Shantae: Half-Genie Hero doesn’t claim to be a direct sequel to Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and its predecessors, but we can definitely see this takes place after the fact. We can also see it is a much larger production than the previous titles. And like in previous titles, Shantae is running, jumping, hair whipping the bad guys, and back to belly dancing to transform into animals.
First off, Half-Genie Hero has some of the best 2D sprite work I’ve ever seen in a video game. Everything is very animated and fluent with lots of attention to detail. It creates a kind of visual impression that you don’t get with colors and textures alone. It kind of “tickles” your eyes. On top of that, the soundtrack is outstanding. It perfectly captures the action of each area and gets you pumped to keep moving. The aesthetics are phenomenal, but this beauty is more than just skin-deep.
We begin with our half-genie hero, Shantae, sleeping in her home when she’s awoken by a mysterious voice. She follows the voice and is led through a strange cave under her uncle’s workshop and finds a glowing orb that speaks to her. It claims to be a messenger from the genie realm and warns Shantae of a “great danger” and tells her that she is the only one that can stop it.
Before Shantae has a chance to ask too many questions, she is transported out and the next morning assumes the entire sequence was a dream. We then take Shantae about her business in Scuttle Town and assist Uncle Mimic with a delivery so he can build a dynamo machine that will keep monsters out of range of the town. The blueprints for the machine are then stolen right there by a tinkerbat, followed by a cannon fire siege on the town and our adventure begins.
Unlike the first two games that have a 2D open-world expanse where everything connects, areas are closed sections that exist on a world map which you can fly to from the main town, similar to Pirate’s Curse. The areas themselves are quite large platforming levels that offer an array of puzzles, collectibles, and enemies to hair whip into oblivion.
Upon entering an area, you start at the beginning of the level and to make your way to the end. You’ll need more than just platforming skills. You’ll be dodging tricky enemy attacks, navigating your way to choose the right directions, and solving environmental puzzles. None of these things would be considered an immense challenge, but does more than a good job of keeping you on your toes.
Every level ends with a boss, each consisting of some trick to beating it. Shantae will shout out your objective as soon as the fight begins, acting as a quick and effective tip for defeating them. Every boss was a thrill to fight—both figuring out how the fight works, as well as executing it. None of them were overly frustrating. Just the right amount of challenge, if not a little too easy.
Bosses will appear only on your first run through a level, acting as a story element. Subsequent runs through the levels will feature new enemies, either appearing in new locations, or replacing old enemies to present a greater difficulty.
These levels are fantastic. They always provide a lot of action and new obstacles while never putting too much pressure on the player. There are many hidden pathways and items for you to find within the levels. Levels will often need to be revisited, but offer something new if you’re on a new sequence of the story.
On a first run through a level, quick thinking players should have a smooth time making split-second decisions on their jumps and attacks, meaning memorization isn’t always necessary to get through a level. Memorization has its own rewards, though.
As mentioned, levels will need to be revisited. When you decide to come back to a level, you’ll likely have new abilities. Anyone that has been paying attention and remembering the levels will have an easier time finding where to use their abilities and obtain necessary items. This is good in that you need to pay attention and the game rewards players that have mastered the controls and doesn’t force you into unforeseeable deaths on your first run.
And speaking of controls, Shantae controls perfectly. Every action is incredibly responsive and smooth. Jumping and attacking feels exactly as it should. Everything from jump speed, jump height, ability to turn around or stop in the air, run speed, attack alacrity, attack range, and everything else inbetween. It’s all unerringly fine-tuned. This gives running through levels, jumping on platforms, and attacking enemies all on the way a gratifying flow. Anyone can pick this up and get a hang of the controls immediately. You’ll know that if you take a hit or miss a jump, its on you, the player, and not because of level design or controls. It’s the way it should be.
