NOTE: This review only covers Shovel of Hope. A video version of this review is available here.

The Nintendo Entertainment System was, to say the very least, a console which had its fair share of platformenrs in its library. As such, for many the platformer genre has a certain measure of nostalgia to it. Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is thus intended to be a tribute to platformers of the NES era, and serves that purpose pretty damn well. The developers, Yacht Club Games, are made up of former members of WayForward Technologies, who as we can tell from their release history are very, very good at making platformers, a trend which if critics are to be believed seems to be continuing here, with almost unanimous acclaim from all four corners of the Internet. So why's that? Well, let's have a look, shall we?

Yacht Club Games said themselves on their own website that Shovel Knight's design brief was essentially "What if development for the NES never stopped" and "How would an 8-bit game feel and play if developed today?" So understandably they broke a good few rules of the NES when making this game, but retained the 8-bit graphical aesthetic, and in my opinion this was a very good move. It makes it feel like a modern game in a retro game's clothing; it retains the nostalgic charm of the "retro" platformer whilst simultaneously not being dragged down and made stale by any self-imposed technological limitations.

It does still draw on some old NES traditions, however - for instance, much like many NES games with the faintest shred of story, the plot is touched upon at the beginning in the form of a slideshow. It tells of how Shovel Knight and Shield Knight, once famed adventurers, were separated in an accident whilst exploring the Tower of Fate, with Shield Knight apparently dying. Shovel Knight eventually returns from a long exile, during which time the evil Enchantress and her Order of No Quarter have claimed dominion over the land; it is now up to Shovel Knight, adamant that Shield Knight is still alive, to defeat them. Interestingly enough though, unlike the games that so heavily inspired it Shovel Knight's plot is not just a frame for the gameplay; what would otherwise be an inconsequential excuse plot is expanded on to great lengths. Just for instance bits of every character's personality and the game's lore are revealed through dream sequences between some levels, conversations between Shovel Knight and the Order of No Quarter as he meets and fights them as well as the people he encounters in the towns, all of whom have something either funny, useful or lore-related to say, oftentimes all three. In addition to that, especially near the end, the story sometimes gets really, really emotional, more so than you'd expect from a game of its type. It manages to maintain an almost perfect balance between keeping you sated with the gameplay and pondering the questions that appear as you follow Shovel Knight in his quest. And I might also say, very rarely do I find myself actually trying to talk to everyone in a game just for the giggles that they may elicit from me.

The 8-bit inspiration is also very apparent in the gameplay, with many, many elements harking back to some memorable classics. At its core it's standard platforming fare in sort of Zelda 2 crossed with Mega Man vein, you can swing your shovel to attack enemies, do a DuckTales-esque stomp attack, pick up treasure and items from fallen enemies and, well, since your main weapon is a shovel; it stands to reason that you can also dig up piles of dirt with it. There are also hidden areas to be found, where you can obtain extra Gold, Music Sheets with which you can unlock tracks from the game's soundtrack to listen to later on, and in some cases hidden merchants who will sell you Relics - special items with a variety of effects, for instance the Wand which lets you shoot fireballs, the Phase Locket which gives you a few seconds of invulnerability, Troupple Chalices which let you store Troupple Ichor, a magical liquid with 3 variants, each with their own effect, and a fishing rod which... lets you fish for things. In towns you can also purchase items which increase your maximum health and Magic, as well as later in the game, upgrades for your shovel and armour which give you various different special abilities (or sometimes not).

The levels are all connected via a map screen which could not be any more of a reference to Mario Bros 3 if it tried, complete with bonus levels and extra bosses to fight. Some of these were added in by Kickstarter backers and thus have their own unique style too. And as for the levels themselves, they all have a recognisable visual design styled after the Knight of the Order of No Quarter they serve as home to, right down to the enemies and even the hazards you can run into. This gives each level a veritable bucketload of personality, serving as more than just levels but almost like extensions of the Knights' personalities and chaeracters, and in the case of King Knight perhaps his ego too. These levels can, however, especially late in the game, get very difficult and at times a bit irritating, so it's perhaps a good thing that the traditional lives system is done away with, and instead when you die you lose some of your accumulated Gold. If you then return to the spot where you died you're given an opportunity to retrieve it. Alternatively if you like a challenge, the checkpoints which can be found throughout the leve;s can be broken for extra Gold, something which I find really quite ingenious.

The soundtrack is absolutely spectacular, perhaps unsurprisingly as it was created by none other than Jake "Virt" Kaufman -already well known for the Shantae series and ghere he shows his prowess yet again. Each track fits its respective level like a glove, and to boot, 8-bit aesthetic of the music, in keeping with the game's general theme, is more than just an aesthetic. The soundtrack was created using a program called FamiTracker, a program which directly emulates the NES's sound chip. As a result, every track can be made to play on official Nintendo hardware - well, alright, provided you have a special sound chip that was only used in a handful of Konami games in Japan, most notably the Japanese version of Castlevania 3, but even so that is pretty mindblowing when you think about it.

In summary, if you were looking for a retro-style game which really feels like a modern one, then look no further than Shovel Knight. The gameplay harks gracefully back to its NES forefathers whilst still at the same time being innovative and fresh, the 8-bit soundtrack is nothing short of fantastic and even the plot is surprisingly good, balancing itself almost perfectly with the gameplay. It's the very definition of a modern classic and a game that should not under any circumstances be passed up. In the UK the price ranges from £10.99 to £12.99 depending on the version you buy, and as far as I can tell in the USA it's £14.99 across all platforms, and I would honestly say that at that price, Shovel Knight is most certainly worth a buy.