Shovel Knight

53rd : Shovel Knight Make a Good Mega Man Level 2

Steel thy Shovel!

Overview Creator(s): Dylan Labiuk Composer(s): Jake Kaufman Manami Matsumae Statistics Scores: 30 30 23 30 14 Total: 25.4 / 50 Rank: 53rd Elements: 1 Collectables: Enemies: Big Fish Cannopeller Corocoro Docron Gachappon Giree Graviton Hologran Killer Bullet Komasaburo Peng Pole Ring Ring SK Met Tackle Fire Walking Bomb Gimmicks: Acid Drop Auto Scroller Boubou Bouncy Tile (reskinned) Chill Man Block Cloud Platform (MM3) Concrete Platform Conveyor (MM2) Count Bomb Destroyable Block (Mega Buster, reskinned) Drop Platform Falling Platform (MM5) Fire Pillar Flip Platform Frost Sled Galaxy Man Portal Gravity Flip Guts Lift Ice Platform Plantman Platform Pole Egg Sign (Mega Man 8) (Jump, Slide) Spring Toad Rain Sub-Bosses: Squidon

Theme Music Shovel Knight - Strike the Earth! (Plains of Passage) Shovel Knight - Flowers of Antimony (Explodatorium) Shovel Knight - An Underlying Problem (Lost City) Shovel Knight - A Thousand Leagues Below (Iron Whale) Shovel Knight - La Danse Macabre (Lich Yard) Shovel Knight - A Cool Reception (Stranded Ship) Shovel Knight - The Fateful Return (Tower of Fate) Stage Order Location: Tier 4 Previous: Orbital Station Next: Poorly Named Level

Shovel Knight is the 53rd place level in Make a Good Mega Man Level 2. As the name suggests, the level is based on the video game Shovel Knight, and involves going through various areas of the game with Mega Man-based obstacles.

Strategy

Rather fittingly, the first area of the level is based on the first level of Shovel Knight, the Plains of Passage. After facing a pair of SK Mets, Mega Man must destroy a series of Dirt Blocks (functionally identical to Normal Destroyable Blocks) while riding a Guts Lift. Dropping down leads to a springy floor and a Gachappon, and the area ends with a cluster of perilous Concrete Platforms. Climbing up a ladder right after the Gachappon leads to a small room with Black Knight and the first Noble Nickel.

The checkpoint object at the end of the Concrete Platform section takes Mega Man to Plague Knight's lair, the Explodatorium. This area begins with a room filled with a ferocious flurry of Fire Pillars. Climbing up the wall at the end of this room reveals a secret room with Plague Knight and the second Noble Nickel. Reaching the end of this secret path (or simply climbing up the ladder in the Fire Pillar room) leads to a cluster of Cloud Platforms right below spikes, which Mega Man must quickly race past, lest he be impaled. Above this cloudy collection is a room with plenty of Plantman Platforms, as well as Acid Drops, dangerous Drop Platforms, and a Graviton, with Ring Rings right alongside them. Following this, a rainy room with mischievous Mousubeils is all that stands between Mega Man and the next checkpoint.

Touching this checkpoint leads to the Lost City, where Mole Knight hides. Straight from the start, the screen will scroll, so Mega Man should shoot his way through, bewaring the Killer Bullets, Walking Bombs, and Big Fish. After the autoscroll is a quick fall, with Tackle Fires and a Graviton appearing on the way down. Bouncy slime structures are seen to the right, with a Potton standing guard on its own. Right before the checkpoint is a rope, which can be climbed to find Mole Knight and the third Noble Nickel.

Next is the treacherous trove of Treasure Knight, the Iron Whale. After a descent down to the depths of the sea with Flip Platforms breaking the fall, a path on the left can be seen. Taking this Pole-polluted pathway leads to Treasure Knight, the fourth Noble Nickel, and a Galaxy Man Portal back to the right side of the room. Breaking the Chill Man Blocks opens another left-facing path, with Chill Man Blocks and Ice Platforms both blocking and building land to traverse. Falling down does not cause death; it merely means that Mega Man must make his way back to two ladders, and retry the room's trials. Another checkpoint awaits.

