GENIUS SEQUELS

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF SHANTAE

SHANTAE: RISKY’S REVENGE

▪ Shantae’s second adventure is an easy-breezy quest through a mere two major dungeons, but it packs some of the best sprite work seen on the Nintendo DS thanks to the input of the absolute pixel artisan Henk Nieborg. Not a bad game by any means, but it feels compressed and compromised.

SHANTAE AND THE PIRATE’S CURSE

▪ Often considered the best game in the series, Pirate’s

Curse eschews Shantae’s transformations in favour of pieces of pirate gear that grant her new attacks and traversal abilities. The areas are separated into different islands this time, each with a miniature Metroidvania-like map to explore.

SHANTAE: HALF-GENIE HERO

▪ The result of a successful Kickstarter, Half-genie Hero is a bit of a departure for the series, not only being more linear than preceding games but also being the first to launch on home consoles. It’s a good time, though, with the best soundtrack in the series from Jake Kaufman and a lot of modes and content.

SHANTAE AND THE SEVEN SIRENS

▪ Seven Sirens returns the series to its traditional Metroidvania structure, but is otherwise more of the same – hardly a bad thing when your baseline quality is well above average. This episodic title launched in 2019 on the Apple Arcade service before arriving in its completed form on all formats the following year.