An expedition, led by Juan Ponce de Leon, breaks ground on America in a Pre-Columbian era. A soldier from amongst his ranks is informed by the local Natives of a treasure, hidden far away in the mountains of America. By the sounds of it, this treasure is quite massive as well. The soldier decides to defect, sneaking off from the army and travel the country in search of this big treasure, in hopes of becoming the richest man in America.
Steel Knight 1513 is a side-scrolling classic platformer where you’ll traverse across a dozen levels in search of this famed treasure. The knight has basic platforming moves : he can move side to side, crouch and jump. Along the journey, you’ll find many weapons that the knight can equip and use. In later levels, he can perform magic and heal himself if he’s picked up any healing items.
At a first glance, Steel Knight doesn’t look like it’s going to add up to much. The levels are all pre-rendered, and the knight’s character model as well as all the enemies just look like they’re pasted on images that have been given minimal movements. However, this is definitely an instance of “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. As soon as I dropped into the first level, I was transported back to my retro SEGA-era days.
This game is tough, but fun. The platforming can be a bit minimal, simply jumping between ledges and moving platforms, but it’s very precise. You might find yourself surprised at getting stuck in a spot you first thought was doable with a blindfold. Enemies can seem a bit tough too if you’re going right in for melee kills. If you’ve played anything off the SEGA or SNES era, you’ll be familiar with the issue that in order to get close enough to hit your enemy, you have to take the risk of getting hit yourself in the process.
One downside to Steel Knight is just over the course of the first few levels in the game, I encountered multiple “Leap of Faith” areas. For those unfamiliar, this simply means that you’ll reach the edge of a ledge, and to progress in the level, it continues below you off. Off screen. So it’s a literal leap of faith if you’ll drop off and land where you need to, or die. Some of these areas its just a simple drop down to nothing but ground below you, but you won’t know that until you try it yourself. While it’s not a horrible mechanic, it sticks out like a sore thumb in a game that only gives you a few lives, no checkpoints, and no level passwords.
While it’s a fun game, Steel Knight 1513 definitely won’t be for everyone. It’s short, but tough. Old school platformer fans will get a lot of joy out of a game like this, but for fans of more modern style gaming, it might be hard to get into. However if you like a challenge, suit up in some armor and get back to the 16th century and find this ancient treasure, you’ll feel right at home.
