In 2002, with the release of the Game Boy Advance, a studio called WayForward released a game for the Game Boy Color called Shantae. Today, acquiring a physical copy of that game will cost an arm and a leg. 2010 saw the arrival of a sequel, Risky’s Revenge, and a threequel in 2014, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse.
Stripped of her genie powers by her pirating nemesis at the end of Risky’s Revenge, irony comes knocking when Risky enlists Shantae’s help preventing the resurrection of the evil Pirate Master. Sans her magic, Scuttle Town’s guardian former-half-genie must rely on Risky’s pirate tools to make it through this adventure. Now that everyone is caught up, we’re “ret-2-go!”
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EigVVHggzrU[/embedyt]
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This run by Xsczo (go ahead, just try and pronounce that) is dun on the basic normal mode without any out-of-bounds cheats. It barely misses the sub-two hour mark due to a couple critical mishaps. Nevertheless, every little secret hidden among the game’s islands is uncovered in this run, serving as a handy guide for earning any of the multiple time-and-percent-based endings. But stick around, there’s more plundering on the way.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtSIuKj7-TQ[/embedyt]
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Welcome to Pirate Mode, Shantae’s version of a New Game +. As may be expected, players begin the game with all the pirate gear right at the outset. This run dances off the stage with a respectable 1:24 time and is an excellent demonstration of what can be achieved in this mode over Normal Mode. Pirate Mode is also the most common route for speedruns since it allows the game to be completed that much quicker.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse are available for 3DS, Wii U, Xbox One, and PS4. The fourth game in the series, Half-Genie Hero, is in development by WayForward and will arrive in September 2016 for PS3, 4, Vita, Xbox 360, One, Windows, and Wii U. Last but not least, an example from Risky’s Revenge of why context is always important: