How Shovel Knight executes the formula and melds all of this together is what makes it stand out from the crowd. There are also special levels in-between where you take on challengers who appear on the world map. Major levels revolve around a Knight of The Order of No Quarter, who act as special boss fights with unique powers that test your reflexes and timing greatly. Gameplay involves the classic formula of jumping across obstacles, solving puzzles, collecting items and discovering cleverly hidden secrets in several themed stages full of anthropomorphic, medieval and mythological enemies who you need to defeat or pass to beat the level. The simple premise sets up the main quest of journeying across a world map and fighting through a series of levels to progress, similar to old-school platforming titles. While Shovel Knight escapes, he is devastated and exiles himself before returning to save the land when the Enchantress and the eight knights of The Order of No Quarters spreads evil across the world in his absence.

The Shield Knight is taken over by the artefact and abandons Shovel Knight inside the sealed tower. The tale of the eponymous Shovel Knight is simply told when first creating a new file our hero and the Shield Knight journeyed across the land with each other in a blissful partnership until they discovered a cursed amulet in the Tower of Fate. As a 2D-scroller with 8-bit graphics in an increasingly crowded market of high-quality indie efforts, it stands out as an authentic, original and quirky platforming adventure that evokes that same special childhood nostalgia we all get when seeing NES-era graphics – while still amazing players with straight-forward, streamlined gameplay not stuck in the past. Shovel Knight is the prime example of a game paying ample homage to the retro era of decades past without exploiting or relying on gamer nostalgia.

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