Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (2018) [Switch]

“You’re just a man in a suit. Take that away, and what are you?”

-Steve Rogers, The Avengers

While Tony’s quippy response has become meme-worthy, the question stands out in today’s critique of Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, the hilarious third entry of the Shantae series. If you strip a character of her most defining features, what remains? And what do you add to make up for that loss? 

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse was developed by WayForward, firstly for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2014. The Wii U release made this title the first Shantae title to be released on a home console. Subsequent releases to the PC and other home consoles soon followed afterward. 

The All-Human Hero?

Starting shortly after her second adventure, we find the titular character adjusting to being human after giving up her half-genie magic. While lamenting her magical loss, the Ammo Baron from the previous game invades her home of Scuttle Town. Shantae, along with her friends Bolo and Sky, set off to thwart his advances. Soon after his defeat, they subsequently learn that the mayor, Mayor Scuttlebutt, sold the town to the Baron for a bag of candy. Because of her actions against the new Mayor Ammo Baron, Shantae risks losing both her town protector license and her winsome, long hair – the only thing she has left to her name. Upon returning to her home and wondering about her fate, she’s accosted by her arch-nemesis, Risky Boots via an inconspicuously placed mechanical bathtub trap. 

Looking more than distressed, Risky explains that the process that stripped Shantae of her magic has unintentionally broken the seal on the Pirate Master – a fearsome tyrant and Risky’s old boss – who had been locked away by the genies of old. Much like what happened to Shantae, Risky had been stripped of her pirate gear and her henchmen – the Tinkerbats – had been transformed into demonic versions of themselves via Dark Magic. Risky knows the only ways to stop the Pirate Master’s resurrection are to both destroy the dens of evil acting as his source of power and to find the vestiges of Dark Magic that have infected her crew. As she cannot enter these dens herself, Risky reluctantly enlists the de-powered Shantae to go in her stead.

A High Seas Adventure

The bulk of Pirate’s Curse takes place in six different areas within Sequin Land. Scuttle Town is Shantae’s home and is where her adventure begins. It acts as the main hub, where Shantae can purchase items and abilities, increase her health meter and gather information for her quest. As time passes, the town gradually changes thanks to Ammo Baron’s influence.

The remaining five islands have two components to them: an overworld area and an underground labyrinth. Each island is distinctive both visually and through the monsters that live in them. Saliva Island, for example, has mermaids and other aquatic creatures. Spiderweb Island is a gloomy, stormy place containing zombies, spiders, and other creepy crawlies. Tan Line Island is a desert, with scorpions, desert guards, and mummies. Infested with shadow creatures and the souls of the dead, Mud Bog Island is the fourth area to explore. The final island is Frostbite Island and it consists of two areas. The first is a frozen, barren surface with vicious wolves and an underground ice cave. The second is a mechanical town floating high into the sky and powered by ancient technology.

Like all Metroidvanias, Shantae will have to backtrack across these lands as she gains new items and abilities in order to progress through the story. On top of her main quest, Shantae will complete fetch quests, collect and purchase upgrades, find Heart Squids to increase her health, and hunt down Cursed Cacklebats. The Cacklebats are important as they yield Dark Magic upon their defeat. Players will receive different endings depending on if they’ve collected all of the Dark Magic or not.

Dungeon Crawling

In each of the five islands, Shantae will first need to unlock the entrance to the Den of Evil where the Pirate Lord’s dark powers emanate. Inside the labyrinth, players will run, jump, crawl and hair-whip their way through narrow corridors, elaborate traps, and relatively simple puzzles that prevent them from advancing. Solving some of these puzzles involves Shantae obtaining one of Risky’s equipment, stolen by the Pirate Lord himself and placed in each lair. At the end of each lies a giant boss to fight. Or in the case of the third den, a disillusioned Squid Baron, who humorously laments his fate as the mid-game boss.

The level design around the overworld and dungeons are engaging; not too long, yet not too short either. There’s plenty of variety within each in terms of puzzles. However, it follows the same progression found in The Legend of Zelda games: explore the dungeon, find a special item, and then use the special item to solve the remaining dungeon puzzles to reach the boss. It’s a fairly tried and tested method of game design and it works well for a game of this size.

She’s Got Moves

Despite losing her genie magic, Shantae is a force to be reckoned with. Her arsenal initially starts with her trademark hair whip, which she can use either standing or crouching. It has good range; its horizontal span stretches roughly 25% over her height. Her move set begins to expand once she finds Risky’s equipment within each of the five islands.

