Ever since the very first game on Game Boy Color (which I still have), I’ve always been a fan of the Shantae game series.  And now my second favorite game in the series is now on Nintendo Switch!  (my first favorite is still the original game).  So here’s a quick review of Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse.  In the game, you play as Shantae, a half-human, half-genie who uses her powers to protect her home of Scuttle Town.  But in the previous game, she was stripped of her genie powers by her arch rival, female pirate Risky Boots.  But now Risky has come back with a proposition for Shantae: help her dispel the pirate’s curse that has taken Risky’s crew, and Shantae may get her powers back.  So now Shantae and Risky must work together in this 2-D platform game adventure.

In other games in the series, Shantae uses dances to change into different animals to bypass obstacles.  But since she can’t do that here, she’ll rely on pirate items hidden by Risky to help her out instead.  For instance, a pirate hat acts like a parachute to slow Shantae’s decent, a pistol is handy for hitting long distance targets, and you can even use a giant cannon to do a double jump.  For some reason, Shantae can still attack enemies with her ponytail whip hair attack like she always does.  You’ll also discover hidden items to boost your health, and money to use back in town to buy even more upgrades.  Usually you’ll have to find the pirate items in dungeon mazes, where you’ll solve puzzles and defeat bosses.

There are two reasons why this is one of my favorite Shantae games.  One, there are actual non-linear dungeon mazes to go through.  Unlike the last game, Half Genie Hero, where the stages felt more like linear Mega Man levels.  Don’t get me wrong, Half Genie Hero was still a great game, but I prefer how the other games play.  The other great thing about Pirate’s Curse is that once you find the pirate items, you can use them at any time without having to select dances to turn into animals.  While that really never bothered me personally in past games, it was nice to have more seamless action in this one.  So if you enjoy cartoony 2-D platforms with Metroid style exploration elements, you’ll definitely want to try out this game!

Kid Factor:

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Cartoon Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes.  You attack enemies with silly weapons like hair and cartoony guns, and defeated enemies just fall into piles of bones or slime.  Some of the female characters wear rather skimpy outfits, too.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may get frustrated at the difficulty.

Tags: Game Reviews