I just bought Shantae on the 3DS e-shop

[Anayo]

Dang this game is cool.

I wish I had this as a kid back when I was still rocking with my bright yellow gameboy color. I remember back then it seemed 90% of Gameboy games that weren't 1st party Nintendo offerings were lame. I clocked in a certifiably unhealthy total play time on Pokemon and thoroughly enjoyed Zelda, Mario Bros. Deluxe, Pokemon Pinball, and the Pokemon TCG. Then again my younger brother and I would also get burned on lame titles we bought as impressionable kids. The Men in Black Animated Series game and an X-Men one on one fighter I bought come to mind. I guess this left me with a somewhat dismissive impression of what the Gameboy Color's capabilities.

Shantae just totally shattered that. Everything about it just screams with polish. The music is intricate and bouncy and fun. The art direction makes me laugh with how darn expressive everyone is. I catch myself noticing little details in the background scenery, like a little house built on a hillside or shafts of light cutting through the trees. The character animations are fluid and lively like a cartoon. As far as the graphics go I feel like they were trying to make an 8-bit version of Metal Slug.

I was already a fan of Wayforward Technologies from playing Contra 4 to death on my Nintendo DS Lite and I played and loved Shantae Risky's Revenge, Mighty Switch Force 1 and 2, but this just makes me even more enamored with them. I doubt I'd have even known what this game was unless I had heard so much buzz about it here on Racketboy. Needless to say I am quite pleased with this purchase, even though I'm only an hour or so into it.

[AppleQueso]

Didn't know it was up already! I might have to go nab it!

I think the easiest way to describe the game is something like a sidescroller/platformer version of Zelda (I'm sure it'll remind people of Zelda II in some way). Alternatively, you could say it's like Castlevania II done really well.

[Anayo]

I've always likened it to Super Metroid in a Disney's Aladdin setting. At least that was how I felt about Risky's Revenge.

[AppleQueso]

I've always likened it to Super Metroid in a Disney's Aladdin setting. At least that was how I felt about Risky's Revenge.

I don't know about Risky's Revenge, but the GBC one has dungeons and towns linked via a large, continuous, sidescrolling overworld. Definitely more "Zelda" than "Metroid" if you ask me.

[CavZee]

I've always likened it to Super Metroid in a Disney's Aladdin setting. At least that was how I felt about Risky's Revenge.

I don't know about Risky's Revenge, but the GBC one has dungeons and towns linked via a large, continuous, sidescrolling overworld. Definitely more "Zelda" than "Metroid" if you ask me.

Is it more combat oriented than it is puzzle-y?

[AppleQueso]

I've always likened it to Super Metroid in a Disney's Aladdin setting. At least that was how I felt about Risky's Revenge.

I don't know about Risky's Revenge, but the GBC one has dungeons and towns linked via a large, continuous, sidescrolling overworld. Definitely more "Zelda" than "Metroid" if you ask me.

Is it more combat oriented than it is puzzle-y?

I want to say "maybe," but it's been a long time since I've played it for any serious length of time.

[jay_red]

I picked it up as soon as I could when it went on sale, and my initial impressions are that its a pretty hard game. I was getting worked by the mermaid things that shoot the mind waves at you, not only do they take a ton of hits, if you run past them, they can shoot you off screen! Then I got to a dead end and havent played it since.

The combat is a lot like the older castlevania with the whip, you have to time your hits carefully, as there is a long start up and recovery on each hit. I had expected a more Mario style platformer for some reason, but it is more like Metroid as mentioned before.

[Retrogamer0001]

Well, the cartridge will only cost you a mere 300$ on Ebay! What a deal!

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SHANTAE-GAME-BOY ... 0fd&_uhb=1

[AppleQueso]

Well, the cartridge will only cost you a mere 300$ on Ebay! What a deal!

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SHANTAE-GAME-BOY ... 0fd&_uhb=1

It's worth a good deal less than that! ($180-200)

Still a lot, but yeah.

Between this and Earthbound, I think we'll have some pretty good case studies for how re-releases affect cart pricing.

[jay_red]

Ok, so I tried playing this again last night, and I have to say, it is not for me... I guess I am expecting more fastpaced platformer action, but what you get is enemies poping up every couple of steps, that come out in the perfect way to make them hard to hit, but guarantee a hit on you.

When I first left the town, I went to the left and, as I mentioned before, the mermaid enemies take like 10 hits, and can shoot you off screen if you try to run past them. After finding a dead end I went to the right of the town, no only do you have those "goomba" type guys springing out of the ground (throwing spears no less) when you get to the fields scarecrows pop out of nowhere and give you almost no time to react. I have gotten game over 3 or 4 times already and have only ventured a few screens away from the starting town! I actually think the first Castlevania (which I downloaded on my 3ds recently) is easier than this game!