It's been said that Nintendo approaches Mario games with a typical structure found in yonkoma (four-panel manga): exposition, development, subversion and recapitulation.
Of course, it's not just a Nintendo thing - Capcom does it with Mega Man as well, and it's no surprise that Yacht Club drew from it heavily in the Shovel Knight games.
What's more interesting to me is that the four games ended up feeling somewhat like that, in of themselves.
Shovel of Hope sets the stage and context for everything else that's done with its basic framework; Plague of Shadows, like a typical panel 2, probably doesn't work as well without the context before it.
Specter of Torment is like a panel 3 with a particularly funny reaction face or line, often enjoyed on its own merits, but losing some of that original context in the process.
King of Cards isn't fully appreciable without considering everything before it, but I'm all the more glad that it exists - in some ways it feels natural and bookends-ish.
I like yonkoma a lot. I like Shovel Knight a lot too.
Just... ignore Showdown.
Of course, it's not just a Nintendo thing - Capcom does it with Mega Man as well, and it's no surprise that Yacht Club drew from it heavily in the Shovel Knight games.
What's more interesting to me is that the four games ended up feeling somewhat like that, in of themselves.
Shovel of Hope sets the stage and context for everything else that's done with its basic framework; Plague of Shadows, like a typical panel 2, probably doesn't work as well without the context before it.
Specter of Torment is like a panel 3 with a particularly funny reaction face or line, often enjoyed on its own merits, but losing some of that original context in the process.
King of Cards isn't fully appreciable without considering everything before it, but I'm all the more glad that it exists - in some ways it feels natural and bookends-ish.
I like yonkoma a lot. I like Shovel Knight a lot too.
Just... ignore Showdown.