Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (45 Percent) NES | 1988
Yacht Club Says:
As we've mentioned, the close encounter combat and the downward stab were definitely largely influenced by Zelda II. The influence extends further to our characters and world. Shovel Knight's world has a village very similar to Zelda II, where random passersbys will chat up Shovel Knight. Our characters are just as goofy and fun as the ones you'd find in the land of Hyrule too.
Mega Man (30 Percent) NES | 1987
Yacht Club Says:
Themed stages around bosses has always been a strong part of Mega Man. We think it really helps make the stages feel creative and unique. In the end it leaves you with something that's hard to forget. Putting a heavy focus on the cast and how their personalities shape the world is part of what makes games so fun to partake in!
Besides just the boss presentation, the actual stage layout is room-based, which was important to our design. Something very unique to NES games is how the worlds are compact, and the gameplay per square inch, compared to modern games, is exponentially larger. Starting with room-based designs made the process of replicating that much easier because you can point to each room and say exactly what makes that section of the game interesting and fun. It becomes easy to mark the rooms that need work or are repetitious because they are already discretely separated as one progresses through the level.
Castlevania (15 Percent) NES | 1986
Yacht Club Says:
We definitely were struck by Castlevania's use of items. It's interesting that they aren't forced on you, but play a major part in how you can tackle each scenario and enemy in the game. There's always a clever way to use whatever weapon you have. In Shovel Knight, we took this idea and extended it even further. The items are useful in lots of ways, whether it be for platforming, enemies, or bosses. It's been interesting over the course of development how much people attach themselves to certain items based on their playstyle, which is very much in the vein of Castlevania. And you press Up and Attack to use them...so yeah, it's a bit like Castlevania!
Dark Souls (5 Percent) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC | 2011
Yacht Club Says:
That combat encounter originally came from our love of fighting the Iron Knuckles in Zelda II. Our temporarily development name for him was actually Iron Knight. Let's be honest here, Dark Souls is really just an attempt at bringing the amazing combat from Zelda II to a 3D plane. So when we describe it as something taken from Zelda II, we really mean it was taken from Dark Souls too! The intense one-on-one fights in both games are something we find exhilarating, and we hope you find them as pleasing in Shovel Knight!
Our checkpoint system might not directly remind you of Dark Souls, but the iteration of its design started from a place of thinking about how we could place such an important emphasis on player death as Dark Souls did. In our game, you can recover your lost money when you die similar to Dark Souls, but imagine if when you returned to the campfire, if you had the option of putting out the fire for a giant heap of cash! That's basically the risk/reward system we have set up. Any time you reach a checkpoint, you will return to it if you die, but you also have the option to break it with your shovel and benefit from a ton of gold instead.
Duck Tales (3 Percent) NES | 1989
Yacht Club Says:
The downthrust mechanic in our game, or the Shovel Drop as we call it, was mostly derived from Zelda II. That said, the feeling of discovering hidden treasure that is such an integral part to Duck Tales was definitely an inspiration for us. Hopefully that feeling of exploring every nook and cranny and being surprised at what's in store will bring a smile to everyone's face, just like it did in Duck Tales for the NES.
Super Mario Bros 3 (1 Percent) NES | 1990
U.N. Squadron (1 Percent) Super NES | 1991
Yacht Club Says:
Our world map, and stage progression in particular, were inspired by these two titles. Mario 3 remains in our minds when we recall what it's like to traverse a large NES world filled with surprises, while UN Squadron has more of a tiered map approach. That allows the player a choice in where they want to go while still escalating the challenge; without throwing the player into a completely flat stage structure.
