who would fit most out of all

1. Why would it be so odd? Few other Western-only IPs have enough significance to Nintendo's fanbase to warrant the level of support Shovel Knight's gotten on the ballots. And that's for the official Super Smash Bros.! This a fan-game, where freakin' Gooey, and Tingle are in. I'd say his American roots would only aid in his getting into Crusade, since this project, I assume, is based here in America.

2. Alright, I'll give you that. But time will only tell if, when Plague of Shadows comes out, people won't be reminded just how much they love Shovel Knight and his popularity in the ballots won't rise up again.

3. Granted, it's true that a lot of indies have solid platforming and a retro aesthetic. But what Shovel Knight has that ties it to Nintendo is more than gameplay and graphics. Shovel knight has the spirit of our classics. Not necessarily just Nintendo. Shovel Knight stirs up the same giddy excitement and wonder that we felt when playing any of our childhood favorites, but especially classic titles like Mega Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 and the like. It draws out the kind of giddy excitement, wide-eyed wonder, and pure happiness that Nintendo's classic library had in spades.

Also, not that you implied that you thought this, but I wanted to clarify that nostalgia isn't the only thing making Shovel Knight a good game. If you know who Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw is, you know how harsh and critical of games he is, and how hard it is to please him. In his Shovel Knight review, he stated that he never owned a NES, but still praised the game. So there. More than just rose-tinted glasses. A great game as well.

4. I've read a ton of lists of Top 10 Wii U and 3DS titles, and almost always they include Shovel Knight. It is easily one of the best original games available on eShop; though, no, the Wii U wouldn't fail without it. But it can't be denied that having Shovel Knight has greatly increased the Wii U and 3DS's popularity and sales. As far as exclusive content, consider that Nintendo was the console debut of Shovel Knight. That alone shows Yacht Club's interest in and love for the company (also, in the credits, they straight up thank Nintendo directly. And I don't mean the Wii U/3DS credits, I mean universally) What have the exclusives been so far? Boss fights with characters owned by Playstation and X-Box. Nintendo is notoriously close-fisted with it's own first-party characters, so it's not far fetched to think that Nintendo simply wasn't willing to let Yacht Club use Link or whoever before they'd proved Shovel Knight's worth.

5. Alright, so Goku's got some weird foot in the door with fan-made smash games. But what about Crash and Rayman? Both originated on the ps1. Crash's ratio of non-Nintendo-accessible to Nintendo-accessible games is 2:1 for the main series, with the large majority  of Crash games on Nintendo systems being spin-offs. Rayman, meanwhile, has had a few more relevant games on Nintendo consoles, but, like Crash, has never had any particular significance to or affinty for Nintendo. So why them? Like I said before, Shovel Knight made his console debut on Nintendo's systems. And I'm sure that it wouldn't have been much harder to port the game to Playstation and X-Box first than it was to port it it to Wii U and 3DS. And Crash and Rayman are only slightly Nintendo-inspired. Crash only in the way that Mario 64 forced Playstation to come out with their own 3D-platformer, and Rayman in the way that it was a vibrant, cartoony sidescroller. Shovel Knight, with one game, has far more relevance than either of them.

6. Whether you think his game is 'the best', you have to admit that it's a beacon of great gameplay, music, and level design. Shovel Knight proved that retro-style indie games can take all the right inspiration from classics and still have their own unique identity. What I'm saying with this is that it's become a symbol, a recognizable titan of indie gaming. Historically less significant than Quote, but with a game just as high-quality and memorable as Cave Story. Shantae, as it is, is relatively unremembered. Whether or not that continues when her new game comes out is yet to be seen, in the same way whether or not Shovel Knight's popularity in the Sm4sh Ballots will rise when his game gets it's first big DLC is yet to be seen.

It's not a 'fad', it's the birth of a great new IP. Even until Yacht Club makes a sequel, they'll still be supporting Shovel Knight with free DLC that'll add a great amount to the game. No Shantae game has been bigger than Shovel Knight, popularity-wise and game-depth-wise, and Shovel Knight is only getting bigger. Also, you know who else has 3 games, has been around as long as Shantae, has a personal tie to Nintendo, is getting a sequel soon (via spiritual successor) and isn't in Smash yet? Banjo & Kazooie! You come talk to me about Shantae when the bear and the bird are in, and then we'll see.

As far as Quote goes, I said before I'd support him. And no-one is disputing his significance to the indie scene. But as far as number of games goes, he's not much better off than Shovel Knight. There's Cave Story, Cave Story + (a remaster with a couple extra features), and Cave Story 3D (a 2.5 remaster that changed little else). Three games that are all essentially the same with different visuals. Good game(s). But three of the same game does not a relevant series make. An icon, maybe, and perhaps one with relevance to Nintendo, but not one with much backing.

7. How popular is Quote in the Ballots, again? (see above point for details as to why his only factor over Shovel Knight is his historical significance) And how is popularity meaningless? It's his popularity that shows people want him in Sm4sh and Crusade.

8. I'm actually curious about this, so if one of the devs is reading this, I'd like to know how long it takes for the whole team to concur on the inclusion of a new character, and how long it takes to fully implement a new character, with a moveset, and sprites, and balancing, and coding. Also, were there characters in development at the time of the last version that didn't make it into that version? Obviously, I don't expect names, but I would like to know.

If by 'era' you mean 'initial, well-deserved extreme popularity', then yes, you're right. But Shovel Knight is far from dead. People still love the game, Yacht Club is still supporting it, and anyone who played it still recognizes him. This wasn't a one-shot success where the developer is never heard from again afterwards. They've got plans for the future, and even beyond the DLC, we've almost certainly not seen the last of Shovel Knight.


Alright, ball's in your court, Shaq. Probably shouldn't make basketball analogies in this case. Oh, well.