Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

- Reviewed on Switch -

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse released on October 23rd, 2014. 

This installment in the Shantae video game series, developed by WayForward, has been released on many different platforms. 

This platformer offers quite the treat, with excellent, memorable music, composed by Jake Kaufman. 

And on top of that, the production value of Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is visibly apparent, with its great attention to detail, and fun story revolving around key characters of the series!

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is the third official installment in the beloved platformer series, and personally, my first time with the dancing half-genie.

Shantae is sort of the big hero of her homeland, called Sequin Land.

With many friends by her side, such as Bolo, Rottytops, Sky, and more, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a story about the half-genie who travels across different islands to capture dark magic and try to prevent the resurrection of the Pirate Master.

To do this, she (Shantae) must team with one of her arch enemies, Risky Boots, to collect the dark magic, defeat a wide variety of enemies, and solve puzzles that aren't rage inducing. 

Playing this platformer on the Nintendo Switch felt absolutely smooth, with minimal obstructions impacting my experience. 

There were zero frame rate drops. Zero crashes. Zero glitches. And overall, no negative gameplay time, in terms of controls. I'd be surprised if anyone had issue playing this game on Switch.

With the story now unfolding before our eyes, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse offers a lot in its (average) eight-hour plot.

There is mainly text based dialogue, but there are certain things that do get read aloud by voice actors. These few examples include character names, reactions, victories, etc.

The music, as stated earlier, is one of the major plusses in Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. 

Playing through platformers, with amazing, upbeat tones, is quite the spectacle if developers can pull it off right, and WayForward definitely hit it on the head with this 2014 title. 

The islands you can visit include...

    - Scuttle Town (Shantae's Hometown)

    - Saliva Island

    - Spiderweb Island

    - Tan Line Island

    - Mud Bog Island

    - Frostbite Island

    - Lonely Grave

Each island in Shantae and the Pirate's Curse has different themes to them. 

One will be desert related, for example, whilst the other may be horror related. 

The plethora of themes in Shantae and the Pirate's Curse's design always made for new and exciting gameplay, island after island. 

In order to progress through the campaign, you must find all Den of Evils on each island. 

These dens contain key items, for the story of The Pirate Master, that you must defeat bosses for, in order to obtain them. 

The variety in the boss battle designs were incredible! 

Each boss had weaknesses, that you would slowly practice performing, on other enemies in the level, beforehand, for.

The boss battles weren't the only cleverly designed portions of Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, but the enemy designs were too!

Some enemies would be your standard, walking / running foes. While others would be flying, or even bombing type enemies. 

Combat in Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is very freeing, as, with the many different gameplay mechanics, there are many different ways of approaching hordes of enemies per level. 

You'll gradually unlock new mechanics as you play the game. These include examples like gliding, shooting pistols, triple jumping in the air with a cannon, faster melee attacks (using Shantae's purple hair), or collecting Heart Squids in order to increase maximum health (just to name a few). 

I bring this up as a lot of the level design relies on revisiting them once you acquire the specific mechanic / ability. 

For example, you may not be able to collect a Heart Squid since its way up high and away from other platforms. 

Therefore, you'll have to come back after acquiring the gliding and / or jump boosting abilities. 

Scuttle Town is not only Shantae's home, but also the main hub world of sorts, for Shantae and the Pirate's Curse.

In Scuttle Town, you can visit different buildings, each with different purposes. 

One building has a Health Regenerating spa.

Another has your typical item shop. These items include Potions, Monster Milk, Flesh Pops, Pirate Flare's, Bubble Shields, etc.

The item shop also has an arcade cabinet where you can pay to play it, then possibly earn rewards depending on how you play. Basically, a gambling system.

Another is a Saving room.

Then you also have a Heart Squid room, where you can give four collected squids (at a time) to a lady, and she'll increase your maximum health.

You'll be revisiting this town a lot, and spending your hard-earned gems, if you want a relatively easy / enjoyable experience.

Completing the game, rewards you with different wallpapers for the main menu. 

This isn't a reward I was particularly fond of, but since there are multiple wallpapers to get, depending on how you play and what mode you choose, the replayability is definitely there. 

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse was a commercial success in the end. 

WayForward have made amazing platformers in the past, some I've played before as well. 

I have great respect for these developers, and I'm sure Shantae and the Pirate's Curse isn't the only game in the series I'll pick up and play (as of writing this blog post). 

If you want a nice, singleplayer experience, with great progression and a fun story (plus some revealing / suggestive themes), then Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a good choice!

Pros: 

    - Incredible Music

    - Great Level Design (With Backtracking and Such)

    - Meaningful Collectibles

    - Plethora of Bosses, Enemies, Characters, etc.

    - Smooth Controls

    - Pleasing Art Design

    - Fun Story

Cons:

    - Game Completion Rewards are a Little Lackluster

    - Lack of Post Game Content

My Rating for Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (on Switch):

5 / 5

-----

Disclaimer

All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.