First of all, if you've never played "Shovel Knight," play it ASAP. It is one of the most fun games to come out of recent years. The developer, Yacht Club Games, wished to style in a game in the vein of Nintendo Entertainment System classics such as "DuckTales," "Mega Man," "Super Mario Bros. 3," and several others. Thus, "Shovel Knight" was born. Though the story seems pretty straightforward, a knight saving his companion from an evil magic, the rest of the game is extremely well put-together. Retro-style graphics, difficult platforming, and, of course, 8-bit music all make up the best parts of this game. After hearing some of the tracks while playing through the game, I fell in love with the soundtrack almost instantly. I wish to present to you some of the better tracks on this lovely game.

When the game is launched and proceeds to the main menu, the "Main Theme" greets the player with its fast pace and sense of adventure (obviously). During the opening cutscene, "One Fateful Knight" sets the tone for the story with a sound reminiscent of "Opening Theme" from "Final Fantasy 1." There are moments and joy and sorrow as Shovel Knight adventures with his companion, Shield Knight, but loses her in the Tower of Fate and must save her. The game then throws the player headlong into the first level, Plains of Passage, where the best piece of music in the whole game: "Strike the Earth!" Reminiscent of music from "Mega Man 2" and "DuckTales," this fun song takes the adventurous tone of "Main Theme" and cranks it up to 9000. After beating this level, the first of many intermediary scenes of Shovel Knight at a campfire plays and gives an atmosphere of determination and relief in "The Starlit Wilds."

Afterwards, Shovel Knight comes to a village, during which "No Weapons Here" plays, representing the relatively positive emotions of the villagers. The quality of the music on the other levels varies slightly, but most of the tracks are excellent. The interesting but majestic "In the Halls of the Usurper" plays at Pridemoor Keep, the castle lair of the pompous King Knight. Later, in my favorite level, The Flying Machine, the second bast track in the whole game plays: "High Above the Land." This upbeat song perfectly matches the sense of wonder of flying through the air on this level. Much later, the final level comes in three parts and has three different excellent pieces of music: "The Fateful Return," "The Inner Struggle," and "The Forlorn Sanctum." All three pieces have a sense of dread to varying degrees, but they also interpolate moods of fierce determination to prepare for the final battle against the Enchantress.

There you have it. I hope you all check out this wonderful game and its soundtrack and come to appreciate it!