Our own Manami Matsumae (of Mega Man fame) lent her talent to the soundtrack with two beautiful tracks that are immediately reminiscent of her work for Capcom during the 8-bit era. Shovel Knight was originally released in. It may just be Kaufman’s best work to date. for both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, alongside the Windows release, before its release on various other platforms.
The use of leitmotifs - compare the boss themes to their respective level themes - is unusual as well, and flawlessly executed. There’s a beautifully intricate kind of quality to the music that is unlike even the most refined soundtracks from the 8-bit era. The authentic NES chiptune sound, extended here by three extra channels (only possible on the Famicom through an extra sound chip called VRC6) is dense, layered and harmonically complex without ever losing sight of what made us fall in love with these types of chip tunes in the first place: catchy, uplifting melodies, often heroic, sometimes dramatic, always exhilarating. The incredibly dense level design, the diversity of obstacles, enemies and characters, the remarkable attention to detail and a mechanical variety that never loses focus of its core aspects, all of these things are reflected in the music as well. Linux, PS4, PS3, Vita, Xbox One, Switch, Wii U, and 3DS, originally released in 2014. It’s a modern take on the 8-bit aesthetic, using an expanded tool set and adapting a wide range of timeless ideas in a modern context. In a lot of ways Jake Kaufman followed the same philosophy with Shovel Knight’s music as the game’s designers and pixel artists.