
The half-genie hero Shantae recently celebrated her 18th Birthday with the release of Shantae and the Seven Sirens on the Nintendo Switch eShop. That obviously means her original outing on the Game Boy Color is now also 18 years old. So, when are we getting a remake or remaster of sorts?
Siliconera asking a similar question during a recent interview with one of the creators, Matt Bozon. Interestingly, it's been a "hot topic" as of late, and Matt is definitely down for it:
That’s been a hot topic lately! I’d be down for doing that! Of course, we’re all very excited to make new games, too. We’ll need to think long and hard about what the next Shantae adventure will be–but a remake isn’t outside the realm of possibility!
Given how many companies are currently remaking their classic games, now would be a great time to re-release Shantae's first adventure on modern platforms. Or perhaps WayForward might be wanting to line it up with her 20th anniversary in a few years.
Would you like to see Shantae's original adventure revived? Comment down below.
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 49
I’ve never played a Shantae game before but I have been interested in the series for a while. What game(s) would you recommend I start with, being as I’m a beginner? I only have a Nintendo Switch, 3DS XL, and PS4.
I’ve been slowly working my way through the original and it holds up so well, the animation and graphics really are great for its time. Proper difficult though, widescreen would probably help a lot being able to see where your jumps will actually take you.
I'd buy the original and Risky's Revenge for the Switch in a heartbeat. The only reason I haven't bought Pirate's Curse for Switch is that I don't see any point unless the entire trilogy is available. But if it were...
i'm down if it means i can actually SEE where i'm landing
Say no more, I'm in!
@Nerdfather1 And it depends if you're concerned about story, or just experiencing the gameplay. If gameplay only, I would recommend starting with Pirate's Curse and/or Seven Sirens. If story concerns you, then I would start with Half-Genie Hero which is meant to be a standalone title, then do the original trilogy (Shantae, Risky's Revenge, then Pirate's Curse) and then Seven Sirens.
I'm down if it means more for Shantae in the future. Would love to see collabs with other companies and maybe even a surprise smash bros. appearance.
@WreckitRyan What is your avatar from?
If I could play all the Shantae games on one console then I may get into the series. Waiting to play the first before trying the sequels. I'll take a remake too.
@TechaNinja Shantae and the Seven Sirens, in fact! 😆
For some reason, the original game is very hard to find. It doesn't have a Steam version, and the only port it's ever gotten was for the 3DS' virtual console. It's actually a pretty solid game on its own, the pixel art is good, and the navigation with new tools and items is good too, if a bit obtuse when it comes to what you need to do to grab everything later on. A rerelease would be perfectly acceptable, but it it convinces more people to try it out, I'd be down for a remake with new art and QoL changes.
Not a fan of this series or Metroidvanias in general, but if I were to make a remake of this game, I'd use her less cute, more westernised design from the GBC box art.
That'd be awesome! Game Boy Color was great, but the small screen hindered things a bit. An HD upscaled remake?
Ahem... this one's for you longtime NintendoLife visitors who have known me since Risky's Revenge. All together now...
"Where's my Shantae?!"
Enough Shantae for a bit guys....
Well if it worked for Ducktales it should work for Shantae.
A remake of the original I can get down with. Go ahead and do it.
Why remake? Just make Shantae 6 a proper version of GBC's design philosophy minus the shortfalls, if the desire is burning their town that much.
@Nerdfather1 Risky's Revenge sets up Pirate's Curse's story, but if you don't care about that, Pirate's Curse has my favorite gameplay out of all the games I've played.
IVE BEEN BEGGING FOR THIS FOR A DECADE. Please do it as it's still the best Shantae game to date. And...dont use the 1/2 Genie Hero engine.
Yes, please! And also Wendy: Every Witch Way. Both games should be given the opportunity to have the audiences they deserved to begin with.
@JimmySpades What a shame. I wouldn't let that stop you in terms of getting into the series. They really hold up on their own.
@Porky Not necessary. I'd say grab one in the series you can easily access and then take it from there.
The Pirate’s Curse is the only one I’ve finished and I loved it! Just picked up 1/2 Genie hero again
@kirbygirl Ooooooh. Yeah, I already have them all; I have the first three on the 3DS and was talking about upgrading . I can see how you wouldn't know that, since I didn't say anything about it or imply it in any way.
