I don’t play a lot of pixel art games. It’s not cause I hate them, it’s just that I never had the chance to experience them. I did play a few NES games and thought, “Yeah, that was okay”, but never anything that really gripped me and kept my attention. But then, something amazing happened. Indie games happened, the best genre of games that everyone should support. And one of the best indie games out there, one that really broke the mold and brought indie games into the forefront, was the classic Shovel Knight
Now, when you hear indie games, people bring up Shovel Knight as THE indie game, one of the best ones out there, and yeah, I can see that being the case. The game follows Shovel Knight, a brave and noble knight who wields a shovel and fights his way through a fictional 8-bit land in search of his lost partner Shield Knight while also fighting off other enemy knights from The Order With No Quarter, like Plague Knight, Specter Knight, Polar Knight, and many others. The game has a little bit of everything with its style. It feels like a classic Megaman game, but has an overworld feel of Super Mario Bros 3, a weapon system like Castlevania, and it also has that difficulty from the classic NES games. Granted, Shovel Knight NOWHERE near as tough as say Castlevania 3 or Ninja Gaiden, but there were some moments where I had to really try with this game or it would kick my ass. There is a lot of side stuff in this game as well. You can level up Shovel Knight using different colors of armor, you can upgrade your magic or health, you can buy items that allow you to find more secrets to get gold so you can buy more upgrades, you can go through challenge routes in order to get more gold, and my personal favorite, you can run into wandering knights who will challenge you to duels, like Reize Seatlan, Phantom Striker, Mr. Hat, and The Baz, which is so obviously a reference to the character used by superior LP channel, Super Best Friends Play. Rest in Peace, Best Friends. And the bosses, let me tell you, are the highlight of the game. Most games have boss runs, where you fight the bosses all over again, and I never understood why people hate those so much. I mean, if the bosses suck, yeah, I understand, but if they’re fun, then screw it, I’ll fight them again. And are the bosses of Shovel Knight fun- Yes! A million times yes! There is not one bad boss in this game. I love fighting all of them, even the weaker ones like Royal Knight. And the soundtrack, for just a chiptune based soundtrack, is a lot of fun to listen to.
Shovel Knight was the game that introduced me to indie games, and ever since then, I am highly supportive of all indie games. If you want to know where to start… Well shit, almost all indie games are amazing, and highly recommended by me. But if I was forced to pick one for people new to the genre, Shovel Knight would have to top that list.