So, here is a wallpaper of the ending of Shovel Knight. Huge spoilers of course.

Okay? Spoiler tag doesn't work on images? Weird. Well, I'll just post it as a link. Again, HUGE SPOILERS!


Side Note: I beat it! Woo! Only had 93% of items. I am missing a few music sheets. I have new clue where they are. I wonder if there are some exclusive to NG+

OrbitalBeard said:

I don't think Mighty No. 9 is going to come close to this game, honestly.

I think you might be surprised! MN9 is going to be awesome!

Shovel Night is of course awesome too.

@deathly_hallows

I think Mighty No. 9 is going to end up being really good, but the videos I've seen so far haven't really impressed me. It will get better, of course, but Shovel Knight is so good, it's going to be really hard to outdo it, I think.

I liked what I saw of MN9 so far. It wasn't anything crazy impressive but it was early footage. I'm definitely pumped for that, but Azure Striker Gunvolt has my hype for the near future. Hopefully that isn't too far off, we don't have a solid release date but they said Summer 2014.

Brook said:

Side Note: I beat it! Woo! Only had 93% of items. I am missing a few music sheets. I have new clue where they are. I wonder if there are some exclusive to NG+

I was wondering that too, but they are all in the main game. The last four or five of them are all found together...they're in the Enchantress's short stage with all the blocks that raise up when you get close. There's not much to explore there, so you'll find them pretty quickly once you start looking.

@nate38

Yeah, Azure Striker Gunvolt looks awesome.

Mighty Number 9 has a hell of a lot of development time left, and I'm sure it's going to be a great game when it releases... but it's great that Shovel Knight has delivered on being one of my favorite Wii U experiences so far through crowd funding, and it didn't even raise that much money compared to the likes of MN9 and Broken Age.

Are there still people who are anti-Kickstarter?... because I think it's one of the best things to happen to an industry where big publishers are no longer able to take risks or try new ideas... or revive old ideas.

Uh oh, more bugged Steam achievements...I did the speedrun Feat, but its Steam achievement didn't trigger. I'm hoping whatever patch Yacht Club comes up with will automatically trigger the Steam achievement if it sees the Feat has been completed. I'd rather not have to do that again! At least the No Relics achievement triggered.

EDIT: Huh...going back into the Feats menu, neither of those Feats are shown as unlocked. But I definitely saw the trigger messages when the credits started rolling. And my save file says CLEAR with a time under 1:30 and no relics. So that's weird...



@Hinph Yeah, Shovel Knight is my first Kickstarter release, and it's hugely satisfying to know that I helped fund such a great game when no big publisher would. I hope Kickstarter Fever never dies down.

@nate38

I wish I had supported this at the time (not that it needed it). I was hesitant because I didn't understand/trust Kickstarter yet. I started with Mighty No. 9 and I think particularly because I could use Amazon to check out.

Hey guys, Shovel Knight is great and all, but let's not doubt the father of Mega Man. The guy practically invented this style of platformer!

Well, him and whoever did Zelda 2. Shovel Knight kinda feels like a 50/50 cross between those two games.

I know people say this game has a ton of Mega Man influence, but I feel like there's just as much Castlevania influence. The locales, some of the music, the melee combat, the item usage, and the general progression (how you can't really select ANY level at first). Loving this game. I know it'll be over far too soon but that just gives me an excuse to play it again.

@TriforceBun
Isn't Inafune more like the step father of Mega Man or something? From what I understand the Mega Man project was already underway when he joined Capcom, and he only developed visual designs for the first game, under the guidance of Akira Kitamura (had to google the man's name; he was the planner and Inafune's mentor anyway). Not to dismiss Inafune's influence over the series after that or anything.

@PogueSquadron

I feel like the items are more like the powerups in megman. I actually don't see that much Castlevania in the game.

@PogueSquadron
Hm, I've heard this before but I don't really feel much Castlevania in Shovel Knight. The Anchor power-up definitely hearkens back to it, but the gameplay feels much more Mega Man or Mario to me. Castlevania was built on the foundation of methodical use of your limited (stiff) abilities; maneuvering your character smartly around more dextrous foes and striking when you had the opening. Shovel Knight's a pretty spry fellow in comparison, with high, controlled jumps and a quicker attack that's not really punishable. Although I do agree that the general subweapon/magic system is cut from that cloth.

@r_hjort
Whoops. Yeah, I make that mistake a lot--it's true, he's not quite the father of Mega Man, but I'm looking forward to seeing his design choices in a brand new action-platformer regardless.

@Brook To me the fireball feels a little like the one in Castlevania the Adventure. And the "phasing" ability is practically straight out of Castlevania (when you get the invincibility, almost the same sound effect even). And the anchor? Well that's basically the axe from Castlevania.

The spooky level screamed Castlevania to me, as did the Castle level. I forget what level it was, but one of the levels had some bird like creature dropping off fireballs or something, and it totally reminded me of the birds in Castlevania that would drop off the little hopping enemies.

The game structure as well, is kind of similar to Castlevania 3, but obviously it's way more like the one in Super Mario Bros. 3/World.

The game also just doesn't have that same "play any level you want" mentality as Mega Man. It almost does, but you still feel like you're on a journey to some kind of end point.

@TriforceBun
Oh yeah, so do I. Can't wait to see what Mighty No.9 will be like in the end.

Let's also not forget the ever infamous "meat in the wall" gag which I think Castlevania was one of the pioneers in.

Here's how I see Shovel Knight's makeup:

50% Mega Man -- Obvious references and comparisons ("Blue Burrower"), insta-kill spikes, sub-weapons all very different, color palette, eight colorful bosses, emphasis on rival characters, musical style

20% Castlevania -- Some level designs, enemies, hazards, sub-weapons, and background tracks seem right out of the NES games

15% DuckTales -- Pogo stick is arguably the game's central mechanic

8% Zelda II -- Towns

7% Demon's/Dark Souls -- Risk/reward in death

@PogueSquadron

Yeah, I was going to mention that. The whole "hit the wall with your weapon to discover power-ups and secrets" mechanic is pretty much straight out of Castlevania.

I think the controls in Shovel Knight is what makes it *not* feel like Konami's vampire-whipping series, as @TriforceBun mentions above. The Belmonts are not a clan known for their agility, but the Shovel Knight is clearly unhindered in that regard. (surprisingly, considering the armor he's wearing!)

@nate38 I'd also sprinkle in a dash of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the World Map, and how you can run into enemies and whatnot.

Well a glitch is preventing me from collecting all music sheets it seems. I encountered a bug against the Clockwork Tower boss which forced me to exit the level. Now playing it again, the missing music sheet from that level just won't save after I pick it up.

@VofEscaflowne I'm assuming you're finishing the level after picking up the Music Sheet? If you exit a stage through the pause menu, it doesn't save anything you collected or lost in it.