Originality: The indie boom has created a LOT of games that try to pay honor to the old ways. Most of them are horrible, some are decent, and very few are good. This game is the only one I have, as of yet, defined as spectacular. This game captures everything that was good from decades ago in the gaming industry and presents it with a fun level/progression design I haven’t played in a VERY long time. From the use of gold as your life instead of hearts, to the checkpoints being destructible to get more gold, to the progression system of gaining new armors/weapons, to the achievements you can unlock (as well as music), to the adding of bosses to every stage (making each of them feel very important as opposed to filler), to the concept of the girl your trying to save is also the villain (awesome!!!). My goodness this game incorporated everything that was good from decades ago and blended it together with things that are popular now days (achievements, hard modes, dlc, and non-traditional plot twists). Superb! Encore!
20/20
Graphics: Intentional limitations on this led this game to obviously be way technically behind compared to modern games, but compared to games of this era of bits, I can’t say I’ve seen a more beautiful game!
10/10
Art Style: I LOVED the art style in this game. I loved the rain/lightning scenes, I loved how dark it went at points, and the way the levels each individually looked so unique. I can only imagine what this game would look like if they took this art style and enhanced it to the graphics of Tropical Freeze… oh my!
15/15
Story: Stock full of humor, yet a strong hint of despair you could feel from the character regarding his long lost love (who is now the villain), combined with the wonderful black knight and all the other random npc’s you run into, fight with, and have dialogue that furthers this wonderfully wacky storyline. I loved this story, and I loved how Shield Knight becomes the villain only to be broken free from her chains (and presumed dead until after the credits when she sits down next to Shovel knight at the campfire) by Shovel Knight (with the help of Black Knight, his rival most of the game). Beautiful story that made me have feels, yet made me laugh most of all. What a wonderful experience! Still, there ARE limitations to this stuff in a shorter/smaller/low budget game like this and it isn’t on the same quality as some more modern, moving games.
27/30
Game Interface: Yey wii U gamepad!!!
5/5
Controls easy and fluid or difficult and rigid? The whole up thing while you click a button to move across the map or shoot enemies was poorly placed (imo) as it made it very hard to 100% pull that off while you’re trying to attack/dodge/move across bottomless pits.
3/5
Is it fun? I have never had this much fun with an indie game (and that includes Gunman Clive). Phenomenal!
15/15
Total: 95/100 +10 charm = 105/100
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – 100 + 5 = 105
Shovel Knight – 95 + 10 = 105
Shadow of Mordor = 95 + 5 = 100
Zelda Skyward Sword-98
Hyrule Warriors – 93 + 5 = 98
Zelda Minish Cap – 92
Portal – 87 + 5 = 92
Assassin’s Creed 4 Wii U – 86 +5 = 91
Bayonetta 2 = 91
Bayonetta (Wii U) - 91
Zelda Oracle of Ages – 91
Metroid Fusion – 91
Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86 + 5 = 91
Zelda Twilight Princess – 90
Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90
Guildwars 2 – 89
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 89
Animal Crossing New Leaf – 84 + 5 = 89
Pokemon X – 88
Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78 + 10 = 88
Kid Icarus Uprising – 88
Darksiders 2 - 88
Fire Emblem Awakening – 88
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - 84
Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83
Super Mario 3d land – 72 + 10 = 82
Batman: Arkham Origins - 81
Trine – 80
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze* - 68 + 10 = 78
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74
Rome: Total War-74
Red Alert 3 - 70
New Super Mario Bros. U - 66
New Super Mario Bros.Wii – 57 *
Assassins Creed 3 - 57
Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53*
Kirby Squeak Squad – 43
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3d – 42
* Means it was more fun than the score indicates. Scores judge the overall quality of the game (how fun it is only counts for 15% in my reviews)
