Still digging his way towards a full 3DS release outside the US, Shovel Knight has managed to garner quite the following on both PC and Mac. Chances are you're a bit sour on older-looking retro-by-definition 2D tat thanks to both Sony and Microsoft peddling anything they can get their hands on as monthly freebies each month, but Shovel Knight is everything anyone with a penchant for older titles loves about replaying them in the first place. There's a fantastically 8-bit-sounding score that brings everything to life in a stupidly memorable way that'll see you humming the 'Strike the Earth!' theme every morning, and that's without delving into the literally pixel-perfect gameplay that drops you in at the almost-deep end and lets you pick up the pace along the way. With a bunch of upgrades ranging from fishing poles that let you nab chests from above to fireball spells to tackle bosses, along with some of the best pixel art graphics that mean any still frame is wallpaper-worthy, Shovel Knight's debut is pure gameplay at its finest. Just listen to a snippet of this soundtrack and try saying it doesn't stir something deep within you to smash some high scores: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqAYMZSOQao
