Shantae Risky's Revenge

What to say... This is a sequel to one of the rarest and most celebrated Gameboy Color games of its entire (apparently small ) catalog. With that said, much was expected from this sequel. From graphics, story, to gameplay; this was expected to , ahem, "pwn".

First off- this game looks great. The animation of the characters are very distinct and fluid, and they burst with personality and color. The backgrounds are also highly detailed. There are plenty of subtle tricks, too. From the flying seagulls to boats swaying in the currents, everything is just really put together nicely.

The story is a continuation from the previous installment, though you don't have to know anything about it in order to play through this one. Its got loads of personality, and every character has some silly lines that made me smirk. Overall, they're pretty 2 dimensional. But it doesn't matter much in a platformer, right?

Controls- this is what makes or breaks a game like this, right? Happily, I announce that the mechanics work amazingly well. In fact, the controls rival anything Nintendo's first party devs have come up with. You attack by whipping your hair much like a, yeah you guessed it, a whip. You can also find transformational dances that can morph you into various animals/creatures. These are more for figuring out puzzles rather than attacking, but you CAN attack with them in all forms save the monkey. (3 forms: Monkey, Elephant, and Mermaid). Each has an upgrade as well.

This title also shares a lot in common with the Metroid series in that you must return to previous areas pretty consistently and relying heavily on exploration and memorization skills. Luckily, the game is relatively short so it doesn't take too much. Etrian Odyssey this ain't.

I beat it 100% after about 7 hours of game-time. With a $12 price tag, I found it a bit on the short side. And once you collect all 34 items... no reason to come back for a second run.

I give it 8/10, would be higher if a few more levels were there, and maybe if it was a tad harder.

When I think of attacking with your hair, the first title that comes to mind is Kabuki Quantum Fighter.

I really want to get this game. It was the highest rated DS game last year...and it was DSiWare. More stuff like this, and this service is going places!

Yeah, I really think it should have been longer. I loved the gameplay... onto the GBC game...

Did anyone notice that according to the latest NP on games you must buy, Shantae costs a mere 12,000 points? Uhhh.... isn't that $120? LOL. Wow, Z, you said the game was good, but I'm not sure I can fork over that kind of dough...

In my issue it says 1,2000...

Which translates to 1thousand, 2 thousand. LOL