After clearing the Iron Whale, Mega Man is led to the Lich Yard, home to Specter Knight. Climbing below the surface, Mega Man finds that the floor is no more, with Falling Platforms filling its place. A Cocco, its Corocoros, and the darkness of the Hologran will raise the risk of rushing through, and a ceiling of spikes will stop high jumps dead in their tracks. Descending into the next room in this cavern of the crypt, Conveyors become a cause for alarm as they stand over pits. However, staying on the top of the room and being wary of Girees will reward Mega Man with the mighty Yashichi. Past this point, the platforms seem to disappear, with Girees being the only sign of where solid surfaces start and stop. Skillfully stepping into a small crevice will lead to Specter Knight, and the final Noble Nickel. Climbing up the ladder, a Conveyor now covers the floor of the cave, and the Holograns become plentiful enough that the darkness cannot be vanquished. If Mega Man doesn't make haste, he will be stopped by Docrons and a Squidon. Past the Squidon is the next checkpoint.

The final trial of Mega Man's journey is Polar Knight's hideout, the Stranded Ship. Beginning with a Frost Sled ride on the frigid land, the icy terrain soon disappears, leaving Mega Man swapping gravity at a frantic rate while fighting Cannopellers. The frozen ground eventually returns, and after three jumps over spikes and chasms, Mega Man is taken to the Tower of Fate, where Shovel Knight himself awaits, with the Energy Element beside him.

Judge Comments

Judge Comments
snoruntpyro  : 30 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 6 / 15 7 / 10 9 / 15 4 / 5 4 / 5 No Adorable level in general, and I really like how you sorta replicated gimmicks from the original Shovel Knight stages with the premade assets, like the fire blocks from the Explodatorium replaced with the fire pillars, among other things. Though, I think its idea AS a 'Shovel Knight in review' stage is its downfall - it's pretty unfocused, even if it is cute. Some enemies are used like once ever. And there's some pretty weird design decisions too, like the spike drop in the Treasure Ship where you drop onto MM6 flip platforms and you have barely any time to actually react and jump off. Also, the sled section is pretty eehh, mostly because of the gravity flipping section because it's pretty much impossible to dodge the Cannopellers as they're coming at you. The usage of the gimmicks also suffers, too, because of again its status as a 'game in review' level. The usage of the bouncy lava especially stands out to me because there's like literally two screens of it and one enemy total. But while the level design is pretty weird, I think the level still manages to be good with the little touches, like how you put the jelly beetle in the Mole Knight section, and all the encounters with the knights that earn you Noble Nickels. Adorable level overall.
JupiHornet  : 30 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 6 / 15 9 / 10 13 / 15 1 / 5 1 / 5 ...I have no idea what that level was, but I somehow managed to beat it without dying the first time I played it. The second time I wasn't so lucky :P This set of challenges is kind of a mess, with more gimmicks than any I've seen in this contest. There's some weird stuff in here that I highly doubt many other people did in their levels, like the upside down Frost Man sled. There are also some parts I didn't really care for, like the castle challenge with all the clouds, and the invisible platforming section. Also, I've never played Shovel Knight, and I'm no graphical genius, but I'm pretty sure a lot of those tilesets weren't used correctly :P
Enjl  : 23 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 4 / 15 4 / 10 6 / 15 5 / 5 4 / 5 No This stage feels like it was designed solely on the premise of "Shovel Knight aesthetic" and I feel like its coherency and structure suffer under it a lot. There are general ideas in this stage, but they don't persist long enough to become interesting at all, causing the stage to end up as an amazingly looking reference to Shovel Knight that fails to live up in terms of gameplay.
Garirry  : 30 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality 6 / 15 5 / 10 13 / 15 3 / 5 3 / 5 Honestly it's not that good. Some elements are placed at random, resulting in unfair or pitiful design. It's particularly visible in the second half of the stage. Yeah, I'll say I had fun going through a Shovel Knight-themed stage. But as for the level itself, it was enjoyable I guess, but nothing impressive. Probably the only true high point for this level. I think the usage of assets and the way the world is built just shows how creative this level is. Could have been better. The tiles could have been placed in a more apealing fashion. Some parts look off. Honestly could have been better. Well I guess the level works but there are so many weird bugs… nothing too serious but still has to be considered. Unfortunately great ideas don't always turn out the way you expect them to. So is the case with this level. While I seriously respect the amount of creativity put into the obstacle and enemy selection and variety, this stage suffers from level design that just feels random and often unfair, as well as messed up graphics, in addition to bugs. In other words, it's one really interesting level that could have been fantastic. But I'm afraid the problems relating to the bad level design prevent this from being a reality.
ACESpark  : 14 / 50
Design Fun Creativity Aesthetics Functionality Skip Teleporter? 4 / 15 3 / 10 4 / 15 1 / 5 2 / 5 No I think the fault with this stage lies in your concept. Lots of mini-stages are not... really a good idea. Gimmicks and enemies were chosen at seeming random. And then the biggest crime: You did absolutely nothing with them. I found one, exactly one, area creative and well thought out: Spectre Knight's segment. This was your highlight, and I won't lie, I thought pretty nifty. Then it was over and I moved onto the weird Polar Knight segment. This stage felt like you were just messing about with the dev kit. Each segment is too short for its own good: Your Mole Knight segment introduced a gimmick (the slime) and then.. ended as you introduced it. My recommendation? Ditch the idea behind this: Stick to one area of a game when converting, choose appropriate gimmicks for your segment, and then really squeeze said gimmicks to their limit. Spectre Knight's area shows you have a few neat ideas, but one good segment out of several does not a good stage make. Graphically there are major issues: misplaced and misaligned new assets and using tiles inappropriately. I mean, you even use animated tiles without their animation! There's also a potential soft lock in Spectre Knight's area - there are missing collision tiles and it's entirely possible to get yourself stuck. You were also missing certain pits. [BOTH ISSUES FIXED POST JUDGING] The one other redeeming aspect of this level, and I'm sure most will disagree with me, is the Nickels. They're well hidden and fun to find, although the one in Mole Knight's segment is a little silly.

