As 2015 begins, and the gaming industry hits a dry-period of no major AAA releases this January, it’s time to take one last look at 2014 and decide one very important thing: What was 2014’s Game of the Year?  The 2014 Game Awards’ nominees for Game of the Year included Platinum Game’s highly-anticipated hack n’ slash brawler Bayonetta 2, From Software’s notoriously difficult action-RPG Dark Souls II,  Bioware’s story-driven RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition, Blizzard’s free-to-play collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and Monolith Production and Behaviour Interactive’s open-world action-adventure game, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.  Although from this list I only had the chance to play Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor this year, I believe that 2014’s Game of the Year is missing from this nomination list.  My vote for 2014’s Game of the Year goes to Shovel Knight.

Shovel Knight is a 2D action-platformer from 1st-time developers Yacht Club Games, and even though it is the first game to come from the fledgling developer, it’s excellence rivals products of veteran companies like Capcom and Nintendo.  Everything from the game play to the soundtrack in this game is masterful and work hand-in-hand to create an unforgettable experience that has stuck with me since it’s initial release on June 26th.  Since then, I have completed the game twice and I’m currently halfway through my third play through. This game is just that good.

The game’s story follows the titular character, Shovel Knight, and his quest to defeat the evil knights who make up the Order of No Quarter in order to defeat the evil Enchantress and perhaps save his old companion, Shield Knight, along the way.  The story is very minimal and is told solely through small amounts of dialogue between Shovel Knight and the various bosses he will fight, save the opening cut scene.  Although the overall story is nothing special, the connection between Shovel Knight and Shield Knight is portrayed really well during recurrent short dream sequences in which enemies flood the screen and Shield Knight is shown falling from the sky with one simple sentence of instruction displayed: “Catch her.”  This relationship brings a few surprisingly touching moments at the end of the game, making a game that already fantastic without a story even better.

Shovel Knight embraces its retro look and feel with its 8-bit graphics and chiptune soundtrack to make the game seem as if it were created for the NES.  Although nostalgia for the games of the NES era is a large part of why many enjoy Shovel Knight’s style, it can also stand on its own and be enjoyable to those who have never played an NES game before.  Where the pixel art is at its finest is in the sprites and animations for the bosses.  The bosses all have very interesting designs, which are all based around one characteristic of the boss much like the bosses in the Mega Man series.  While the pixel art and design of characters are fantastic, where the game’s style really shines is in its soundtrack.  Composed by Jake Kaufman with help from Manami Matsumae, the chiptune soundtrack will stick in your heads for weeks after you turn the game off.  This soundtrack is so good that chances are, I’m listening to it right now.  From start to finish, each level’s theme perfectly fits the atmosphere of the level.  Only one word can accurately describe the presentation of this game: masterful.

Shovel Knight’s greatest strength is its stellar game play.  Every level has you going through a level themed after the boss at the end.  For example, King Knight’s level will have you raiding a castle, while Specter Knight’s level will have you making your way through a graveyard.  In all of these levels, you will face tight platforming and tricky enemy placement that will get progressively harder throughout the game.  Although the game can be very difficult in certain sections (specifically Propeller Knight’s stage) you always feel like each death is your own fault.  The game also has fairly forgiving checkpoints, which you have the choice to destroy if you feel like really challenging yourself.  There are also, collectibles, bonus stages, and bonus boss fights and a New Game + mode found in the game.  Coupled with several interesting and very challenging achievements, and you have a lot to do in this game.  If you somehow get bored with all of this, there are also hundreds of cheat codes that you can enter as file names when starting a new file to modify the game in really entertaining ways (my favorite is “butt mode,” which can be uncovered by starting a game with the file name “X&BUTT” and replace most of the game’s nouns with the word “butt.”)  Although one playthrough of the game may be admittedly short, there are more than enough reasons to play again, and again, and again.

Shovel Knight is a fantastic time, and I would recommend it to any fans of retro platformers, or just 2D platformers in general.  With an entertaining story, excellent presentation, and challenging gameplay, there are no reasons why you shouldn’t play Shovel Knight.  It’s the best gaming experience I’ve had in a long time, and might be one of my favorite games of all time, making it worthy of the title “Game of the Year of 2014.”