In town, characters will appear and offer a quest as part of the story. You can tell they’re part of the main story as indicated by an exclamation point. Speaking to them will generally grant you access to a new area. There are also characters who will appear and claim to need something. There will be many of these characters, both in town and in levels. These are typically part of a trading sequence and will have you running all around Sequin Land. It requires a decent memory to get all of these items into the right hands, but again, it’s not too difficult. Doing so will always result in something useful in the end. These are brilliant at adding on top of your main objective and make this world feel cohesive and lively.
Belly dancing and animal transformations make a return. With a total of eight animal transformations and several other dances for Shantae’s dancing arsenal, we see Shantae dancing more in Half-Genie Hero than ever before.
Dances are an integral part of Shantae’s moveset. You will unlock more as you progress, either given to you through natural progression, or hidden within levels. The most important dances are the ones that transform Shantae into an animal. Each animal form grants you abilities that are needed to reach certain areas within levels. All the forms and their abilities are unique, and you will often need to consider where to go and which animal to use to get there.
Since levels will always have inaccessible spaces, these spaces and their surrounding areas will need to be remembered as the animal forms will be needed to access them later. Some may require more than one form as well as some critical thinking. The amount of things needed to keep in mind and remember as one advances through the game really accumulates, but not so much that it becomes stressful.
The item shop in town offers several magical effects for you to equip, such as spells, increased damage, and increased defense. These items can also be upgraded from the store into more powerful versions, but may slightly alter the effect. If you don’t like the way an upgrade behaves, there’s a handy little toggle feature that allows you to choose which version of an item you prefer. You can also turn items off completely if you don’t want something to appear in your item selection at all. This gives a fair level of customization to the player. The only downside is that you can’t toggle on multiple versions of a single spell. Some of these are quite different and it would have been nice to be able to switch between more than one.
You may also encounter a shopkeeper in levels, known as Tuki, who offers healing potions just as the item shop does, but will offer several unique dances that differ from animal transformations. You may only hold four of these at a time and can be traded with Tuki. Their effects range from destroying all enemies on screen, to turning into a jug to create money, to… flopping around as a blobfish. She really only offers two dances that are worthwhile, one of which can be found at the item shop in town. While not super helpful, it’s a unique concept and the option to buy potions during a level may help in a pinch.
You don’t need to collect everything to finish the game, but the additional rewards will certainly help you. The collection process will never get too tedious, either, for a few reasons. The world map gives a clear indication of what items have been collected in every area and how many are left. You can always head to a level and explore to see what you’ve missed. If it looks like you’re missing something else needed to explore further, then the convenient bird whistle, which you have at all times, will transport you back to the world map. Everything collected within a level will be kept even if the bird whistle is used, making the collection process feel even smoother.
And if you’re ever feeling truly lost, people in town give genuinely helpful hints. Well, sometimes. The bathhouse lady will also give you a hint for free as to where your next destination should be. While the hints are helpful for anyone feeling clueless, they’ll never completely spell it out for you, leaving the real problem solving up to the player.
The game isn’t terribly long, clocking in at just under 10 hours for a first run attempting a 100% completion. However, the replayability for anyone who enjoys this style of platformer is great. It’s easy to want to make a new file and play through the whole game again right after finishing the game once. Additionally, there’s an unlockable Hero Mode that allows you to start a new file with the main transformations unlocked. It’s a great tool for speedrunners or anyone who just wants to have some fun romping through the game and sequence breaking.
The core of Half-Genie Hero is already a substantial and wonderful experience. It’s topped off with its beautiful atmosphere and its own brand of silly, self-aware, deadpan humor. It doesn’t always make you laugh out loud, but lets you appreciate how clever it is beneath its own stupidity. The characters are quirky and very likable. The overall story can be enjoyed by just about anyone.
The biggest drawback of Half-Genie Hero may be that it’s just a little too easy for anyone looking for a serious challenge. However, it should more than engaging enough for most players; completing the game can, at times, prove to be a very perplexing task. Overall, an outstanding, fantastical, action-adventure platformer with plenty of humor and thrills.
