Shovel Knight is a 2D Platformer created by an independent group called Yacht Club Games. It stars a character known as Shovel Knight. He is a knight. He wields a shovel. That's about it.

With his trusty shovel as his weapon of choice, Shovel Knight must journey across trecherous lands on a quest to stop the evil Dr. Wily and his 8 Robot Masters... I mean the evil Enchantress and the Order of No Quarter.

Joking aside this game seems to take a lot of inspiration from classic Megaman in how the layouts of stages and enemies are designed, more than it resembles any Mario or Sonic game. 

One of the things I really like about it is how much they tried to emulate the old NES style while using the more advanced technology of modern games to their advantage. The soundtrack is also highly praised.

One thing I don't really care for is how slow it is. It feels like one of those games where you just have to appreciate exploring the terrain, rather than running through obstacles and engaging enemies in combat. The shovel is also kind of slow and clunky as a weapon and as I've seen on Game Grumps it's most reliable when using a downward stab from above.

Still it's not a bad game, and compared to actual NES titles it's actually really great in how smooth the controls and animation is. I hear the word "independent" in the context of its creation and I think "Birdemic" but nope, it's actually a high quality game.

Shovel Knight is available for digital purchase wherever digital purchasing is available, such as Steam or the 3DS and Wii U E-Shops.

And Shovel Knight has since received a physical cartridge release. It was only $20 and I received it as a Christmas gift last year.

By now two special DLC campaigns have released, both completely free and I gotta say, I think Plague of Shadows is more fun than the regular Shovel Knight campaign. There's something so satisfying about lobbing an endless supply of explosives at enemies, and having the ability to customize your bombs to do different things, like changing the direction they're thrown or how quickly they go off.

I haven't played Specter of Torment yet, but I've been watching the Grumps play it and I really like that it's not just the same level design, as in PoS (really unfortunate initials) At first I was like "Whaaaaa? Specter Knight can FLY!" but then I remember it's a prequel so he likely doesn't have that ability yet. Also Missy, the merchant in this campaign is friggin adorable.

Speaking of the Grumps, I ended up buying the Shovel Knight Amiibo because of them and it was worth it. The Infinidagger alone is loads of fun to mess with, but you can also get some of Plague Knight's bombs to throw around, which adds fun new potential for combat.

So... Plague Knight amiibo when?