Shantae

Shantae is an old-school metroidvania platformer developed by WayForward. It deubted in 2002 on the Game Boy Color and was released on other platforms later on.

Plot

Shantae is set in a fantasy Sequin Land. Its people live in fear of the Tinkerbats - a powerful pirate gang led by the villainous Risky Boots. One day they invade Scuttle Town and steal a prototype steam engine, which, powered by four elemental stones, could become an unstoppable weapon. The pirates are opposed by Shantae, the titular half-genie. She embarks on a journey across Sequin Land to find the stones before Risky Boots.

Mechanics

Shantae is a side-scroller. The player must traverse various areas, jump on platforms, avoid traps, obstacles and face enemies. Shantae's primary weapon is her hair, wielded like a whip. The game features a day-and-night cycle, with enemies becoming stronger during the night. There are also various mini-games to make the gameplay more diverse.

As Shantae progresses through the story, she learns special dances from encountered genies, letting her shapeshift and gain new abilities. As a monkey she can climb walls, as an elephant she can destroy parts of the environment, as a harpy she can fly, and as a spider she can move on webs. This means overtime we'll gain access to once unavailable locations.

The main currency are gems, spent to buy healing potions, consumable items and unlock new attacks. We'll also collect magical vessels to increase Shantae's health, fireflies and Warp Squids granting special rewards.

Technical aspects

Shantae features simple, yet colorful and appealing pixel art visuals.