Shantae is an 8-bit 2D platformer which was released very late into
the Game Boy Color’s (GBC) lifespan back in 2002 (which also happened to
be the start of the Game Boy Advance (GBA)’s lifespan) so, perhaps
understandably, this game was overlooked in it’s day. It was also not
released in Europe until now.
This game came out last week to many gamers’ delight, as before that the
only way to get Shantae (GBC) was to find an extremely rare copy on
eBay, which usually went for $300 (£200) minimum.
This game was one of Wayforward’s first titles and they were pretty
much unknown at the time. Indeed they had to rely on CAPCOM to get it
published alongside Resident Evil Gaiden. Now Wayforward have grown and
have several well-known titles under their belt like Mighty Switch
Force, MSF2 and A Boy & His Blob.
Now onto the game itself, You start out as the half-genie, Shantae,
hired by the mayor to protect the harbor town of Scuttlebutt. The game
immediately starts out with a pirate attack by none other than Shantae’s
arch-nemesis, Risky Boots, the female pirate.
The first thing you will notice is the quality of the graphics and
animation of this game. They push the boundaries of the GBC to say the
least, and many have assumed it of being on a GBA game. The animation of
Shantae running is smooth and even when in town with background
characters walking by Shantae doesn’t suffer from any lag. Another
little quirk is that the game changes from day to night even when
playing through a level and there is a noticeable difference in the
graphics. The enemies are also tougher at night.
In terms of moves, at the start you only get to jump, whip her hair
and a useless belly dance, but as time goes on you learn belly dances
that give her different abilities ; such as transforming into animals to
get past obstacles or enemies. An example is the ability to transform
into a monkey to give her the ability to climb.
“Come near my cannon, if you dareâ€
The audio has some good sounds mostly of an Arabian desert theme
which fits the character and the setting. However they are limited by
the Game Boy Color’s sound chip, lacking in quality when compared to the
graphics but still decent.
There are several little extras in this game when visiting the towns,
like the ability to belly dance to get more gems and using the sauna to
regenerate your health.
This game, while fun and cheerful, can be difficult at times due to
several factors. These include only having 3 hearts of health, which can
go quickly as some enemies can jump out from the bottom. Also the tiny
screen size limits your sight of obstacles and pits which can cause you
to die often, especially when making long jumps from above, and a lack
of a map for navigation making trekking into the less known parts
difficult. Another thing that can annoy players, especially beginners,
is that there are no checkpoints in the levels so if you die you will be
sent back to the beginning to the level, although with the Virtual
Console release a save state is available so this at least goes some way
to combatting this flaw.
One of the features that the Virtual Console re-release lacks is the
GBA enhancement mode ; when the original cartridge was played on a GBA
the title screen was enhanced with certain animations in the game.
CONCLUSION:
Shantae is a great example of how a game can push the boundaries of a
console’s hardware and also how an old classic can hold up in modern
times. Its also alot cheaper than those aforementioned eBay copies!
Pros:
the Game Boy Color’s (GBC) lifespan back in 2002 (which also happened to
be the start of the Game Boy Advance (GBA)’s lifespan) so, perhaps
understandably, this game was overlooked in it’s day. It was also not
released in Europe until now.
This game came out last week to many gamers’ delight, as before that the
only way to get Shantae (GBC) was to find an extremely rare copy on
eBay, which usually went for $300 (£200) minimum.
This game was one of Wayforward’s first titles and they were pretty
much unknown at the time. Indeed they had to rely on CAPCOM to get it
published alongside Resident Evil Gaiden. Now Wayforward have grown and
have several well-known titles under their belt like Mighty Switch
Force, MSF2 and A Boy & His Blob.
Now onto the game itself, You start out as the half-genie, Shantae,
hired by the mayor to protect the harbor town of Scuttlebutt. The game
immediately starts out with a pirate attack by none other than Shantae’s
arch-nemesis, Risky Boots, the female pirate.
The first thing you will notice is the quality of the graphics and
animation of this game. They push the boundaries of the GBC to say the
least, and many have assumed it of being on a GBA game. The animation of
Shantae running is smooth and even when in town with background
characters walking by Shantae doesn’t suffer from any lag. Another
little quirk is that the game changes from day to night even when
playing through a level and there is a noticeable difference in the
graphics. The enemies are also tougher at night.
In terms of moves, at the start you only get to jump, whip her hair
and a useless belly dance, but as time goes on you learn belly dances
that give her different abilities ; such as transforming into animals to
get past obstacles or enemies. An example is the ability to transform
into a monkey to give her the ability to climb.
“Come near my cannon, if you dareâ€
The audio has some good sounds mostly of an Arabian desert theme
which fits the character and the setting. However they are limited by
the Game Boy Color’s sound chip, lacking in quality when compared to the
graphics but still decent.
There are several little extras in this game when visiting the towns,
like the ability to belly dance to get more gems and using the sauna to
regenerate your health.
This game, while fun and cheerful, can be difficult at times due to
several factors. These include only having 3 hearts of health, which can
go quickly as some enemies can jump out from the bottom. Also the tiny
screen size limits your sight of obstacles and pits which can cause you
to die often, especially when making long jumps from above, and a lack
of a map for navigation making trekking into the less known parts
difficult. Another thing that can annoy players, especially beginners,
is that there are no checkpoints in the levels so if you die you will be
sent back to the beginning to the level, although with the Virtual
Console release a save state is available so this at least goes some way
to combatting this flaw.
One of the features that the Virtual Console re-release lacks is the
GBA enhancement mode ; when the original cartridge was played on a GBA
the title screen was enhanced with certain animations in the game.
CONCLUSION:
Shantae is a great example of how a game can push the boundaries of a
console’s hardware and also how an old classic can hold up in modern
times. Its also alot cheaper than those aforementioned eBay copies!
Pros:
- Great Background Graphics
- Fun to Play
- Good use of animal based abilities
- No GBA Enhanced mode
- Screen size is cramped, causing a lot of leap of faiths
- Difficulty can be off-putting to beginners.