Gamer confession time, until this review I had yet to play Shovel Knight. It has been on my radar for years and I always “intended to get it” but had yet to actually commit. Well here I am now, catching up on 2015’s stellar original platformer from Yacht Club Games with not only the original game but all of the additional content they’ve been adding over the years to the “Treasure Trove” edition of the game. The latest of these additions is King of Cards and Showdown. This review will be for Showdown, the review for King of Cards can be found here.
Showdown mixes things up quite a bit from all the other Shovel Knight content, taking a left fork into arena fighter territory. Similar to Smash Bros in some areas of presentation that and multiple characters take their places on an arena with platforms and hazards. While Smash Bros‘ most common play mode is to knock people off the stage, Showdown‘s main mode centralizes on collecting gems or knocking down an opponent’s health. Each character has their own move set consisting of melee, ranged, jump, and dodge. How these mechanics play out changes between characters. For example jumping and then tapping an attack could change the angle of the attack, or holding down a button can also change how powerful an attack can be.
Like many fighting games there is a story mode and, while the overall plot is set and carries across all characters, each character has slightly different stories and interactions within that story. This is pretty common with fighting games to help stagger the repetitiveness that fighting games can sometimes suffer from. Finishing the story mode of each character unlocks new characters, and it doesn’t take long for the character selection screen to fill up with familiar faces from all across the Shovel Knight universe.
One of the joys of Showdown though is being in control of characters never before available. It’s also a huge bonus that each character plays a little differently and takes some time to learn. This is mostly related to jump ability, attack speed, and how each projectile works. While the controls feel familiar to anyone who has played Shovel Knight before, and those controls will likely feel fantastic for platformer fans, they don’t feel as nice in a fighting game situation. They are well done enough to be serviceable and make the game absolutely playable but perhaps the game could have benefited from an adjustment or change in the control scheme to more like that of other fighting games. The result is the game feels somewhat like a novelty than a full game experience.
Visually, Showdown is stellar, showing off the fantastic designs in vibrant color and spectacular sprites. The stages are clear as to where you can land and can’t, and I honestly had an easier time in Showdown knowing where my character was at all times than in Smash Bros, even in the matches where there are many opponents and multiples of the same character.
Shovel Knight fans will not be surprised that Showdown keeps the tradition of high quality sound and music. The chiptune soundtrack features tracks from throughout all of the Shovel Knight Treasure Trove, is banging, and keeps the matches moving. The sound effects add an extra punch to attacks and satisfaction to collecting gems as well. It all definitely takes me back to simpler times.
Showdown hearkens back to the days when everybody had to make a fighting game; I don’t mean that in a negative way either. I used to be excited when my favorite cartoons let me and my friends beat each other up with our favorite characters. I get a strong sense of nostalgia with this, even though it has only been here recently that I’ve played Shovel Knight at all. The fact that the Treasure Trove gives us control of a few of the characters with their own campaigns gets me excited to control and play as even more of the characters here in Showdown.
Showdown gives players even more to play around with and lets fans beat each other up as their favorite knight or side character! It is definitely a welcome addition to the trove.
More information about Shovel Knight Showdown can be found on the official website. A digital Steam copy of the game was provided for the purpose of review.
For a look at a couple of games that also excel in what they do check out my review of Disco Elysium which just won awards for Best Narrative and Best RPG at The Video Game Awards and Untitled Goose Game which won me over with its charming visuals and slapstick inspired game play!
