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»Shantae
"Good things come to those who wait. Take Shantae, for example..."
Before we get into the actual review, here’s a strange little rumor: Shantae
has been in development since the heyday of (and was originally
intended to be released for) the Super NES, and considering the large
gap in time between the copyright dates displayed on the intro scene,
I’m beginning to think this may have been the case. The point is, if
there’s any truth to this dubious factoid, then Shantae is a
prime example for the old saying, “Good things come to those who wait.”
Honestly, this is in all likelihood, the best game released exclusively
for the GBC. Most of them either borrowed or shared blockbuster fame
with its green-and-grey-scaled predecessor. It’s one of the few titles
for the system that lives up to the Game Boy’s legacy of delivering
great games.
In Shantae, players take on the role of the game’s eponymous protagonist, a genie - scratch that, half-genie
- who is the guardian of a village known as Scuttle Town. One day, her
hometown is invaded by a group of pirates, led by the femme fatale
Risky Boots. Sure, there was chaos all throughout Scuttle Town, but the
goal of their invasion was more than mere plundering; they’ve stolen a
powerful new invention, the Steam Engine, from one of Shantae’s
friends, the inventor Mimic. After being told of the engine’s
abilities, Shantae sets off on a quest to retrieve the steam engine and
stop Risky’s evil plans.
The excellent gameplay takes many elements from
earlier platformers and puts them together seamlessly. There’s an
overworld that connects four separate towns, as well as many dungeons,
kind of like Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest on the NES. Adding to the CV2
similarities, the environment shifts from day to night at various
points, and your enemies are stronger at night, though the transition
is far smoother than in CV2 and day seems to last much longer
than night. In the towns, the game takes on more of a first-person
view, allowing you to simply move to the left and right, and either go
into a location or simply interact with one of the many townspeople.
There are many locations in each town, but the ones that are common to
all are the Save Room (where you can save your game), the Bath House
(where you can heal yourself back to full health), the Item Shop (where
you can trade gems for various items) and the Town Gate (which leads
you back onto the overworld).
As for the actual gameplay mechanics, it’s pretty
much a clean split between typical hack-and-slash and puzzle-solving.
Shantae’s main weapon in the game is her pony tail, which she uses like
a whip (hmmm, I guess that’s another Castlevania similarity.)
Players can also buy accessories that give her other attacks, such as a
spin-kick and an elbow dash, among others. There are also sub-weapons
with finite ammunition that can be purchased from various shops, such
as spiked balls that orbit her to ward off any enemy attackers. As for
the puzzling elements, they mainly show up in dungeons, forcing players
to match up patterns and place an eyeball into an eye-socket, for
example. They’re not exactly the most difficult puzzles, but they
definitely add some flavor to this already solid platformer.
Finally, there is Shantae’s dancing ability.
Throughout the game, players learn dances from various characters,
which can be performed by hitting certain button strokes while in Dance
Mode (activated by hitting the Select button). These dances invoke
various effects, such as the ability to transform into different
creatures, heal Shantae and warp back to Scuttle Town, for example.
While without this trait, this game would be among the best games in
the GBC, its inclusion simply puts it at the top. This isn't just a
gimmick. It fully evolves the game's playability and, thus
replayability. Since I absolutely love making references to other
games, could you imagine how droll and repetitive MegaMan would be
without the Robot Master power-ups?
The most impressive aspect of the game is easily
how it looks. In my opinion, this is the most beautiful game possible
on this tired system. Why, you ask? Well, mainly because in most of the
games I’ve seen on the GBC, the graphics were downright hideous:
malformed and ill-colored, giving off a half-assed vibe that leaves
much to be desired. Shantae, on the other hand, actually shows off what
the Game Boy Color was capable of. For starters, the actual palette in
the game is nice, going well beyond even that of the NGPC at its peak.
Second, there’s some actual character shading. For example, when the
time shifts from day to night, not only does the scenery change, but
the colorations on Shantae and the enemies also shift, which is a
beautiful touch. Not only that, but they also change when she’s
illuminated by fiery backgrounds or uneven lighting, which shows that
WayForward really paid attention to detail. Also, the animations in the
game are smooth. Shantae’s various stances (be they her default
standing pose, her “ready to pounce” crouch stance, her hair whip
attack, and her dance moves) are all fluid. Hell, the graphics are even
improved if you play the game on a GBA, in an unorthodox showing of
“forward-compatibility” between the two systems. Needless to say, the
graphics left me completely impressed, but also with a lingering
feeling of disappointment. Not with Shantae, mind you, but with the rest of the GBC’s library.
As you may know from reading my reviews pertaining
to the GBC, I have an extreme hatred for the it’s horrible sound card -
sure, it’s better than the WonderSwan’s, but even that system could
belt out a decent soundtrack once in a while. Seemingly crushing my
unfaltering bias, Shantae actually comes up with something I can
appreciate. The game's tunes lend a nice Arabian ambiance, similar to
those found in the 16-bit Disney's Aladdin. It sounds pretty catchy,
despite the strange instrumentation found on the GBC. There is one song
that really sticks out though, and that would be the one that plays
when night falls on the overworld, truly a badass tune with some
guitar-like overtones. Sure, it clashes with the rest of the game’s
soundtrack, but it fits perfectly with the change in scenery, evoking
the increased danger on the overworld during the night. As for the
sound effects, eh! They’re standard for the system.
The replay’s pretty good too. Aside from the
game’s long quest, there are also many collectable items, which you may
not collect during your first play through. There are also many
side-quests to keep you busy, even after the main storyline is done.
Not to mention the fact that the game’s fun factor seems to make it
seem more at home in the golden age of 2D platformers, as opposed to
the 2000’s. There’s only one thing that disappoints me about Shantae,
and that would be the fact that the planned GBA sequel never saw the
light of day. Oh well, at least we’ll see more from WayForward in the
future: they’re developing for Contra 4 on the DS.
Article by: Wolfdogg
Posted on: Aug. 28th, 2007 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| Platforming action so deep and awesome, I’m surprised that Capcom only published it. |
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Graphics |
| Nice coloring, awesome lighting effects, fluid character animation and well-rendered town scenes and profile shots make this (arguably) the best looking GBC game ever. |
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Sound |
| Great soundtrack and decent sound effects, in spite of the GBC’s abhorrent sound card. |
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Replay Value |
| Great fun factor, a long quest, numerous collectables, this game’s got it all. |
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