Va va voom
I had never before played a Shantae game, which makes sense. The only two previous games in the series are the unbelievably expensive Game Boy Color game Shantae (over 200 for a Game Boy game? Whatttt.) and the DSi exclusive Shantae: Risky's Revenge. I have an excellent collection of handhelds and retro video games, and I still don't own a DSi, although this gives me half a reason to own one. Its subsequent rerelease on the PS4 and Wii U, however, takes this reason away.
I picked up this one in a Humble Bundle for 3DS about a year ago, and played it a bit and enjoyed it. I got sidetracked by other games, though, and wandered back to it after feeling like a break from RPGs and go back to some platforming.
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is the story of Shantae, an adorably curvaceous half-genie who has lost all of her magic, and has to save her native Sequin Land from the Pirate Master. Teaming up with the similarly curvy Risky Boots, her former rival and villain of the previous games, Shantae must retrieve pirate gear to give her the powers needed to defeat the Pirate Master and save Sequin Land. Getting this gear gives the game some slight metroidvania elements, although it felt a bit more like a Mega Man X game, and less like Metroid or Castlevania to me.
Visually, the game is gorgeous. It's one of the finest looking games on the 3DS, has beautiful sprite work, environments, attack animations, and enemy designs. The bosses are large and detailed, and all have satisfying animations that sell the danger they pose to you.
The game controls perfectly, with jumps all performing as you expect, and each subsequent upgrade you get having a dedicated button press to perform that is very respondent and predictable.
The music is good, although I was a bit disappointed in it. As the soundtrack is composed by Jake Kauffman, who did the Shovel Knight soundtrack I adore so much, I was hoping for more memorable tracks, but the game's soundtrack is a bit more pedestrian, offering pleasing backtracks that suit each level, but never matching Shovel Knight's high standards.
The game has a delightfully playful level of cheesecake fanservice in it, as all of the main characters have pretty sexy designs, and the game's designers correctly balance the ratio of fanservice: character development: gameplay. For example, you have one level in which all four of the main female characters (Shantae, Risky Boots, zombie babe Rottytops, and blonde bombshell Sky) get captured by a tribe inside of a pyramid, all get mistaken for their missing princess, get dressed up in Princess Leia-style bikinis, and you have to rescue all of them. At the conclusion of this little adventure, the real princess returns, only to find that she is rather fat and hideous looking, which makes the mistaken identity plot all the more hilarious. The service never gets racier than the bikinis, but remains a fun diversion during an excellent game.
The humor in the game is excellent and provides accurate mockery of gaming and platforming tropes, still showing the playful side of the game. For example, one of the bosses says something about how he was made to be a boss, as he loves intense music, repetitive patterns, and closed quarters (Ha!).
The bosses are all very well done, providing an appropriate level of challenge, and each demanding that you correctly use the most recently unlocked pirate gear in order to defeat him.
The level designs and big and beautiful, but not so sprawling that you'll get lost or lack things to do. There were a few moments in the game in which I pondered using a guide,
but a little backtracking and exploring were usually able to solve the
problems fairly quickly.
The levels are also well designed so that they ramp up in difficulty, with easier spots early, and more challenging spots later. There are also excellent opportunities immediately after obtaining new pirate gear to test it out and practice in a spot with little to no risk. The final dungeon in particular is a master class in producing difficult but fair platforming, and you need to stick it out to experience it.
Speaking of backtracking, the game game gives fun and ample opportunities to return to earlier levels using your new abilities to find new cacklebats and heart squids, which is a nice feature. These aren't essential to beat the game, but the heart squids will increase your maximum life, and the cacklebats release dark magic, and you'll need to retrieve it all to fight the final boss' last form and see the ultimate ending.
The game wasn't perfect, however. The backtracking got a bit silly at times, and felt like you were simply being forced to return to previously explored areas to bump up the play time, which is short. I 100% completed the game in under 9 hours, which is definitely on the short side, particularly for a metroidvania style game. I was happy with it, as I got it in a Humble Bundle, probably for 10 bucks or so, but at retail this game costs $30. I'm not sure I would have been pleased to get less than 10 hours of game play for $30, so you will probably want to get this one used or on sale.
Additionally, the item system was a bit cumbersome. In order to use your items, you have to use the touch screen, which can get challenging during boss battles. While you can reuse your last used items by pressing zl + zr, this doesn't account for needing to switch between different items, and can cause you to waste valuable time looking at the screen for your desired item, all while the boss is wrecking you. Additionally, only the New Nintendo 3DS has these zl and zr buttons, so you're really sunk if you don't have one. I'll share my thoughts on this system at some point, but for the first time, I was really glad I had the "new" variant.
All in all, I'd recommend the game. While the short play time and awkward item system are irritating, the charm of this game, and the high quality of its levels and controls make it well worth acquiring, particularly around a 15-20 dollar price point. Try to grab a used copy, or wait for it to go on sale, and you'll enjoy it. I'll give it an 8.8/10
-TRO
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