8. Plains - Shovel Knight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2gto5TNyX4 Have you seen the trailer for the remake of Final Fantasy VII? You
really should, it's goddamn life-defining. Proper "I was there when they announced it" type stuff. But the best bit comes when a certain few notes ring out and you feel that childhood
love of video games come flooding back. It's a testament to how powerful the right score can be for the right game, and hammers home how a game's overall charm can come across in every fibre of its being. Enter Shovel Knight, a 2D platformer designed to ape the plinky-plonk classics of the 80s whilst refining controls and subtle graphical flourishes to bring it up to date. The end result was a product thousands of gamers old and new instantly fell in love with, and although the full game takes you from underground mines to cloud-tickling airships, it's the opening level that gets one of the best scores on the entire soundtrack - you discovering just how solid and enjoyably the titular Knight controls.