"The soundtrack to this damn game got me good." - Craig

This week we peek at all 9001 bits of retro glory 2D sidescrolling platformer Shovel Knight, a Yacht Club Games production funded via Kickstarter and initially released in 2014. The game is a standout selection for many reasons, not the least of which is its absolutely jammin' chiptune soundtrack arranged by Dearest 'virt' to fit and match the capabilities of the sound card expansion to the SNES console. Didn't know there was a sound card expansion? Well, it was Japan-only, and late in the console's life, but it's a real thing, and armed with that bit of knowledge you'll understand the level of love and care that went into crafting such a beautiful homage to the classics of the 80s and 90s.

We discuss how, thankfully for some of our peasant cast, you don't need to be "in the know" about all these references to really love this game; none of them are too overt or heavy-handed; they're just there if you think to look for them. That being said, comparisons both graphically and mechanically abound, and just some of the ones we can think of off the tops of our heads include Final Fantasy (the early ones), Super Mario Brothers for the overworld map, Duck Tales [Remastered] for just about the entire game, Castlevania for several weapons and the like, and Mega Man - again for just about everything.

Relevant links!

• Plungers as weapons: not to be trifled with
• This Week in Chiptune, your weekly dose of chips pres. The Shovel Knight tag!
• Yacht Club announces physical releases; this game is still going strong!
• Extra Credits: Video Game Music(answering the question of why game music seems to have been better in the past, by and large)
• Kinda Funny: Colin Moriarty plays Castlevania 3
• Joe Matar, Den of Geek! - Why Shovel Knight is a masterpiece
• PlayStation Store: The Last Guy!(go to the PSN on your PS3 and find the subtitled dev interview trailer. Do it now. It's the best <3)