Trivia

• Many gimmicks in the level are based on similar gimmicks present in the Shovel Knight stage the area represents:
  • The Fire Pillars in the Plague Knight section are based on tiles in the original Explodatorium stage that burst into flames shortly after Shovel Knight stepped on them. Likewise, the Cloud Platforms seem to be based on large vats in the stage that periodically pop up, potentially impaling Shovel Knight on a ceiling of spikes.
  • The autoscrolling in the Mole Knight section is based on the rides on Big Bohtos in the original Lost City level. A Big Bohto can be seen at the start of the MaGMML2 version of the area, but it does not move.
  • The Flip Platforms, Chill Blocks, and Ice Platforms in the Treasure Knight section all appear to be based on the bubble platforms from the original Iron Whale stage, which would disappear shortly after Shovel Knight stepped on them.
  • The use of Holograns in the Specter Knight section seems to be meant as a way to emulate the darkness effect present at various points in the original Lich Yard stage.
• The level has several secret teleporters that take the player to the next section of the level:
  • In the Plains of Passage section, Rush Coil or Super Arrow can be used to go over the ceiling, and to the right of that area is a teleporter to the Plague Knight section.
  • In the Plague Knight section, sliding under the slightly raised area the player first teleports onto will take them straight to the Mole Knight section.
  • In the Mole Knight section, using a utility to reach the top of the first lowered ceiling will reveal a hole with a teleporter to the Treasure Knight section.
  • In the Treasure Knight section, using a utility to climb up the right wall of the first room will reveal a teleporter to the Specter Knight section. The Specter Knight section has a teleporter to the Polar Knight section in a similar location, except the player must slide to the right after making it up to the wall.
  • In the Polar Knight section, falling into the small gap between the starting platform and the ice and using Wheel Cutter to climb up an invisible wall on the left reveals a teleporter to the final room.
• According to an infobox at the end of stage, the titular Shovel Knight was supposed to be the boss of the level, but real life issues led to such a boss fight not being programmed.
• Not counting the second and third Tower of Fate levels, the only major areas from Shovel Knight not represented in this level are Pridemoor Keep (King Knight's stage), the Clockwork Tower (Tinker Knight's stage), and the Flying Machine (Propeller Knight's stage).