As a “misplaced chapter” restored, Shantae Advance: Dangerous Revolution has to steadiness the truth of being a 20-year-old sport that’s additionally polished and up to date to fashionable sensibilities. It falls quick in that regard, however the sport nonetheless affords the type of high-quality leisure I’ve come to count on from WayForward.
For the file, that is solely the third Shantae sport I’ve performed amongst the collection and its many ports. I’m a giant WayForward fan, however not as a lot a Shantae one. Pirate’s Curse on the Nintendo DS was my first Shantae sport, and I loved it properly sufficient. The lack of her genie powers and needing to depend on her personal resourcefulness clicked with me. My subsequent one was Half-Genie Hero, which I finally grabbed on the Change primarily as a result of it was our Wii U cowl story again in PNM #27. The method of that sport (much less “Metroidvania”, extra motion) additionally appealed to me considerably. I say this to not pad out a overview, however as a disclaimer for these in search of complete comparisons to previous entries. I’ve my limits.
In fact, Dangerous Revolution has each Shantae’s genie powers and the normal collection gameplay on the fore. As a sidescrolling platformer, Shantae makes use of her ponytail to eradicate monsters of all types and even resolve puzzles. That is at all times good enjoyable. She’ll additionally use her aforementioned transformations when backtracking to prior areas to entry new elements, one thing I’m extra divided on. I blame an early bug once I was in crab kind, for one. In some way, I fell below the extent, however it wasn’t exploration that led to a enjoyable secret. Finally, I heard Shantae scream, solely to respawn immovable. I’ve run into glitches in different Shantae video games, however this was in all probability the earliest. One other replace patch could be helpful, although your confidence within the collection shouldn’t be shaken due to this, solely the land.
Sure, this sport’s plot finds Sequin Land dealing with a novel basis-shaking risk. Dangerous Boots, the collection’ pirate provocateur, is utilizing mechanical units to rock the city’s groundwork itself, twisting pillars to maneuver inland areas to the coast for painless plundering. The tales in these Shante video games are typically of minimal significance to me, however this is among the extra intriguing tales.
Dangerous Revolution has an fascinating issue. Hearts are beneficiant, and coronary heart holders enhance your well being. Save spots are conveniently frequent. The enemies are typically simple. Even the bosses’ patterns are rapidly discovered. The problem appears to stem extra from the hit detection being a tad off (at the very least in comparison with another entries) and the navigation itself. Backtracking is central, for higher or worse. Repeatedly, I entered a cave solely to find I’d been there earlier than and wasn’t due again but. Areas can look and play fairly equally. The sport began to remind me of an previous point-and-click sport the place some puzzles boiled all the way down to making an attempt every little thing. It feels a bit unbalanced, and even surprisingly boring from time to time.
It circles again to my preliminary point out of Dangerous Revolution needing fashionable sensibilities, which wasn’t a private want that I pulled out of the air. Collection director Matt Bozon (whom PN has labored with greater than as soon as) mentioned that this sport could be “modernized with our present sensibilities.” This brings me to my elephant within the room, and no, I’m not speaking about Shantae’s elephant transformation. This sport has no map.
A map would’ve been so appreciated for a sport like this that straddles the road between intelligent and mazy. I’d argue it ought to’ve been anticipated, given not simply its subgenre but additionally previous video games within the collection. The argument that this can be a GBA sport at coronary heart (Restricted Run even did a bodily launch cartridge, lengthy bought out) merely doesn’t fly as an excuse as a result of an absence of a map would’ve felt dated even when this had been launched on the GBA twenty years in the past. Right now, it feels antiquated. Mixed with the elimination of city tips to nudge you in the fitting course, Shante’s latest appears like one among her oldest.
Don’t get me improper, even being left to your personal units, you’ll nonetheless have some enjoyable as you “Spin and shift Entrance Yard and Again Yard playfields to create new routes and resolve puzzles!” It doesn’t take lengthy to get used to, reminding me of Digital Boy Wario Land (which I coated in PNM #35) and by curious coincidence, is coming again by way of the Change On-line Nintendo Classics.) However Dangerous Revolution actually would’ve been higher with extra choices to stay as much as the sport’s full promise.
I’m assured I’d have gotten extra out of this sport had I skilled the whole collection as a result of, on the finish of the day, that is each the second entry and the sixth one. Fanatics received’t thoughts some conversations overstaying their welcome, as these characters are previous associates. If their consideration turns elsewhere, it’ll in all probability be to different Shantae video games. They’ll wanna search out each secret squid, and won’t miss instructions within the type of a map or light hints. That is seemingly the Shantae sport for them.
Nevertheless, a few the “Key Options” on this sport are massive letdowns for followers previous and new. One is the battle mode. Not solely does it not have on-line, it doesn’t even have the choice to problem pc gamers! I can perceive the previous, however there’s no excuse for the latter. Even price range battlers provide the choice to problem the CPU. It feels incomplete. The opposite is the DLC. A Deluxe Version of this sport (for $10 extra) features a trio of costumes that may’t even be modified on the fly. Not too thrilling.
However aesthetically, the sport succeeds. The GBA type may be very nostalgic for a technology of players, and the standard {hardware} was able to producing some great-looking video games. Dangerous Revolution isn’t any exception. Simply bear in mind, Shantae earns her teen score by exhibiting ample pores and skin. Musically, I admit to lacking the Jake Kaufman compositions. Maddie Lim does some strong tracks, just a few being catchy, however I’d favor a few of her work on Vitamin Connection. That mentioned, the Lava City tune is nice. And that space as an entire is sort of humorous.
Shantae Advance: Dangerous Revolution is a well-made, high quality sport that’ll show largely entertaining for followers well-versed within the collection. Nevertheless it displays loads of decisions right here which might be robust to wrap one’s head round, particularly when different Shantae video games surpass this one in each tempo and polish. The restrictive 4-player mode disappointingly fails to stay as much as the hype. And the inexplicable lack of a map (or any typical trace system) makes this sport really feel antiquated subsequent to its different entries. Thus, what needs to be an incredible sport is only a good one. Watch for a sale, and make this Shantae your Half-Value Hero.
