I was mildly familiar with the Shantae series due to Kickstarter campaign for Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero, but I pretty much didn't pay any attention to that campaign and the first time I've seen gameplay of it was when it was briefly shown on the Bloodstained Kickstarter stream. Shantae also came to my attention once again when she was announced to be a playable character in the upcoming Indivisible.I never had a fervent inkling to play any of the games assuring that I'll play it whenever I get the opportunity with many other games on my priority list, but when Wayforward's Shantae & the Pirate's Curse was up on Humble Bundle about a month ago I was quick on the opportunity to snatch up the game for a mere dollar.


Shantae and the Pirate's Curse features the titular character after she's been stripped of her magical genie powers and is thrust in a journey with her arch enemy to defeat the ghost of the Pirate Master. The game's story is simple, but it's writing makes it stand out. It has a tongue-in cheek humor that makes me want to see a cartoon adaptation. You will be entertained throughout the entire journey. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse takes inspiration from the Castlevania and Metroid series. It's a 2D side-scroller with platforming, and combat at the focus with interconnected levels that construct the game's flow. The controls are smooth in this and handle akin to the precision of a Mario title. The platforming in this game switches between exploration and obstacle based often, giving the player variety throughout the journey.


As for the combat it's simple and repetitive, but also enthralling and tests your skills much like the platforming. Your basic attack is a hair whip, but throughout your journey you'll get more ways to attack, but your primary method of attack will be the hair whip. In the game's shop you buy items to upgrade your attacks and also some support items that can protect you from certain attacks, temporarily increase your attack, and also your standard healing items. You can get a fair amount of healing items from enemy drops and destructible objects, but you'll want to buy some from the shop from time to time. In my playthrough I found myself mainly using money for upgrades.
The support items are likely the most important items and I neglected them for most of my journey, but once I decided to use them, I found previous enemies I was struggling with to be fairly easier.



On the subject of enemies, there are many throughout this game and they offer enough variety in taking down so they'll never become boring unless you're outing yourself to grind. There are enemies that respawn once you leave the particular room in some of the later levels in the game which is the only which makes navigating a bit annoying, but this is lessened in the open non-dungeon areas since you can use a pirate flare to instantly transport yourself to the level's entrance. Aside from that the game has decently designed bosses. The notable ones for me are the boss in the second dungeon and the final boss. I won't spoil the final boss for those who haven't played it, but the second boss has a very intense rhythm to it that properly tests your reflexes making for joyous experience. All of the bosses are pattern based and take into account the new items you acquire in dungeons.




On the audio front, the game does a good job. There is clear action-response feedback from the sound effects and there are some catchy tunes in its music that's ranged from hip-hop, to house, electronic, and chiptune.


The journey you go through for the course of the game follows a simple story, but has some twists and turns and is written with a tongue-in-cheek humor that makes me wish for a cartoon adaptation. There are some references and acknowledgements to the past games, but they're not required to follow the story instead adding something for those who have played the previous games and catching the interest of newcomers to play the older games.


The game has some replay value with collecting heart squids which are basically Legend of Zelda's heart pieces and there are a few sidequests to tackle. On the negative side, in the final segment of the game you are told to go and collect all the dark magic in order to defeat the final boss. This dark magic is scattered throughout all the games levels and in the beginning of the game they were presented as an optional objective like collecting the squid hearts. I only gathered what I happened to run into during my playthrough, so I had a ton to find before I could fight the final boss and while discovering secrets feels good when you find them, it also felt like a chore, but a new game mode was unlocked when I beat the game and when I went back to my file I got a save prompt, so there may be a New Game + implemented that would clear this issue up while also providing a different way to play the game.


Overall, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a great game in the realm of Castlevania and Metroid inspired titles. Thanks to this game I am now looking forward to Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero when it finally comes out. If you have a 3DS or a Wii U this is a high recommend.


9/10