A spade is a spade is a spade, unless it's a shovel in which case it can be a mighty weapon of heroes. Shovel Knight will prove just that when it rocks its 8-bit vibe on Wii U, 3DS, and Steam on March 31, as announced via a new trailer. While Yacht Club Games pinned a date this week, it noted there may be slight variations "in the exact day" across platforms.

The crowdfunded platformer was due in 2013, but after raising more than four times its $75,000 goal, Yacht Club Games said the extra time has been put to good use.

"And if you're wondering why it took so long," reads an update on the game's Kickstarter page, "let's just say the game got a lot bigger than we originally intended, and we think everyone will be happy with that!"

It doesn't take a Mega Man or a Scrooge McDuck to spot the NES era inspirations in Yacht Club's debut, but we're hoping it'll dig deeper than sheer nostalgia. As Kat Bailey put it in her October 2013 preview, "Shovel Knight isn't a rehash or collection of ill-fitting parts to feed off nostalgia in the modern era. It is its own game and could stand in the pantheon of respected 8-bit platformers."