Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut

Here's where the series kinda of finds its footing- not that the first game is bad, but... well, wrong review for that. Everything clicks very well here: the map is tweaked to not be so frustratingly huge, there actually IS a map, fast travel is normal... All the good thigns about the original have been preserved and/or expanded. Transformations are present and interesting, the characters and humor are here and even better/more vocal, and dat music. The gameplay leans a bit closer to metroidvania with this entry: it's not a perfect candidate for the label if you're being strict, but between new forms unlocking new areas of the map, the subweapons, Only real criticism I can find is the length. This is not a long game, even

Charming, fun, addictive gameplay. Recommended for all fans of action platformers with light RPG elements.

As an "old school" gamer, starting in the mid 80's with games, I find Shantae to be a great little gem. It's long enough to keep you entertained, but short enough to not feel like a slog. It could possibly have been longer, but that's down to taste. I found it to be pretty spot on for range. The writing and story is relatively average. I'd say on the upper regions of average with a fair few good laughs sprinkled in here and there. Graphics and sound are very well done, although it runs in 4:3 and looks somewhat pixelated, leading to a very SNES like aestethic. Gameplay is solid and I rarely found anything to complain about as it came to enemies, puzzles, platforming challenges and gameplay in general. There are a few mind boggingly strange designs in the conversation trees where you are given a "Yes" and "No" choice on things that are truly not a choice at all. The game will even tell you so if you choose "Wrong". Strange mechanic indeed. There are also far too many confirmation windows for my taste. Especially saving and warping at the warp squids. If I've walked up to a squid and chosen to warp, why on Earth must I confirm this again, and the choice defaults to no? I can't tell how many times I've accidentally cancelled a warp because of this. Outside of these small quirks I'd say Shantae: Risky's Revenge is a must have for people who like SNES-era platformers.

Story is simple but it is expected from older games. Music is a candy to the ears and puts you in the mood. Game play is solid but feels better if you is game pad instead of keyboard. Dance mechanics is what makes the game unique compare to other games. Its not something 'fantastic' but more like a nice icing on this cake and its basically is it's game business card. Also I wanna point out how nice and fluid the pixel art and animation looks like. The game is simply nice to look at.

The fact that this was originally released for the Nintendo DS is what caught my attention, and the game and port didn't disappoint me. This is a little fun platformer with exploration and backtrackind, and while relatively short i feel the package delivers quite well. On the negative aspects i would say the map is completely useless and navigating the initial area confusing, probably a compromise of the original hardware. But the game never became so complex that i got lost or needed a map anyway, its a well rounded experience, altough some have pointed out that the game feel a little lacking, because originally it was going to be released in parts on the DSi store, and probably something got cut off. In general this is a very fun game that i've played a few times, altough The Pirate's Curse is the better regarded game this one is also worth checking out. You can always wait for a discount if you are interested, you probably won't be disappointed.