utterly insane what a couple years of foresight and a couple years of polish will do for a game franchise as static and formulaic as "mega man". shovel knight isn't just a love letter to megaman, although it has it's dna written all over it. it's a love letter to every game made before the 3d era of games. covered in campy dialogue, beautiful animations, incredibly tight and fluid level design, and a story simple enough yet absolutely brutal in it's climax, with the music and presentation and implied story going on?!??! it's truly a beautiful game, and is pretty easy to see why it had so much impact on the indie scene at the time.

i'm truly tempted to give it my rare 5/5 of approval, i remember in middle school playing the FUCK out of this game, but i played treasure trove, not shovel of hope exclusively. this shit alters your brain chemistry