kickstarter. The result here is a satisfying, accessible, quality product which not only rivals but also exceeds many superproductions from other companies, notably bigger, that not always reach this level of inspiration.

It is a labor of love and homage to classics of the 8-bit-era, where the badass difficulty level of Mega Man is combined with the mystical design of Gargoyles Quest and a catchy chiptune soundtrack.

Shovel Knight is a heartfelt homage to the NES days, with tight gameplay, simple but effective 8bit-ish graphics and a killer soundtrack. It could use a couple of levels more and additional game modes.

It’s very clever and exceptionally well-designed, but it’s not a wildly innovative game, and in the years to come I’m not sure it will be as fondly remembered as the games that inspired it.

Shovel Knight is an exceptionally well-made action platformer, one worthy of being celebrated far beyond the nostalgic foundation it's built upon. Shovel Knight won't be the last old school game made in the modern age, but it's unlikely many others will be as much fun.

A nice and stylish retro-fest, at it's best on the Wii U GamePad.

Shovel Knight is a pretty stellar homage to simpler times, but it’s so unabashedly an homage that it never steps out of the shadows cast by the components it’s built from—DuckTales, Mega Man, Simon’s Quest. And while derivative doesn’t necessarily mean bad—far from it in Shovel Knight’s case—it certainly doesn’t make it any less pandering in a lot of ways.