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'Shovel Knight Dig' takes the adventure underground
There's finally an honest-to-goodness follow-up to Shovel Knight in the works. Yacht Club and web game developer Nitrome are working on Shovel Knight Dig, an "all-new" tale for the spade-wielding warrior. The premise is thin -- Drill Knight has stolen your loot as he threatens to collapse the land beneath your feet, and it's your job to save the day by venturing underground. The creators promise a string of new game mechanics, though, most notably the ability to dig and slash your way downward. Only appropriate given the character, isn't it? You'll see new "Speed Shovel" mechanics to match.
Joystiq Top 10 of 2014: Shovel Knight
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Retro-inspired platformers are practically synonymous with the indie scene, and the genre's almost as active nowadays as it was back in the early console era. With so much competition already on the market, what makes Yacht Club Games' throwback platformer, Shovel Knight, worth a spot in our list of the best games of 2014? It has a rare devotion to authenticity, for one thing. Similar in premise to Capcom's NES classic DuckTales, Shovel Knight stars an unlikely hero equipped with an unconventional but multifaceted weapon. Making the most out of simple mechanics is a staple of the 8-bit era, and Shovel Knight himself is a shining example, showcasing a robust moveset in spite of his seemingly limited capabilities. Like the best games from the last millennium, it won't take you long before you've mastered Shovel Knight's initial learning curve and find yourself chaining carefully timed pogo bounces in order to reach faraway platforms. It's also incredibly faithful to its source material. Like its ancient 8-bit brethren, Shovel Knight is built with hardware limitations in mind, mostly adhering to standards with its tile-based backgrounds, limited color palettes, and exceptionally catchy soundtrack that never exceeds its limited number of allotted sound channels. These are the sort of details that you won't notice unless you're specifically looking for them, but working together in concert they legitimize the experience, and complete the illusion that Shovel Knight escaped from the flannel clutches of the early '90s.
Uhh, Shovel Knight is in Road Redemption
Is it weird that Shovel Knight is now a playable character in Road Redemption, the spiritual successor to Road Rash? Like, really weird? Yes, of course it is. It is also, however, kind of awesome to see our beloved, blue-suited hero smacking people with a shovel at unlawful speeds. If Croaker were around, he might call the whole situation a cycle of violence. Road Redemption is currently available via Steam Early Access. [Image: Dark Seas Games]
Shovel Knight brings shovel-based platforming, 8-bit Kratos to PlayStation
Yacht Club Games' spade-wielding hero, Shovel Knight, will be bouncing to PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, Sony announced today as part of their PlayStation Experience keynote. The 8-bit hero will be bringing some company as well, as God of War's infamous god-murderer Kratos will also make an appearance in the game. Don't believe us? Check out the teaser above. [Image: Yacht Club Games]
Shovel Knight sells in spades, surpasses 300K units
Shovel Knight moved heaven and earth - mostly earth - to exceed 300,000 sales worldwide since launching back in June. Yacht Club's crowdfunded homage to 8-bit classics shifted 180,000 units in its first month, surpassing the dev's expectations. Shovel Knight's now close to double that figure following last month's belated launch on the European eShop. While six figures ain't to be sniffed at, it's not yet the seven Yacht Club was aiming for after its prolific launch and critical success. "Our new goal is the quest to 1 million sold," programmer David D'Angelo said in August, "to truly solidify Shovel Knight as a modern platinum classic! For all of you who had doubts that a Wii U game or a digital game on a Nintendo platform could sell, we hope these facts show that a good game on any system, marketed the right way, can sell."
Shovel Knight unearthed on Euro eShop today
The famed 8-bit blue hero is finally heading to the Nintendo eShop in Europe. No, not Mega Man, but Shovel Knight! The retro-inspired gem arrives today in the European eShop, as it was suddenly announced during Nintendo Direct. As an apology of sorts for European players having to wait so long, those who purchase both the Wii U and 3DS versions will receive a 33 percent discount, and 3DS purchases will receive a free Shovel Knight theme as well.
