Shovel Knight is separated from Shield Knight, and it's up to Shovel Knight to start digging to victory. Shovel Knight and Shield Knight have long protected the realm, but the world is soon corrupted by The Order of No Quarter (which just might be the best name for a group of enemies since.well, forever), lead by The Enchantress. Shovel Knight has a story insofar as any of these games have a surface-level justification for what's happening. Shovel Knight feels like a game that fell out of a worm hole. And Shovel Knight is a very good video game. Shovel Knight feels both old and new, mining our collective memories for the right reason: making a good video game. The debut game from Yacht Club Games feels like an unearthed relic, one I'm happy has been found. Shovel Knight is one of them, a game that feels as though a historian unearthed a long lost cartridge from the late '80s, as game developers were making the NES perform tricks never thought possible.

There are always exceptions to the rule, though. How I feel about today's shooters is probably how others feel about the deluge of nostalgia-influenced platformers.

Wii u shovel knight review