How Can I Play It?: Shantae

Last week, I spoke to Shantae lead designer Matt Bozon about his series' origins, history, and evolution. The original Game Boy Color title debuted in 2002, but the concept behind the game stretches back an additional decade before that. Some form of Shantae has been kicking around in different states of development nonstop for 25 years! And in all that time, a whopping four games have made it to market. That makes for a tidy series, and one that's easy to play in its entirety… but the wide array of platforms for which the games have debuted (and the hard-to-find nature of the first game) adds a little challenge for the collector. 

Shantae (2002)

Where to find it:

As we explored in last week's podcast, the original Shantae shipped long after its platform (the Game Boy Color) had shuffled down the ranks from "unhip" to "terminally unwanted." As such, it shipped in vanishingly small quantities, and the original GBC cartridge alone sells for a ridiculous premium (don't ask about the boxed version). Thankfully, there is another choice: 3DS Virtual Console, where it sells for about 1% of the cost of the cartridge. Go with that version, and keep your fingers crossed that the original eventually makes its way to some other platform one of these days.

Shantae: Risky's Revenge (2010)

Where to find it:

The first sequel to Shantae was pitched as an episodic release, which accounts for why it turned out to be so remarkably brief. (The other episodes never quite materialized.) The Director's Cut edition is the one released for every platform following the original DSiWare version, but it doesn't add that much; it's mostly a matter of minor tweaks and refinements. That said, any version of the game is worth playing (although we can't in good conscience recommend the virtual controls of the iOS port, even if it is cheap), so this one really comes down to a matter of preference.

Note that Risky's Revenge did see a scarce physical release for PS4 from Limited Run games, but it sells for a hefty sum these days.

Shantae and The Pirate's Curse (2014)

Where to find it:

As with the previous Shantae titles, Pirate's Curse began life on portable systems and eventually propagated to every other system on earth. The 3DS version plays as well as any other, though be warned that it does highlight the series' tendency to emphasize cheesecake visuals with the way it focuses the system's 3D screen enhancements on the its female characters' chests… which you see a lot of here. Again, this one's down to a matter of preference, but we'll recommend the PS4 version simply due to the platform's ubiquity. 

That said, if you want a retail version of the game, 3DS is the way to go — that version sells for a bit above retail these days, but it's a lot less expensive than the Limited Run Games release of the PS4 port.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (2016)

Where to find it:

The crowd-funded soft reboot to Shantae, Half-Genie Hero's Kickstarter origins mean that even though it debuted in 2016, the game's final update (the Friends to the End DLC) only shipped a few weeks ago. The Ultimate Edition retail version of the game will be shipping in April for PS4 and Switch and is probably the way to go. We're going to recommend grabbing the Switch version, simply because there's a certain pleasing symmetry in Shantae on a portable console.