Shovel Knight hits Europe and Australia's eShops in November
European and Australian Wii U and 3DS owners can finally go on the trowel in November, when Shovel Knight reaches their eShops following a lengthy wait. While the retro-inspired platformer came to Nintendo systems in North America back in June, it was only available internationally on PC. Developer Yacht Club Games put the eShop delay down to localization processes such as translation and certification. "Thank you European and Australian region players for hanging in there with us for so long," reads the studio's latest Kickstarter update. "We learned some new things and have a wealth of ideas for how we can improve on in the future. We're truly sorry for the delay."
Shovel Knight record speedrun clocks in at under 50 minutes
Shovel Knight from Yacht Club Games only came out in June, but several individuals have already moved past being satisfied with the game's core experience and have started challenging themselves to beat it as fast as they can; individuals like BustahWuff, who earlier this week set a Shovel Knight speedrun record at 48 minutes and 35 seconds. The record-setting attempt was an "any %" run, and thus did not require BustahWuff to collect every item hidden in the 2D platformer. BustahWuff was also not aiming for a low percentage of completion, nor was he using cheats or glitches in a major way (unlike, for example, how a backwards long jump can shave minutes off a Super Mario 64 speedrun). You can check out the run for yourself after the break. Congrats, BustahWuff!
Shovel Knight digs a tunnel to Mac, Linux version coming
Shovel Knight has pogo-hopped his way to Mac computers, developer Yacht Club Games announced via its Steam and Kickstarter pages earlier this week. Steam users on Mac need not take any extra steps to get their copies up and running, but those who prefer to go through GOG and the Humble Store should keep an eye out for when new builds become available. Linux support is still incoming, with no specified release date. Likewise, versions for Europe and Australia are in development. "We are so sorry this has taken so long ... and we are preemptively sorry on how much longer it's going to take," Yacht Club Games wrote in its Kickstarter update. We can't say we're terribly surprised, considering how long it must take to dig through all that code using a shovel. Hyuck hyuck! [Image: Yacht Club Games]
Shovel Knight sales exceed Yacht Club expectations
Yacht Club Games sailed into our hearts with Shovel Knight (for real, so good!) and now the developer has pulled into port with sales data. Not just sales data, but a surprisingly detailed breakdown of development costs. We strongly encourage reading their full post if you have any illusion (delusion?) making games simply requires a dream and fairy dust. "At this point you have to be thinking, $30k minus taxes for one year's salary, a grueling work pace - think: 12-18 hours a day, 7 days a week - and no stability whatsoever... why bother?" Yacht Club programmer David D'Angelo notes after the full cost breakdown, "An NES game, that's not going to sell. The 80′s are over, man. Get with the times! The cool kids are all into the AAA explosive action sequences. You'll never make it!"
How to beat Shovel Knight, as told by an 80s-style tips video
There is a sect of the internet who believe Shovel Knight is, in fact, a 1980s Capcom game that was merely discovered by members of Yacht Club Games and tweaked to be made playable on modern systems. We can neither confirm nor deny such speculation. Giving credence to this (only semi-) outlandish theory is a VHS-era tape that's been transferred to YouTube by the Backloggery on how to beat Shovel Knight. The timelines are colliding! SAVE YOURSELVES! We've placed the "How To Win" video after the break. SPOILER WARNING right up front that it gives away the entire game!
