specter knight pets the dog :)

An absolutely masterful platforming experience! I had initially dabbled in Shovel Knight a few years after it released, but it was only upon playing it this year along with its expansions that I realized how truly great it was!

Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope is a very straightforward homage to the NES era platformers that inspired it. However, the tightness of its mechanics and brilliance of its design keep it from repeating any mistakes made by those games. It perfectly embodies the retro-feel while giving you an experience that modern and fluid. The characters, world, and story also have plenty of love and development put into them, confirming that you are playing an extremely fleshed-out game rather than just experiencing good gameplay.

While the original Shovel Knight campaign ultimately cements its legacy as an excellent throwback, the additional campaigns allowed the developers to truly innovate and expand upon the firm foundation that they created. Just a heads-up, I did not play the additional campaigns in they order that they were released in, rather the order I was most interested in.

Given that it had a touch of Wario Land inspiring it, I felt compelled to give King of Cards a shot next. This adventure quickly caught me off-guard with the addition of the optional card game: Joustus. At first, I was honestly infuriated by this. I purchased this collection for great platforming, not card games! I begrudgingly continued to play Joustus, despite knowing it was optional, as I wanted to collect everything. However, as I continued to play and figure out how the game worked and what strategies I could use to win, I found this to be one of the best side-quests I had ever experienced! By the end I was saddened that I had beaten every possible opponent, even the challenge stages, and collected every card! What I would give for a physical release of this card game! Back to the platforming, King Knight has easily my favorite playstyle out of the four main campaigns. His Wario-inspired shoulder-bash that leads into a spinning bounce attack was an incredibly fun mechanic that made getting through stages and exploring areas an absolute blast! His sub-weapons were fun to use as well, giving him plenty of variety in his combat style! His story was the humorous, yet tragic prequel it needed to be, amusing you consistently up until the end and then gut-punching you with a brilliant, albeit foreseeable, twist!

Specter of Torment was up next, and while on the shorter side, it still proved to be an incredibly fun time! Similarily to the other platforming characters, Specter Knight had excellent mechanics that emphasized moving him forward in ways that allow you to traverse the levels in fast and sleek fashion. His air-dashed took some time to master at first as they required the player to be precise and quick, but I found myself dashing and slicing through enemies and levels before long. His scythe-grinding mechanic was fun, but I felt that it could've been utilized more consistenly. I'm not complaining though, as he was always fun to control. His story is mysterious with an obvious aura of tragedy felt throughout and it is oh so satisfying everytime a new piece of lore is uncovered to bring the true depth of his backstory into light! Absolutely brilliant once again!

Plague of Shadows was the campaign that I saved for last, as he was the only knight I honstly felt I wouldn't love playing as, which mostly proved to be true. Plague Knight's chaotic nature made for a rather tense platforming session, as his explosion-based mechanics lacked the precision that Shovel Knight's downward thrust, King Knight's shoulder-bash, and Specter Knight's dash all had. While I did feel comfortable using it a little over halfway through, Plague Knight's mechanics often left me a bit frustrated with the patience that is required to master them. I was not able to speed through levels like I did with Shovel, King, and Specter. However, I did eventually come to understand how they are expected to be used and appreciated, and I found the value in them in time. His story was delightful to play, with a fun and awkward romance plot that was too cute to not be invested in.

Finally, Showdown. Look, Yacht Club are geniuses when it comes to crafting platformers, but not so much with platform fighters. As of right now I have yet to play the multiplayer modes that this section offers but my gosh, the singleplayer content was quite painful. Such a mess of characters, effects and attacks going off, and a final boss that was more cheap and obnoxious than the bosses from the NES games that inspired Shovel Knight in the first place! There's certainly a good deal of charm and fan-service put into this mode, and it's worth trying just to play as the characters who didn't get their own campaigns (like my boy Propeller Knight) but I'm so glad that we have Shovel of Hope DX to look forward to so I don't feel obligated to play this again. Ugh.

I know that wasn't the most uplifting way to end things, but Showdown aside, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is easily the greatest platforming experience I have ever had, even surpassing Rayman Legends which is no easy feat! This game's mechanics, characters, stories, and world have a special place in my heart and I cannot wait to see what Yacht Club does with them next! Thank you for reading! Take care, and God bless!

Shovel Knight and all its DLC is peak