Shantae: Risky's Revenge

Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Developer(s)	WayForward Technologies
Publisher(s)	WayForward Technologies
Director(s)	Matt Bozon
Producer(s)	Matt Bozon
Composer(s)	Jake Kaufman
Series	Shantae
Platform(s)	DSiWare, iOS, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	Nintendo DSi NA October 4, 2010 PAL February 11, 2011 iOS NA October 27, 2011 [1] Steam WW July 15, 2014
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	Digital download

Shantae: Risky's Revenge is a platform video game developed by WayForward Technologies for DSiWare digital distribution service. It was released in North America on October 4, 2010 and later in Europe on February 11, 2011.^[2] It is the sequel to the Game Boy Color video game Shantae and was followed by one more game, a Nintendo 3DS and Wii U sequel, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, and is to be followed by a fourth, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.^[3] The game was ported to iOS on October 27, 2011 and a Director's Cut was released on Steam on July 15, 2014.^[4][5]

Plot

Things had been quiet in Scuttle Town since Shantae's clash with the pirate Risky Boots. During the annual Relics Hunters Expo, she and her friends see fellow Relic Hunter Uncle Mimic unveil his latest find: an ordinary-looking lamp encased in stone. Just as they begin to wonder what it is, the notorious Risky Boots crashes the expo and steals the lamp. Despite the quick battle, Shantae is knocked out, allowing the vengeful pirate to get away. Blaming the half-genie for the town being in disarray and failing to do her job properly, the Mayor of Scuttle Town fires her as the town's guardian.

Despite no longer being a Guardian Genie, Shantae still decides to take responsibility to stop Risky Boots' newest plot. Is there more to this mysterious lamp than one expects? And what does the evil pirate intend to do with it?

Gameplay

Players take the role of Shantae, a half-genie who must explore various areas in order to stop her nemesis, Risky Boots. Shantae's main form of offense is attacking enemies with her hair, though she may also acquire magic spells that allow her to use various ranged attacks. In order to progress through the game, Shantae needs to find various transformation spells. These spells, activated by performing a belly dance, transform Shantae into various animals with unique abilities. These include a monkey that can cling onto certain surfaces and dash between walls, an elephant that can smash rocks to open new areas and a mermaid that can swim underwater.

Development

First attempts at a Shantae sequel

Plans for a sequel to Shantae started soon after the release of the first game. Shantae Advance, also known as Shantae 2: Risky Revolution, was a sequel that was in development for the Game Boy Advance, but was canceled after not being picked up by a publisher. A demo of the first world was developed, and while not released to the public, WayForward streamed a full playthrough of it on October 3, 2013, as part of a promotion for the crowdfunding of Half-Genie Hero.^[6]

Shantae Advance was planned to consist of eight chapters of gameplay split over seven towns, six islands, and six labyrinths; this was estimated to take about twenty hours to play through. In addition to the regular gameplay, six minigames and a multiplayer battle mode were planned. Four of the labyrinths were supposed to be based on the four seasons; the first labyrinth, which was featured in the demo, was based on autumn, and its hub room was filled with falling autumn leaves. The story of Shantae Advance involved Risky having her Tinkerbats dig under Sequin Land, and putting a pillar in the middle, allowing the land to be rotated. This could be used in the gameplay to rotate the world, lining up the foreground with objects in the background, thus giving the player access to new areas.^[6]

New gameplay elements for Shantae Advance included the ability to move between the foreground and background, swimming, flying in 3D on Sky's bird Wrench's back, and some new forms for Shantae to transform into; these included a new version of the spider, a crab, and a mermaid; the first two are under consideration to be brought back for Half-Genie Hero, and the latter was brought back in Risky's Revenge. As with the original game, Shantae Advance was developed by Matt Bozon on his own time.^[6]

Another attempt at a Shantae sequel was Shantae: Risky Waters, a game planned for the Nintendo DS with an experimental gameplay taking advantage of the double screen function of the console. Plans were scrapped after WayForward failed to find a publisher as well.^[7]

Further development

The WiiWare version, described as being "an ongoing experiment in 2D on the Wii", as well as work on a Nintendo DS version and the scrapped Game Boy Advance sequel was revealed in a May 2008 WayForward newsletter.^[8]

On September 15, 2009, Shantae: Risky's Revenge was revealed as a downloadable DSiWare title on Nintendo of America's 2009 Holiday lineup, with a tentative 2009 Q4 release date.^[9] Details on the 3-part episodic sequels were revealed in the November 2009 issue of Nintendo Power.^[10] It was later scheduled for a Q1 2010 release. In late September WayForward sent an email to all members of the Shantae Fan Club, officially stating that the game would be available in North America on October 4, 2010^[2] and in an official press release, it was stated that Shantae: Risky's Revenge would ditch its original episodic content plan and release the full game altogether for the price of 1200 Nintendo Points.^[11]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (DS) 86.30%[12] (iOS) 83.00%[13] Metacritic (DS) 85/100[14] (iOS) 75/100[15] Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com A-[16] Eurogamer 6/10[17] GamesRadar [18] IGN 9/10[19] Nintendo World Report 9/10[20] App Spy (iOS) 4/5[21]

Shantae: Risky's Revenge has achieved critical acclaim, with many reviewers saying that this is the best DSiWare available, achieving 85/100 on Metacritic^[14] and an 86% on Gamerankings.^[12] Critics praised the game for its beautiful visuals, excellent soundtrack,^[22] and an old school style that felt familiar to Castlevania and Metroid,^[23] but with fresh new ideas. One common complaint was aimed at the poor map system.^[19] IGN called it a labour of love, a sequel that doesn't disappoint.^[19] IGN later gave Risky's Revenge the Best Visuals Award^[24] and Best DS Game for 2010.^[25] The iOS version was also generally well received, though not as well as the DSi version, with a Metacritic score of 75/100 based on seven reviews.^[15]

References

External links

• Official website
• Shantae at MobyGames