Shovel Knight Showdown

 Switch
Shovel Knight Showdown Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 10 Ratings

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  • Summary: Shovel Knight Showdown is the ultimate platform fighting experience, where you can duel with up to 4 players and scramble after gems as your favorite heroic or villainous knight from the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove saga. Gather your pals for endless multiplayer clashes, or choose from moreShovel Knight Showdown is the ultimate platform fighting experience, where you can duel with up to 4 players and scramble after gems as your favorite heroic or villainous knight from the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove saga. Gather your pals for endless multiplayer clashes, or choose from more than 16 playable characters in Story Mode, each with their own unique story to tell. Master every move, explore a vast array of items and locales, and discover new revelations in Shovel Knight Showdown. When a magical catastrophe creates a world of never-ending battle, the heroes and villains of the Shovel Knight saga must discover the source of the disaster and fight to set things right! Play as your favorite character (alone or with a friend in co-op battles), face off against powerful rivals, and perfect your platform fighting skills in full-featured practice and target modes on your way to an all-new final encounter. Unlock new content and revisit Shovel Knight Showdown again and again as you dig into an immense variety of single-player and local multiplayer modes, features, and customizations.… Expand

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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. USgamer
    Dec 9, 2019
    90
    Shovel Knight Showdown takes the popular indie platformer series and turns it into a four-player arena battler, with great results. With a large amount of unlockable content, in-game challenges, and solo modes, it's a deceptively robust package that has the potential to be a long-term party staple. Shovel Knight Showdown is great even if you've never played the original games.
  2. Pure Nintendo
    Dec 10, 2019
    80
    As someone who hasn’t played Shovel Knight since the original release, I found Showdown to be a very good return. It’s grown on me quite a bit, and if you’re a fan of competitive or co-op multiplayer games this could be considered a must. While offering less for the solo player, I’m confident the gorgeous pixel art, wealth of options, and unlockables will still prove satisfying.
  3. FNintendo
    Feb 16, 2020
    80
    Shovel Knight Showdown builds on the legacy of the series and even adds to it a story/campaign mode, something worthy of praise. Anyone looking for intense, fun hours with friends has something here that will please everyone, thanks to the use of its different gameplay mechanics and game rules.
  4. Game Informer
    Dec 17, 2019
    75
    Shovel Knight Showdown is great for short sessions with friends, or a couple playthroughs of the story mode, but simple movesets and repetition limit the enjoyment. You can dig into some good Shovel Knight fun here, but don’t expect to strike gold.
  5. DualShockers
    Dec 31, 2019
    70
    Showdown is a great first effort into multiplayer madness beyond co-op for Yacht Club Games that I am sure will carry lessons into their next project. Showdown is a compliment to the entire Treasure Trove package that does not encroach on the core experience. Some people will love Showdown’s addition and others will brush it off to the side. It’s like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae; a sweet inclusion, but not essential to the overall enjoyment of the package.
  6. NintendoWorldReport
    Dec 18, 2019
    70
    It's absolutely jam-packed with features and if you're someone who already has Shovel Knight, it's a heck of a free addition. As a solitary game, it's a much harder sell. Like you said, it's more of a curio or bonus than something that could stand solely on its own.
  7. Attack of the Fanboy
    Dec 15, 2019
    60
    After cameoing in multiple fighters over the years, Shovel Knight finally has one to call his own with Shovel Knight Showdown. While the combat system is very basic, Shovel Knight fans should still find some fun here with friends and even the first few times through the game's arcade ladder.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Rjs462
    Dec 11, 2019
    10
    La combinacion de un juego de peleas al estilo smash bros y de un juego de plataformas crean este hermoso juego
  2. DetectiveDonut
    Dec 12, 2019
    9
    This is a fantastic fighting game. It’s easier to pick up and play than Smash due to the simple controls, and the steady stream of unlocksThis is a fantastic fighting game. It’s easier to pick up and play than Smash due to the simple controls, and the steady stream of unlocks extend play sessions. There are close to 20 unlockable fighters, each with their own unique moveset. The story mode is fun but challenging, in the usual Shovel Knight fashion. I’d recommend giving this a try any day.… Expand
  4. SudFlameWord
    May 14, 2020
    5
    This is a disappointing game, all in all. With friends it might have been more fun (what party platform fighter isn't) but as a single playerThis is a disappointing game, all in all. With friends it might have been more fun (what party platform fighter isn't) but as a single player experience it's a frustrating jumble that feels slapped together and half-hearted. Borrowing from Rivals of Aether (a better game Shovel Knight appears in), there is no ledge grabbing and shielding is replaced with a parrying mechanic. There is no rolling feature. To make up for this, it seems, the team made parrying spammable. But this is doesn't work on the Story Mode AI that at times is frustratingly exact, nigh-reading inputs, while at other times so idiotic that it stands on top of an active bomb waiting to die. The Story Mode itself is *fine.*

    It's a cute backstory and mini-arc for each character that is more or less Classic Mode in Smash Bros, with the main issue being that instead of a specifically structured set of enemies for each step the enemies seem to randomize based off your unlocked characters. This isn't a problem except that it A) hints at a lack of precision in designing the Story Mode, and B) certain combinations of enemies for certain characters is impossible to win - especially since, without dodge rolling, and with the absurd enemy AI, you get stun locked to death. It's stun lock that ultimately makes this game go from a rollicking party game to an absolute mess where you don't feel like you're developing skills as a player or performing cool combos, you feel like you're sneaking in victories on AI.

    It's a shame because the game is genuinely fun to play - responsive, colorful, plenty of variety in moves to make combat engaging - and has a fantastically diverse, if not well-balanced, cast characters. It could have been amazing had the game been given a little more care then it seems to have been. I'd recommend if you and friends enjoy Shovel Knight and want a simple rough n' tumble party experience. Don't get this for yourself though. On balance, it's not worth it.    … Expand

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