Shovel Knight cheat unlocks Butt Mode
Shovel Knight is brimming with cheat codes – more than 300 collected in this Google Doc so far – but the most adorable, childishly hilarious code unlocks Butt Mode, a cheat that replaces recurring nouns in the game with the word "butt." It's like reading a Harry Potter book and replacing every instance of the word "wand" with "wang." Or playing Mad Libs. Either way, this is comedy gold. Access Butt Mode in Shovel Knight by entering "X&BUTT" or "WSWWAEAW" in the name entry screen. As with all cheat codes in Shovel Knight, applying Butt Mode means you won't be able to complete any "feats," the game's achievements. Yacht Club Games tweeted the cheat code this week, and CastleGeekSkull shows off Butt Mode on YouTube, proving that yes, it is as funny as it sounds. And we are all 6 years old. See that video below. [Image: Yacht Club Games]
Joystiq Streams: Sir Steam Give-away-in and the Shovel Knight [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
"For wonder of his hwe men hade/set in his semblaunt sene/he ferde as freke were fade/and oueral shovel-ene." Gentle squires, maidens and sirs alike, all ye gentle folk of the realm with a lust for platforming feats of derring do, Joystiq invites you to join us in a quest most grand. We are going to play a whole heaping lot of Shovel Knight New Game+ today starting at 4PM EST. Richard Mitchell (@TheRichardM) is going to dive back in after finishing the game for his review, exploring how the game's challenges are changed a second time through its world. Anthony John Agnello (@AJohnAgnello) will be hanging out in the chat, quizzing everyone on NES ephemera. What do you get in exchange for answering his questions? Free copies of Shovel Knight! Watch it all here and chat with us in the fancy new Joystiq Streams homepage or on the Joystiq Twitch channel. The Old English action starts at 4PM EST, the same time Joystiq Streams broadcasts every Tuesday and Thursday. [Images: Yacht Club Games]
Why Shovel Knight couldn't run on a real NES
Shovel Knight is a well-crafted homage to the golden age of NES platformers (read our review!), but that doesn't mean it could actually run on Nintendo's beloved 8-bit console. Children of the 80s and 90s will probably notice, for example, that there is no sprite flickering in Shovel Knight. As it turns out, that was a deliberate choice on the part of developer Yacht Club Games. In a fascinating piece on Gamasutra, Yacht Club programmer David D'Angelo breaks down exactly what the studio did to stay true to the NES hardware – and also where Shovel Knight departs from it for the sake of better gameplay or design. Some of the obvious departures are internet-enabled features like StreetPass and MiiVerse, and the addition of a 16:9 perspective. Even with the wider horizontal perspective, Shovel Knight retains an accurate vertical resolution, although each of the game's "pixels" are actually 4.5 x 4.5 pixels on a 1080p display. There are also a few colors used that weren't available in the NES color palette. In addition to the NES' 54 possible colors, Yacht Club added 4 more to enable more detail in certain levels and include characters with darker skin tones. The game also abandons memory limitations, futzes with the number of colors that can be used simultaneously and allows for much larger sprites. One of the best bits in the piece involves Shovel Knight's excellent soundtrack. It's completely authentic to the era ... but only if Shovel Knight were created for the Japanese version of the NES, the Famicom. Some late NES-era cartridges used a chip that offered 3 additional sound channels, allowing games to have richer soundtracks. The western NES "lacked the necessary cartridge connections" for the sound chip, says D'Angelo, "so it's an unfamiliar sound to most western gamers." [Image: Yacht Club Games]
New Nintendo eShop releases: Shovel Knight, Castlevania 3
The gardening tool-wielding Shovel Knight makes his debut on Nintendo platforms this week, joining Konami's NES classic Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console. Who would win in a fight, you think -- Shovel Knight or Trevor Belmont? I'm guessing that a shovel would do a lot more damage to a leather-clad vampire hunter than a bullwhip would do to a suit of armor, so we'll give this round to Shovel Knight. Other Wii U highlights this week include the 3D Arkanoid-like Brick Breaker 3D and the intriguingly-named Monkey Pirates. 3DS owners get a broader selection of choices with games like Skypeace, Toy Stunt Bike, and Mysterious Stars: The Samurai. This week's update also gives eShop users the chance to save some cash with price drops for Code of Princess, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, Urban Trial Freestyle, Darksiders 2, and a collection of Ubisoft-published games. You can read more about this week's eShop releases here.
