If Rockman's weapon was a shovel ... Dot picture 2D action "Shovel Knight" full of retrogaming feeling: Steam

The game review series of the PC game download sales site "Steam" is celebrated and revived on ASCII.jp! The serialization of Weekly ASCII was suspended because I was extremely busy as an office worker, but I was fortunate to be unemployed from this month, so I was able to revive the serialization.

The resurrection Steam game excavation review, the first is a 2D action of a knight fighting with a shovel as a weapon. It's a "recent game" released last year, but it tastes like a nostalgic retro game.

An era when the land was once rough. "Shovel Knight" and "Shield Knight" shined more than any hero by the legendary adventure. However, their adventure is interrupted at the "Tower of Destiny".

When the cursed amulet cast a terrifying spell and Shovel Knight awoke, Shield Knight disappeared and the Tower of Destiny was sealed. Shovel Knight broke his spirit and lived lonely in grief.

And the world without heroes has been dominated by evil witches.

Now the seal of the Tower of Destiny has been broken. With the world at stake, Shovel Knight's new adventure to save Shield Knight is about to begin ...

Shovel Knight who works hard on farm work with a shovel.There is a lot

That's why the player became Shovel Knight and went on an adventure in a rough world.

The content of the game is an orthodox 2D action, and at first glance there is no noticeable feature other than graphic pixel art-except that the weapon is a shovel.

Play is optimized for gamepads like an action game, and the basic operation method is to jump and attack in addition to left and right movement, and to activate skills with the up arrow key and action key.

Because it is a shovel, you can dig and get jewels

Some readers may have the impression that the explanation so far has simply turned the sword into a shovel, but of course there are also shovel-like actions such as crushing rocks and digging walls.

Press the down arrow key after jumping to attack the shovel

There are many gimmicks on the stage that make good use of the excavator setting, and it's a lot of fun to operate. It's thanks to the excavator to move on to the stage.

And what I immediately feel after playing is, "It's kind of like that old game." The game is ... "Rockman".

Like the stage gimmicks and traps, the graphics and sounds are generally NES Rockman-like, and I feel nostalgic when I play.

Still, the taste is the latest game. Especially the sound is wonderful. However, I don't think you'll know until you hear this, so please use the official trailer.

Of course, there are many homages from other games, and the map for challenging each stage is reminiscent of "Super Mario Bros. 3".

As always in games that emphasize atmosphere, music and sound effects often match the game. You can clear it in about 30-40 minutes, so please try it out.

I mean, it's Super Mario Bros. 3! !!

In other words, it's perfect for gamers of the Famicom generation. Let's have a lot of fun together with the Osans in their 30s and 40s!

And the most fun is the boss battle of each stage. At the end of the stage, enemy knights, who are the witch's minions, are waiting, and each of them blocks the path of Shovel Knight with a characteristic attack.

"What are you doing now, the coward! Your whereabouts aren't here anymore!"

The boss knight launches an attack that suits the characteristics of each stage, so he grins while playing with "Oh, this is really Rockman."

In addition, the boss knights are completely different in shape from ordinary knights, which also adds to the Rockman flavor.

My personal favorite is the defeat scene. When the boss is defeated, the screen becomes slow motion and the background color changes continuously.

The feeling of "defeating the boss!" At this moment is the best. I had a particularly hard time ... In other words, the boss who was forced to continue had a sense of accomplishment, and I couldn't help but say "I did it!".

Shovel Knight has the "hotness of solo games" that I left behind as a child.

Also, what's interesting about Shovel Knight's system is the setting at the time of death. Many instant death traps are set up on the stage, and when you die, a part of your gold is made into a bag and dropped on the spot.

Therefore, it is set as a penalty to drop a part of the money.

If you collect this bag at the time of restart, you can turn Despena into a chara.

And when he dies, he restarts from the checkpoints in various parts of the stage, so there is no annoyance of "when he dies, from the beginning of the stage again".

Checkpoints in various places.If you die, start over from here

On the other hand, if you destroy this checkpoint, you will get gold. In other words, if you are confident that you will not die, you can earn more gold by destroying checkpoints.

Destroy the checkpoint and you will get a jewel!

From the starting point, the more difficult the stage, the more likely it is that you will die again, and if you die before collecting the gold bag, you will not be able to collect the gold you dropped first. When you drop a new gold, the gold you dropped before it disappears.

Leave checkpoints to prevent despenalties, or destroy checkpoints to earn more gold.

It's just about taking money or taking risks.

By the way, gold is spent on upgrading life points and item points, and purchasing equipment and items.

Various effects can be obtained depending on the armor equipped

Also, you can purchase items (special abilities) from the blue treasure chests in various parts of the stage, and if you are adventuring without gold saying "I will drop gold when I die", I can buy items because I do not have enough money. not. No matter what.

Then he challenges the stage with a lot of money and drops a lot of gold. Gununu …….

Well, that's the rough charm of Shovel Knight. As you can see if you play with it, it is a high quality work, and when asked "Which is attractive?", You can only answer "All for the time being".

If you dare to mention the drawbacks, there is no Japanese (no modding), but if you play the game even if you can not read English very much, you can feel the feelings for Shovel Knight's Shield Knight.

Actually, Shovel Knight camps when each stage is cleared, but at that time I sometimes dream. In that dream, a shield knight falls from the sky every time.

Shovel Knight reaching out to save Shield Knight

It's just that scene, but every time I repeat this scene, I feel sad because I'm the one who operates Shovel Knight here. I absolutely have to save Shield Knight!

I have a gamepad at home, no, even if I don't have a pad, this Shovel Knight is the game I should buy as a set with the pad.

For some reason, while writing this manuscript, the release of "amiibo" was announced overseas, and it is no doubt that Shovel Knight will become more and more popular.

Shovel Knight amiibo released overseas.From the official website

Perhaps the Japanese version will come to Wii U and 3DS soon. However, if you want to play right now, you have to buy the PC version, so buy it quietly from Steam.

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