Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

The lovable heroine gets a tribute worthy of her

For many years Shantae was considered a cult game, known (and acclaimed) by a small niche of devoted fans. The 2002 game got a sequel in 2010, and since then the franchise has grown stronger and gained relevance. The 4th title in the series, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, was crowdfunded on Kickstarter and is the first in the franchise to feature high-definition graphics. The game oozes personality, charisma and an unmatched level of care and polish… Ultimate Edition is the culmination of all the effort and dedication of the talented team at WayForward, with all the DLC released for the game and some new content.

Story: 9

The game tells the story of half-genie Shantae gathering components for her uncle, who found instructions to build a machine capable of generating a force field and protecting the city for good. On her journey, the heroine meets friends and rivals – some new and some already familiar.

Ultimate Edition also includes all the game’s DLC, so there are additional chapters that tell side stories or take place after the end of the base game, each from the point of view of a different character.

Although the story itself is quite simple, the dialogue and the characters’ charisma manage to entertain and hold your attention, leaving you wanting to continue to find out what happens next.

Mechanics: 10

Shantae is a 2D platformer with good doses of action and exploration. Each mode and character has its own quirks, and we will get to them shortly… But first let’s cover the most complete and complex mode, the main story.

Our heroine can attack with her hair (Y), jump (B), cast spells (A) or dance (X). Throughout the game new dances are unlocked, and each one lets Shantae transform into an animal and gain its abilities. This gives the game a Metroidvania flavor, since gaining a new transformation motivates you to revisit past maps to look for secret paths that hold powerful items and techniques.

Each of the numerous game modes has its own style, but they are generally more linear (especially because all the powers are already enabled from the start). In general the modes are the following:

• Main Game: The main mode we discussed just above.
• Hero Mode: Same as the Main Game, but with all the Dances enabled from the start of the game, increasing the exploration of each level but making the overall experience more linear.
• Hard Core Mode: Same as the Main Game, but with the difficulty increased immensely!
• Pirate Queen’s Quest: Follows Shantae’s villain/rival, the pirate Risky Boots, after the end of the main story. Risky has some quite interesting powers such as summoning soldiers (who advance and attack automatically) and shooting her gun, which can be equipped with different types of ammo.
• Friends to the End: Follows Shantae’s friends on an adventure that takes place after the end of the main story. The twist here is that you play with the whole trio simultaneously, and can switch between the heroes at any time! Bolo (yes, that is his name) has the highest damage potential and is equipped with a rope he can use to swing across various points of the stages, Sky can create temporary platforms and attack from a distance by commanding her bird friends, and the zombie Rottytops can throw her head (and teleport the rest of her body to it) and consume magic energy to heal the team’s shared health. Each character has their own Level, which rises as gems are collected (taking damage makes gems drop, which can lead to a Level drop!).
• Ninja Mode: An alternative game mode where Shantae is a Ninja. Her powers include moving quickly, dodging, wall jumping, firing shuriken and teleporting a short distance in any direction.
• Beach Mode: An alternative game mode where Shantae wears a bikini and looks for a beach to enjoy her vacation. Here, the heroine can throw beach volleyballs and float in a soap bubble… But there is a Sun meter, and you must constantly refill your sunscreen bar by collecting lotions around the maps – or suffer constant sunburn damage!
• Officer Mode: An alternative game mode where Shantae is the police officer from the title Mighty Switch Force. Her powers are basically jumping and shooting, with an upgrade system like that of Friends to the End, dependent on the number of gems collected. The big twist here is the ‘Switch‘ power, which makes blocks move from a farther plane to the main one – and vice versa.

The variety of modes is huge and should satisfy even those thirstiest for quality platformers. Just one warning: the game follows some classic platformer design philosophies, and the difficulty and demand for precision grow quickly! Fortunately the game has a generous system of multiple savepoints within each level, so frustration is lower because you don’t have to replay very long stretches.

Audio and visuals: 9.5

Shantae: HGH is a feast for the eyes. Each sprite is carefully drawn, the animations are fluid and full of personality, and the environments are colorful and dazzling. It is visible to anyone that WayForward spared no effort to deliver the best-looking game possible.

The soundtrack is equally on point, constantly conveying the heroine’s energy and spirit of adventure and making the experience even more engaging. The game has numerous short bits of voice acting, but a good part of the dialogue still goes uncovered.

The game’s presentation is at once simple and polished, the kind you can just watch without playing and still be entertained for hours.

Final thoughts

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – Ultimate Edition is the celebration of the success of a great game, worthy of note and recognition. With vast and varied content and a good dose of platforming, action and exploration, the title represents the best of this very traditional genre.

Score

Story = 9

Mechanics = 10

Audio and visuals = 9.5

Worth the 27 dollars? Yes!

Overall: 9.5

Played on the Nintendo Switch version