I would say it’s a must play for anyone old enough to remember blowing on a cartridge, but that would be selling it short. Nostalgia certainly enhances the experience, but this is a great game for anyone.

Shovel Knight is delightful, amusing, and oftentimes challenging. It’s surprisingly deep, with enough secrets and charm to warrant at least one more run through on New Game+. The game controls like a dream, is simple enough to pick up immediately, and knows just when to up the ante to make you a more skillful player over the course of its six to eight hour campaign.

Shovel Knight is a modern classic that takes the 2-D platforming genre and modernizes it.

Between the tight platforming, nostalgia-inducing graphics, and pitch-perfect sound design, old-school gamers need look no further for their fix.

Capturing the spirit of the past, Shovel Knight once again shines on PlayStation platforms with one of the best platformers in recent years, made even better with the inclusion of cross-buy.

Shovel Knight is a declaration of love to some of the best NES games. Its mix of mechanics makes a lovely game with its own personality. Even better with the cross-play and cross-save features with an excellent QPR.

The game’s throwback sound and graphics look fantastic on the PS4 and the Xbox One, but obviously a game built around the 8-bit aesthetic doesn’t benefit from a current-gen remake the way something like The Last of Us or Grand Theft Auto 5 is able to.