Shovel Knight review: Heaps and bounds
Shovel Knight has my number. It's laser-focused on children of the 8-bit era, blending elements of multiple games from Capcom's halcyon days on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The most prominent influences are the Mega Man series and DuckTales, some of the best action platformers the NES had to offer. Like its forebears, Shovel Knight offers a demanding challenge with exact controls, presented with meticulous, evocative pixel art. In short, as an NES kid, I'm powerless to resist it. Thankfully, the involving, split-second play that made those platforming staples so good still manages to excite, with or without the rose-tinted specs of nostalgia. Meanwhile, developer Yacht Club Games has thrown in a few modern touches that cater to today's audiences, and it has managed to do so without sacrificing the (mostly) nail-biting difficulty that my fellow 8-bit curmudgeons expect.
Shovel Knight launch trailer dreams of excavation
Even when things are at their darkest, the brave and noble Shovel Knight doesn't throw in the trowel. Yacht Club Games' nostalgic 2D platformer gets shovelin' into Steam, Wii U and 3DS on Thursday, June 26, priced at $15. [Image: Yacht Club Games]
Diggable platformer Shovel Knight looks ready to resurface
Retro-inspired platformer Shovel Knight was lurking underground after developer Yacht Club Games delayed it two months ago. However, the studio says it's done polishing the game to satisfaction, and it now has a final build that's it's hopefully ready to submit and perhaps imminently release. We've reached out to Yacht Club to find out when to expect the game on Wii U, 3DS, and Steam. If you hadn't already guessed, Shovel Knight takes its inspiration from classic 2D platformers like Castlevania and Mega Man. The game even has its own roster of knightly bosses and themed stages, including the likes of Propeller Knight, Mole Knight and Tinker Knight. We're keeping our fingers crossed for the reveal of Saturday Knight Fever. [Image: Yacht Club Games]
Shovel Knight staying underground for a few more weeks
Yacht Club Games announced a short delay for retro platformer Shovel Knight so it can make sure the final version is polished to satisfaction. The Wii U, 3DS, and Steam game was due on March 31, but it's now expected to surface a few weeks after that. "This isn't a major delay, or a long one," reads an update on the Kickstarter page, "it's simply a stretch of time to get everything polished and aligned. While major development is quickly drawing to a close, there are still some external factors, like submission preparation, which need a little bit more breathing room before the game goes live." The delay should see Shovel Knight arrive close to exactly a year after it was crowdfunded, when it received more than four times its asking amount. Backers clearly bought in to the game's 8-bit aesthetic, as well as the clear nods to classics like Castlevania, Mega Man, and DuckTales. Let's hope the delay helps the final game to deliver on its potential in spades. [Image: Yacht Club Games]
Scoop up Shovel Knight in March
A spade is a spade is a spade, unless it's a shovel in which case it can be a mighty weapon of heroes. Shovel Knight will prove just that when it rocks its 8-bit vibe on Wii U, 3DS, and Steam on March 31, as announced via a new trailer. While Yacht Club Games pinned a date this week, it noted there may be slight variations in "the exact day" across platforms. The crowdfunded platformer was due in 2013, but after raising more than four times its $75,000 goal, Yacht Club Games said the extra time has been put to good use. "And if you're wondering why it took so long," reads an update on the game's Kickstarter page, "let's just say the game got a lot bigger than we originally intended, and we think everyone will be happy with that!" It doesn't take a Mega Man or a Scrooge McDuck to spot the NES era inspirations in Yacht Club's debut, but we're hoping it'll dig deeper than sheer nostalgia. As Kat Bailey put it in her October 2013 preview, "Shovel Knight isn't a rehash or collection of ill-fitting parts to feed off nostalgia in the modern era. It is its own game and could stand in the pantheon of respected 8-bit platformers."
