Shantae review (GBC)

[The Nihilist]

I'm thinking of writing game reviews in a blog, I just want to see if I'm on the right track or need massive improvement.


Shantae, in Arabic, roughly translates to 'unfortunate circumstance'. Which is ironic considering the game was released ONE YEAR (and two days) after Game Boy Advance was released.
The game was slated to be released in 2001; snags were hit, but still managed being released--albit a very limited release. But point still stands, it made it out of gaming purgatory, which is more than Starfox 2 can say.
Shantae is lauded as one of the top games for Game Boy Color, if not, THE top game for any Game Boy Color list. So what makes it one of the best games amongst the 1,300+ games released between Game Boy and Game Boy color?.
Let's start off with what the game is even about. Shantae is a half-genie who resides as the sheriff/defender of Scuttle Town. One day, scantily clad-sociopathic-kleptomaniac pirate queen Risky Boots comes to invade Scuttle Town and successfully does so, stealing a steam engine in the process. The mayor of Scuttle Town is disappointed in Shantae for not preventing the raid, so our half-genie protagonist goes out to stop Risky Boots, who we later find out is building a weapon of mass-destruction.
Okay, so the story is light hearted and silly, but the games music and visuals are nothing but business. The game was pushed to virtually every limit you can think of--it's about as artsy-fartsy as you can possibly get. Considering the Game Boy houses a speaker the size of a dime, the music pieces sound very elaborate. In regards to animation and gameplay fluidity, it’s about as top notch as you can get. Shantae is The enemies in the game are very animated. We are not talking about your standard 'Goomba' enemies from Mario Brothers who are either aimlessly moving from one end to another. The enemies here jump from the ground, throw thing, spin, dive, toss, tumble, shuffle, wince in pain, explode into bones. The most basic enemies in this game are heavily detailed. It's something you wouldn't expect out of something that is an 8-bit game.
The main goal is to travel from town to town in search of four items that, combined, could produce an infinite amount of power for say a STOLEN STEAM ENGINE.
The game definitely reels you in with easter eggs and add-ons that are JUST BARELY out of reach right out of the gate. Just going to the next town, you find out that if you collect 12 fireflies, 'something special' will happen. You pass by two fireflies that you can see, but can't get to, and an extra heart container (ala Legend of Zelda or Mega Man X). On top of that, you can only see the fireflies at night, which, OH! Great segue! The game employs a night and day system! There is relatively little difference between the two other than you can only collect fireflies at night, the music changes, and enemies take about twice as many hits than they would during the day.
The dungeons you visit in order to gather these 4 magical stones have a bit of a Metroid feel to them--sans missiles and bubble doors. In these dungeons, you get to learn a dance that transforms you into an animal that has a particular trait that will help you in the rest of the dungeon and the rest of the game. If you are familiar with using Zero in the Mega Man X series, you will recall having to perform a button sequence to get his special sword strikes to work. That concept applies here. The dancing is a HUGE part of the game as you later learn dances that teleport from town to town. This sounds neat until you learn that that are 6 button sequences. Have fun going to Bandit Town!
Speaking of Bandit Town, if you happen to be playing this on a Game Boy Advance, you can learn an extra dance for 500 jewels. If you have an Advance, get the dance.
So you have massive graphics, lots of extra content, elaborate musical scores, and a game that seems to neatly blend puzzle-platformer. Where can this go wrong?
For starters, the most common complaint about the game is the field of view. You will die a lot in this game not by enemies but by falling into pits, spikes, water. This is most noticeable in the waterfall section of the game. It's easy to climb to the tallest point and make a leap of faith to try and land on the next ledge and save yourself some time, but doing so will result in 'Sonic-The-Hedgehog' syndrome, in which the action happening is so fast that the player has no way of avoiding harm if they are to run afoul of an impasse.
To be fair, at no point in the game are you forced or required to make any leap of faith which makes the field-of-view argument is inadmissible.
Second is the music. Don't get me wrong, the music is good, but I think they did TOO good. The music in the game is very well done, but I can't help but to think that it sounds incredibly busy. You will get some tunes stuck in your head, but more often than not, I didn't want them to be stuck in my head.
Another complaint comes from 'Mega-buster' syndrome. This is when you hold the 'B' button down so that you can charge up a Mega-Buster shot and unleash on an unsuspecting foe. In some games, one may find themselves holding down the 'B' button, or other button equivalent arbitrarily.
In Shantae, you are able to purchase weapon upgrades. One of them requires the user to hold down the 'B' button to charge it. The problem is that if you suffer from 'Mega Man Syndrome' you will charge up this attack and render Shantae immobile and committed to the attack. Once you unleash the attack, you send Shantae screaming and careening towards the enemy. so once you have this add-on, you will die at least 20 times because you will forget that you have it, accidentally charge it while you're on a moving platform above a pit of spikes and find that there is no way to un-commit yourself.
Compound this with once you buy this equipment you CANNOT UN-EQUIP IT. However, this is inadmissible as the weapon equips in the game are optional--and horribly expensive to purchase.
The one BIG legitimate complaint I have with the game is the challenge factor in the game.
It is AMAZINGLY stagnant.
At no point in the game will you find yourself helplessly stuck, but there is also no escalating challenge. The boss fights don’t get any harder; the dungeons don’t present more difficult challenges. Shantae, despite being able to present different puzzle elements here and there, manages to hover in the challenge range of average the entire game except for the VERY END (not because the boss has a complicated attack pattern, but her vulnerability window pops up LESS FREQUENTLY than Tyler Durden). I’m not sure whether I should be amazed or completely horrified that despite being very player friendly and immersive, there is not much challenge for the player.

If you were to compound the good and the bad together; Shantae's smooth controls, colorful characters, setting, and easter eggs make a very pleasurable experience for anyone who gives the game a try.

[BoringSupreez]

I just looked up the price. Last time I looked it was like $75, and I was wondering if maybe it had come down a bit since then. No such luck. In 2010 it doubled in price, and has stayed about that way since. Any ideas why?

[The Nihilist]

Price has dropped a bit since the holiday season, they've been going for about $150 on average (going off of auctions that actually sell), as opposed to $175 when I first started auction hunting for one.

But I'm probably going to sell my copy, as I just finished it and I'm not intending to take it to Afghanistan with me and I don't see myself playing through it again as I got EVERYTHING in the game except for the extra dance on the first go-through.

I'm guessing that more people are finding out about the game and adding fuel to the hype machine, that's the only reason I can justify the price hike.

There's a retro store in Vegas that has a copy with the box (a damaged box, no manual or anything else, may I add), and they won't budge off of $250. Small testament to the hype the game has with it's troubles history.

[The Nihilist]

I see a few things I can do on later reviews. I need to 'section' things off. Color would seem to help too.

[ksloth]

I saw this game inside a game store display, cart only, for $175.00

I have noida if that is good or bad, but damn that is a lot of money.