Shantae is a beloved series from WayForward, and there have been many entries over the years. The Half-Genie hero has been in some truly great Metroidvania adventures, but one has always been missing all this time. The Game Boy Advance was supposed to receive an entry entitled Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, which would have been the second game in the series, but was never released.
Well, never released until now as WayForward teamed up with Limited Run Games to bring the game back for the Game Boy Advance on a real cartridge. But for this review we will look at the version they later released for modern platforms. Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is certainly an interesting game, but rest assured that this is no mere oddity.
Set directly after the original Game Boy Color game, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution marked the intended second appearance of Shantae and her friends , and also shows how Shantae’s cast expanded in various ways. First to note here, this is a Shantae game, so the gameplay should be recognizable for the most part. Shantae can use her hair as a whip to attack enemies, while also gaining access to spells such as fireballs and being able to float in mid air.
As mentioned above, the Shantae games are Metroidvanias and Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is not an exception. The way it is done though, is a bit different and closer to how it would be in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is a map based game that sees Shantae going to different locations to take on bosses, find relic hunters, set things right and more, but the game also involves going back and forth between various maps and locations as new abilities are gained.
These new abilities of course include Shantae’s transformations like in other games. Shantae can transform into a monkey, a crab, an elephant etc and gain access to new areas like in other titles. But Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution does something else. This time around, the map will be altered at various points due to the villainous Risky Boots shifting the earth under Sequin Land/ This drastically alters the map layouts and will lead to you needing to go back and forth multiple times as the layout changes.
It sounds frustrating but somehow it just works well. It also helps that Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution tries other things like diving mechanics and more, that are tied to specific locations, and the map shifts will genuinely alter how you explore different areas. This is expanded on in the story and creates a fun sense of adventure, because you never know where things will end up.
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution contains the original Game Boy Advance Release that was released earlier this year, but also contains a touched up version as the main game, complete with some new visual enhancements for character portraits and such. Both are fun to play, and it is neat to have as an addition. Overall though, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution feels different as a Shantae game. Some elements were reused in later titles, such as the aforementioned Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, but the way they are handled here in Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution definitely feels unique.
The one issue is that the new shifting map layouts can be a bit confusing to navigate at times and it borders on frustrating. It never gets too bad though, and overall Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is a fun game, but there are some quirks that could have been fixed up for sure. In this context, it is easy to see where WayForward innovated and improved in later games.
Also included with Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is a four-player battle mode and it is a bit of fun competitively, but this is the part that is mostly a curiosity. Overall, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is a well designed package that brings back a lost chapter of Shantae’s history and lets us fill in the gaps for the first time. While some parts might be frustrating, the overall package is designed well, and the inclusion of multiple versions and modes makes this great. If you like Shantae, or retro games, then definitely check out Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