Risky’s Pistol, gained from exploring Saliva Island, grants Shantae a weak ranged attack. Its primary function, however, is to activate switches from afar. Shantae picks up Risky’s Hat on Spiderweb Island. It allows her to float in the air and can catch updrafts to propel her upwards. Shantae picks up Risky’s Scimitar during the events of Tan Line Island. The weapon grants her a down-stab move, akin to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and is used to destroy purple blocks. She next finds Risky’s Boots on Mud Bog Island. The boots work in the same way as the Speed Booster in Super Metroid: gather enough speed and Shantae will charge forward with the Scimitar pointed away from her. Risky’s Cannon is the final piece of Pirate Gear and can be found on Frostbite Island. Shantae can use the Cannon to launch herself up and reach previously unreachable ledges.

Damage output for the Pistol, Scimitar, and Cannon can be increased by purchasing upgrades in the Scuttle Town shop. Shantae’s hair whip damage and speed can also be increased by purchasing specialized shampoo and conditioner at the shop. Players will need to farm gems to pick all of them up as they are not cheap.

Tools of the Trade

Alongside Risky’s tools, Shantae has access to a variety of consumable items. She can recover health by picking up food items, ranging from flesh pops, to tasty meat on a stick to a full course meal. She can also drink potions to fully recover health or increase her strength. Finally, she can use Pike Balls or Super Pike Balls to augment her attacking prowess. The Pike Ball circles around her, causing damage to anything that approaches her. The Super Pike Ball is an upgraded version which uses three balls instead of one.

One of the key items in her arsenal, aside from consumables and Pirate Gear, is the Magic Lamp. This lamp was the same one used in Risky’s Revenge to extract Shantae’s genie magic. Here, Shantae uses the lamp to reclaim Dark Magic from the cursed CackleBats. Shantae can also store several scents in and release them from the lamp.

Another vital set of items to collect are the Heart Squids. Shantae earns a heart point by collecting at least four squids and bringing them to the blacksmith in Scuttle Town.

Swashbuckling Hi-Jinx

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse feels a lot longer than it actually is. Players can expect to finish the game within eight to ten hours. What made it feel much more substantial was the humour sprinkled throughout the adventure. There are plenty of gags, fourth wall breaks and references, yet they’re written in a way that doesn’t feel forced. The fan service is played for comedic effect.

One example happens early in the game, when two girls vacationing on Saliva Island decide to take a dip in a pool. Unbeknownst to them, it was made up of a giant monster’s saliva. They change into their swimwear and then comment that their bodies are so pale that the sunlight reflected on the pool bounces off of them. Hilariously, the reflected light hits a pair of panels on the wall that opens the way to the first Den of Evil.

Another gut-busting moment occurs on Tan Line Island. The High Priest of Tan Line Temple accosts Shantae while she’s searching for the Den of Evil. The priest declares her to be Tan Line’s missing princess and has her locked up in a room. On top of losing all her items, Shantae has her outfit changed to look like a familiar-looking space princess (which she comments about). Breaking out, Shantae discovers that Sky and Rottytops and even Risky had been captured and forced to wear the same outfit. All of this comes to a head when the real princess shows up and is revealed to look nothing like the four girls, thereby subverting expectations.

Sailing Into The Sunset

For all its strong points, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse was missing a few things that were featured in previous titles. Firstly, the game could have implemented some more mini-games. There is one located in the item shop which has the feel of a WarioWare microgame. Other than that, the only other mini-game in the title was a story-driven one that can only be played once per playthrough. Her iconic dancing mechanics were sorely missed in this title. There was a missed opportunity to have the dance hall from the first game reused for this title as a way to gather gems. There is, however, a continual fetch quest where Shantae gathers food items to give to the former Mayor Scuttlebutt. He rewards her with plenty of gems once she hands over what he craves.

The glue that holds the entire game together is its spirited and pure-hearted protagonist. Rather than be spiteful about the loss of her powers, Shantae adapts to her situation and makes the most of it. While she can be impulsive, she has a caring heart for both friends and foes. Shantae delivers her zombie frenemy, Rottytops, to safety after she is paralyzed by a giant spider. She helps her best friend, Skye, with her romantic troubles. She reluctantly indulges in the whims of her childhood friend, Bolo. And most importantly, she even assisted Risky with defeating the Pirate Master, even though the self-proclaimed Pirate Queen was the cause of her becoming fully human in the first place. Shantae’s plucky and Ret-2-Go attitude, in spite of the loss of her magic powers, helps to make this game a standout title in the franchise.

