At 24 years old I don’t have much nostalgia for the NES. By the time I was born the NES was already six years old and it would be another six or so years until I started playing games. I have fond memories of the Super Nintendo though, Donkey Kong Country is one of my all-time favorite games and I had fun with the odd game or so I got a year. At that point in my life I was still too young to really get invested in games. I don’t think I finished one game from that system, most of the time I didn’t even realize that those games could be beaten. Most of my nostalgia and reverence for gaming comes from the original Playstation. Final Fantasy VII and VIII were some of my fondest memories as a kid. I played the hell out of Crash Bandicoot and I even loved WCW/NWO Thunder even though I’m not actually sure it was a good game. I mention all of this because I feel like the NES is a giant blind spot in my gaming history. Sure I have gone back and played the seminal games on an emulator but it’s not quite the same. I could never get past the concessions you would have to make for older game design and never finished a game from that era. I don’t have the same reverence for Metroid or Mega Man or Zelda that most people do. Which is why Shovel Knight is the best facsimile I could have asked for and how it scratches that NES itch.

Shovel Knight is basically an amalgamation of a lot of NES games, the Super Mario Bros 3 map system, the pogo bounce from Duck Tales, the axe toss from Castlevania, the town set up from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It’s a blatant love letter to everything early Nintendo, but at the same time it works on its own as a fantastic side scrolling adventure platformer. It’s not to say though that it holds strictly to NES game design philosophy. It features mechanics that make it feel more of an updated version of those games with its nods to Souls style regaining of gold.

Shovel Knight is a fantastic game that recalls older games but has the gameplay tightness and replay ability that allows it to stand on its own. The difficulty in Shovel Knight is one of the most interesting aspects of it and is potentially the biggest sticking point for hardcore NES fans. Super Mario Bros 3 is a hard game, Mega Man is a hard game, Shovel Knight is not particularly hard but rather challenging. There were spots in the game that gave me trouble; I rarely made it through the later stages with much of my gold intact. I never felt like I couldn’t overcome the challenges it set forth. I never stopped playing because it got too frustrating. There was a period where I felt like I wasn’t very good at this game and then I beat the Tinker Knight and went back and beat all of the wanderers in one sitting and the game clicked with me in a way that made the rest of the game much easier. The boss gauntlet where you play through all the bosses took me over two hours to beat but I had a blast doing it. It was so rewarding finally beating that last boss in the gauntlet and jumping up fist clenched in victory. Never have I had so much fun picking apart bosses than I did in this game. Every single one was an absolute joy to play. It’s challenging while at the same time never being frustrating. Which is what ultimately makes Shovel Knight the best NES experience I never had.

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I also thought this was the best part of the game. I loved fighting each boss again. I died the first time, the second time I felt like a BAD ass for winning.