Risky Revolution review — Half genie, half decent

Shantae is a series I really enjoy, even if its quality, tone, and even gameplay style are all over the place. The first game on GBC was a 2D platformer Zelda-like, seeing you explore Sequin Land, discovering new belly dance transformations, and then using them to solve puzzles in dungeons. The sequels on DS and 3DS, Risky’s Revenge and Pirate’s Curse, leaned a bit more into a metroidvania and search action style, while the next title, ½ Genie Hero, went with a level-based approach before Seven Sirens went full on metroidvania. I really enjoyed the first three titles, while I consider ½ Genie Hero and Seven Sirens to be mediocre at best. However, there was supposed to be one more game between the first and Risky’s Revenge, a canceled GBA title called Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. By partnering with Limited Run Games, Wayforward has brought the title back from the dead. Does this lost game fit in with the earlier titles quality, or is Shantae still in a bit of a slump?

Shantae Advance takes place between the original GBC title and Risky’s Revenge, though there are plenty of cheeky references to the series past (or future?). Risky Boots has come up with yet another scheme to take Sequin Land’s riches for herself, this time by moving the very land itself to make certain towns easier to rob by sea. Scuttle Town has swapped with the landlocked Mining Town, for example. Shantae and her friends need to stop Risky by putting everything back where it belongs, gathering the Relic Hunters, and hoping they can come up with a plan to stop the pirate queen once and for all. 

Risky Revolution doesn’t take itself seriously in the slightest, with every character fighting to deliver as many punchlines as they possibly can. Thankfully, most of the jokes land pretty well, though there are still some that don’t, particularly some of the meta and gross out humor. The series has adopted something of a Saturday morning cartoon vibe, then continually makes things happen in contrast to that such as the skimpy character designs and other adult themes. Hilarity is supposed to ensue, but it’s very rarely funny in that way anymore. It’s a tired joke, and makes me care a lot less about the characters. There’s a fine line to strike between humor and more serious storytelling, and successfully doing both allows them to strengthen each other. It feels like the series has just stopped trying to do that. 

There is a slight connection between story and gameplay, however, as Shantae can make use of some of Risky’s machines to move the background and foreground of certain areas. These zones are where you’ll spend most of your time, exploring the area and entering caves to find new powers and eventually unlock the dungeon. These zones loop around from left to right, which makes them a pain to fully explore as everything starts to bleed together. This is especially true when you need to move the background or foreground; there aren’t any notable landmarks to keep you grounded nor is there any sort of map. Similar to an old point-and-click, I felt like I got through these areas with trial and error; trying everything on everything else until something eventually worked. While acquiring the animal transformations is always a treat, it did mean I had to re-explore the area once again to find where I’m supposed to use it. 

The dungeons fare a bit better, but also suffer from a lack of navigation tools. I think there was exactly one time where I unlocked something new and then knew immediately where I was supposed to use it and how to get back there. Only the final dungeon has any sort of guide as to where you are, with floor numbers in a few vertical rooms. Even writing this immediately after finishing the game I cannot remember any specifics about any of the level design. Like the story, it feels like stuff is just being thrown at you with no real rhyme or reason. There’s some enjoyment to be had, like using a transformation to solve a puzzle or find a secret, but those moments are lost in a sea of bland. 

The controls too feel haphazard, which is especially weird given that the GameBoy Advance only has 6 buttons plus a D-Pad. On Switch, the game spreads functions out, creating some redundancies like ZL, L, and A all being the use item button. It would be convenient if functions didn’t often conflict, like advancing dialogue with A then immediately using an item when that dialogue ends. Menus are inconsistent about which button is confirm and which is cancel as well. The pause menu uses B as confirm and Plus as exit, most dialogue uses B and A as confirm except for the save menu between areas (other save menus are still B and A), the area select menu only uses A, and finally Rotty Tops’ shop uses B as confirm and Y as cancel. I don’t understand how such a usability error gets into a full release, as I imagine any QA team worth their salt noted this.

Between exploring areas and dungeons, you’ll be visiting towns dotted around Sequin Land. I’m honestly not sure why these are even here other than Scuttle Town, as there’s nothing interesting to ever do in them (except once in Mining Town). You go to one, get a map for another town, head to that town, then get a map that takes you to where you actually need to be. It feels like busywork. I think it would have helped if each town was directly connected to an explorable area, but since they’re totally isolated they’re just places where characters talk at you for a bit. As it is, I just wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible.

The game does reward you with different ending screens depending on how much of the game you’ve completed and how quickly you finish it, but I don’t feel any desire to replay Risky Revolution. I played the game in the original, GBA style mode to appreciate the gorgeous sprite work as opposed to the main mode which has higher quality portraits and art using Shantae’s normal outfit (there are multiple costumes in the Deluxe Edition which have special properties), and that feels like enough for me. I don’t think I could get through the game any faster a second time around because I can barely remember any of it. Risky Revolution feels like the definition of a junk food game, except for the fact that it doesn’t really taste like anything going down. Shantae holds so much promise and I know this series could be a modern classic if only more care was put into it. 

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