Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution (Nintendo Switch)

As a “lost chapter” restored, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution has to balance the reality of being a 20-year-old game that’s also polished and updated to modern sensibilities. It falls short in that regard, but the game still offers the sort of high-quality entertainment I’ve come to expect from WayForward.

For the record, this is only the third Shantae game I’ve played amongst the series and its many ports. I’m a big WayForward fan, but not as much a Shantae one. Pirate’s Curse on the Nintendo DS was my first Shantae game, and I enjoyed it well enough. The loss of her genie powers and needing to rely on her own resourcefulness clicked with me. My next one was Half-Genie Hero, which I eventually grabbed on the Switch mainly because it was our Wii U cover story back in PNM #27. The approach of that game (less “Metroidvania”, more action) also appealed to me somewhat. I say this not to pad out a review, but as a disclaimer for those seeking comprehensive comparisons to past entries. I have my limits.

Of course, Risky Revolution has both Shantae’s genie powers and the traditional series gameplay at the fore.  As a sidescrolling platformer, Shantae uses her ponytail to eliminate monsters of all sorts and even solve puzzles. This is always good fun. She’ll also use her aforementioned transformations when backtracking to prior areas to access new parts, something I’m more divided on. I blame an early bug when I was in crab form, for one. Somehow, I fell under the level, but it wasn’t exploration that led to a fun secret. Eventually, I heard Shantae scream, only to respawn immovable. I have run into glitches in other Shantae games, but this was probably the earliest. Another update patch would be beneficial, though your confidence in the series shouldn’t be shaken because of this, only the land. 

Yes, this game’s plot finds Sequin Land facing a unique foundation-shaking threat. Risky Boots, the series’ pirate provocateur, is using mechanical devices to rock the town’s groundwork itself, twisting pillars to move inland areas to the coast for painless plundering. The stories in these Shante games tend to be of minimal importance to me, but this is one of the more intriguing tales.

Risky Revolution has an interesting difficulty. Hearts are generous, and heart holders increase your health. Save spots are conveniently frequent. The enemies tend to be easy. Even the bosses’ patterns are quickly learned. The challenge seems to stem more from the hit detection being a tad off (at least compared to some other entries) and the navigation itself. Backtracking is central, for better or worse. Repeatedly, I entered a cave only to discover I’d been there before and wasn’t due back yet. Areas can look and play quite similarly. The game started to remind me of an old point-and-click game where some puzzles boiled down to trying everything. It feels a bit unbalanced, and even surprisingly dull on occasion.

It circles back to my initial mention of Risky Revolution needing modern sensibilities, which wasn’t a personal wish that I pulled out of the air. Series director Matt Bozon (whom PN has worked with more than once) said that this game would be “modernized with our current sensibilities.” This brings me to my elephant in the room, and no, I’m not talking about Shantae’s elephant transformation. This game has no map.

A map would’ve been so appreciated for a game like this that straddles the line between clever and mazy. I’d argue it should’ve been expected, given not just its subgenre but also past games in the series. The argument that this is a GBA game at heart (Limited Run even did a physical release cartridge, long sold out) simply doesn’t fly as an excuse because a lack of a map would’ve felt dated even if this were released on the GBA twenty years ago. Today, it feels antiquated. Combined with the removal of town pointers to nudge you in the right direction, Shante’s newest feels like one of her oldest.

Don’t get me wrong, even being left to your own devices, you’ll still have some fun as you “Spin and shift Front Yard and Back Yard playfields to create new routes and solve puzzles!” It doesn’t take long to get used to, reminding me of Virtual Boy Wario Land (which I covered in PNM #35) and by curious coincidence, is coming back via the Switch Online Nintendo Classics.) But Risky Revolution certainly would’ve been better with more options to live up to the game’s full promise.

I’m confident I’d have gotten more out of this game had I experienced the entire series because, at the end of the day, this is both the second entry and the sixth one. Enthusiasts won’t mind some conversations overstaying their welcome, as these characters are old friends. If their attention turns elsewhere, it will probably be to other Shantae games. They’ll wanna hunt down every secret squid, and might not miss directions in the form of a map or gentle hints. This is likely the Shantae game for them.

However, a couple of the “Key Features” in this game are big letdowns for fans old and new. One is the battle mode. Not only does it not have online, it doesn’t even have the option to challenge computer players! I can understand the former, but there’s no excuse for the latter. Even budget battlers give you the option to challenge the CPU. It feels incomplete. The other is the DLC. A Deluxe Edition of this game (for $10 more) includes a trio of costumes that can’t even be changed on the fly. Not too exciting.

But aesthetically, the game succeeds. The GBA style is very nostalgic for a generation of gamers, and the humble hardware was capable of producing some great-looking games. Risky Revolution is no exception. Just remember, Shantae earns her teen rating by showing ample skin. Musically, I admit to missing the Jake Kaufman compositions. Maddie Lim does some solid tracks, a few being catchy, but I might prefer some of her work on Vitamin Connection. That said, the Lava Town tune is great. And that area as a whole is quite humorous.

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is a well-made, quality game that’ll prove mostly entertaining for fans well-versed in the series. But it reflects plenty of choices here that are tough to wrap one’s head around, especially when other Shantae games surpass this one in both pace and polish. The restrictive 4-player mode disappointingly fails to live up to the hype. And the inexplicable lack of a map (or any typical hint system) makes this game feel antiquated next to its other entries. Thus, what should be a great game is just a good one. Wait for a sale, and make this Shantae your Half-Price Hero.