The 8-Bit Review

Visuals: 9/10

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse features rich and vibrant environments brought together with an impressive and bright colour scheme. Animations for characters, NPC’s and enemies look lively and fluid. The bosses are enormous and visually impressive to behold, especially contrasted with Shantae’s small frame.

There are some points in the game where a large number of sprites causes the frame rate to drop slightly, but they are few and far between.

 Audio: 9/10

Veteran composer Jake Kauffman returns to score the soundtrack. It features a combination of epic, orchestral scores, funky, toe-tapping beats laced with 8-bit flairs and adventurous themes with lots of Middle Eastern inspiration. The music in the game also reuses and remixes tracks featured in the previous two Shantae titles. 

The intro stage music, “We Love Burning Town”, really sets the scene for what amounts to a grand high-seas adventure. It’s difficult to stop oneself from dancing in their seat as this plays as it has such great energy behind it. Other notable tracks include “Scorching Dunes,” played on Tan Line Island and “Streamworks” for Saliva Island. A certain section of the latter track sounds eerily like part of Stardust Speedway from Sonic CD.

 Gameplay: 8/10

The controls are very tight and platforming/exploring with Shantae never felt frustrating. The developers did a fantastic job at showcasing how agile she is through her various actions. Her jumps have a bit of a floaty feel to them, but she lands precisely on platforms. Her hair whip covers a good range. Enemies do take a good deal of punishment before they are defeated and will require some strategy on the player’s part to overcome. 

The addition of the Pirate Gear to replace Shantae’s magic powers makes the game feel much closer to a Metroid game. The Scimitar and Cannon are the only weapons that deal consistently strong damage, compared to the others. The Pistol is ineffective at dealing damage and is used more as a utility device.

Narrative: 8/10

The story this time around focuses on Shantae’s loss of her half-genie powers after the events of the previous game. Not only does the former half-genie hero have to adapt to her human side, she also learns to embrace it over the course of her adventure. The story also explores Risky Boots’ backstory, including how she became the Pirate Queen after overthrowing her previous boss. Over the course of the adventure, Shantae and Risky begin to empathize with one another due to their shared circumstances. Their relationship evolves to the point where they share a grudging respect for one another at the end of the game.

The story does abort a few subplots. A major example is Shantae’s suspension as the town guardian at the beginning. She is supposed to be under house arrest, but by the time the second Den of Evil is completed, this is all but forgotten and isn’t mentioned for the rest of the game.

 Challenge: 8/10

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse has a fairly progressive difficulty curve. The difficulty ramps up around Mud Bog Island. At death, Shantae returns to the island’s entrance. Potions, food and other support items and Auto-Potions are readily available for players to obtain at reasonable prices. These help with the more difficult enemies Shantae faces in the back half of the game. Shantae also gains full health when reloading a save. Players can take advantage of this before entering a boss fight.

Speaking of bosses, despite their intimidating size, they follow predictable patterns. 

 Replayability: 7/10

Beating Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse unlocks Pirate Mode. This mode unlocks all the Pirate Gear from the start of the game, which allows for faster clear times. Beating the game under certain conditions unlocks wallpapers for the player to view. There are four in all.

 Uniqueness: 6/10

With the genie magic lost, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse plays more into the Metroid aspect of a Metroidvania. While the use of the Pirate Gear is a unique touch for the series, as a whole, it’s more or less another run-of-the-mill Metroidvania.

 Personal: 10/10

Playing this title felt like playing through a magical Bollywood action/comedy movie and I loved every second of it! Metroidvanias are one of my favourite genres and combining that with what I grew up with culturally, it made for a smash hit that checked off all the right boxes. Representation? Check! Hilarious story with larger-than-life, filmi characters? Double Check! A fun-tastic dungeon crawler with interesting puzzles, massive bosses and fun items to use? Triple Check! And while the magic of the titular character was missing, it didn’t detract from the magic and charm of the game and the series as a whole. Shantae has become one of my favourite characters in gaming. I’m ecstatic to jump into the rest of the series and see what kind of wacky adventures she and her friends will have to dance through.

Aggregated Score: 8.1

Ryan Cheddi – our friendly, neighbourhood caffeine addict – is a man of many talents: an engineer, a gaming historian, a fiction writer and a streamer. He is also a self-avowed Sonic the Hedgehog fan. You can check out his cool beans at his site – Games with Coffee – or find him on Twitter as @GameswCoffee, and Instagram as @games_with_coffee. He streams on Twitch, also as GamesWithCoffee.