Just under a month ago, the group from Humble Bundle brought us the second bundle for the Wii U and 3DS games with the "Humble Friends of Nintendo Bundle." Naturally, I bought it. There was a solid lineup of games from the start and for $13, I ended up with quite a selection of games for each of my consoles. One of those games being Shantae and the Pirate's Curse.

Now, I've seen the Shantae games in screenshots and honestly hadn't had a lot of experience with WayForward games aside from Mighty Switch Force.  As a result, I had already sort of dismissed the game as being oriented toward girls. After playing the game, I couldn't be more pleased to have been so wrong.



Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is the third game in the Shantae series. I haven't played the other games in the series, but the beginning of the game helps to at least catch you up to the events from the second game. Basically, Shantae has lost her genie powers and is learning to live as a human. Soon, the town she lives in is taken over by the Ammo Baron. After trying to take things in and relax with a nice bubble bath, her nemesis, Risky Boots, traps her, because she believes Shantae has robbed her, since her crew and items are now missing! Risky Boots also mentions that her crew has been taken over by Dark Magic. They soon find a common enemy in the Pirate Master, who is trying to revive himself. Enemies become friends! Cats and dogs living together! Mass hysteria!


Shantae has a very "Metroidvania" feel. At first glance, the game may look a bit short with only five islands to explore, but the developers have extended them a little bit, mostly teased by the way some items and areas that can only be accessed after you get an item later in the game. There are lots of consumable items as well that you can both purchase and find from defeating enemies. There is also a novel way of upgrading Shantae's attacks as well. In the item shop in the main town, you can purchase shampoo and silky cream to upgrade her primary attack, her ponytail. Health is increased by collecting 4 Heart Squids and taking them to the Squidsmith, where she smashes them with a hammer to make a new heart for you...


The game controls very well. I played it the first time on my New 3DS XL and didn't run in to any instances where I really felt that the buttons were making movement or actions awkward. Platforming is tight and when I would miss a jump, I realized why I missed it or what mistake I made so that I was able to complete it the next time. I didn't feel like anything was ultimately unfair about the jumping mechanics, but you do have to take the occasional leap of faith to solve a puzzle or get through a room.


Graphically, it's a wonderfully animated game. Idle animations aren't just a quick, one pixel up and down change in appearance and as a result, these animations have nice flow and bounce to them. Movement is smooth, but not floaty (except when you're floating...) and there is a nice feel to attacks from when you press to when the action happens.

Speaking with shop owners and other NPCs in the game is also accompanied by high resolution pictures for many of the characters and this helps tell the story in a way the smaller sprites can't. Depending on how you feel about scantily clad genies, zombies, and pirates, you might want to preview the game before letting your kids play it.


All in all, the game is fairly short, even with backtracking and finding everything, but you really shouldn't let that deter you. It was a blast to play and I'll be playing the new game+ mode soon. It's well worth playing if you bought the bundle, but if I would have known that it was so much fun, I probably would have picked it up before that. Still on the fence? Here's the trailer.

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