@Nerdfather1 start with Shantae, the first one. It is $4.99 on eShop on D's then riskys revenge and pirates curse after that. Basically just go in order and it's the cheapest way to see if you like them
Please do, so them scalpers would stop overpricing the original. Heck even them fake versions are expensive.
How's about a 3D game Wayforward – stretch your skills to new pastures.
Half genie hero has been my favourite so far but I haven’t played the first one yet
This is something I've wanted to see for some time actually.
The original Shantae is wonderful, but it also suffers from screen crunch really badly.
Most of what's featured in the original game has assets readily featured in the later games too, so they would be able to build the original game in a recent engine or something.
I've played all of the Shantae games but the original, so a remake would be nice.
a remake of the og
with the style of half-genie & seven sirens?
sign me up!
I'd really love a remake of the original. I missed it the first time around but then played it on VC and beat it, but man that is a frustrating game to go back to after the sequels. Some enemy spawns are totally unfair, there's not enough screen real estate (even though the game looks fantastic for its time) and most frustrating to me is that Shantae walks like you're stuck in mud unless you hold the Attack button to run, which isn't very intuitive in a game where you're attacking as much as you are in this.
I'd be wary of recommending it as anyone's first dive into the series because it just hasn't aged well mechanically and it might sour their expectations for the sequels.
Pirate's Curse and Seven Sirens are the best of the bunch, Half-Genie Hero and Risky's Revenge each have their shortcomings but are still good games.
It's worth noting to make sure you get Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition which includes all the DLC plus previously-backer-only content that's not available in the regular edition. The non-Ultimate Edition has gone on sale frequently in the past but I would only recommend it to people who don't care about any of the DLC and only want the base game, as you cannot buy all of the extras separately that are included in Ultimate Edition.
Just make the original available on modern platforms, no need for remakes. That's my opinion in general when it comes to remakes with very few expections.
Sign me right up!!
@Luffymcduck
Have you ever played the original Shantae? The screen crunch alone warrants a remake.
From what I've heard, the Seven Sirens is mechanically very similar to the original game.
The first game was pretty bad and Shantae became a series probably on waifu power alone. Remaking it to modern standards would be welcome. Probably wouldn’t even be that hard considering later games reuse a lot of the enemies from the original, but with adjusted spawn rates and hit points, so they aren’t an unfair chore to get through.
@SmaggTheSmug the original shantae is definitely clumsy for modern standards. And all the limitations of the gbc makes it hard to play. But it definitely was not a bad game. Many consider it a hidden gem late in the gbc life cycle. And it also reviewed favorable.
But yeah a remake would ve very welcome.
@tech7 It's well animated and fun, but the way enemies are dropped right in front of your nose and the short range of the hair whip (much shorter than most enemies' attacks) coupled with a lot of backtracking make it a lot less fun than it could be. There's also the secondary issue of grinding gems for shopping, which takes a lot of time. I haven't finished the first game and I have no intention of going back due to those niggling issues.
It's kind of like the first Mega Man, it's a rather bad game compared to later entries.
@SmaggTheSmug
This is always something that's been at the core of Shantae.
Gems exist as a difficulty scaler, you can earn them to power up Shantae or get some useful consumable items to help you face the challenges ahead, or you can try your luck without them.
It's intentional design as the later games are much better designed around the gem economy and the goals of beating the game under a certain time, with 100% items, or both.
A remake of the original Shantae could address these balance issues like you mention.
@RupeeClock I found that in later Shantae games none of these issues persist. Enemies spawn further away, they take fewer hits to die and telegraph their attacks more. The later Shantae games are actually fit for speedrunning, but in the first one you need to either inch your way slowly or spam iron balls (which takes gems).
Maybe it reviewed well but it didn’t age well.
@SmaggTheSmug
Yes, which is why in the later games the iron/spiked balls become a DPS booster instead of your main means of attack.
The screen crunch and limitations of the GBC greatly limited the original game, which is why I would welcome a remake.
It can always put the original game in there as an added bonus, maybe accessed by the Wayforward title-screen cheat code that's based on their phone number.
I would love to have a remake of the original! I have not played it yet and the original cartridge goes for a lot of money. I know I can play it through virtual console or emulation, but I'd like a modern-looking version with more screen real estate... and hopefully a physical copy!
Just make a shantae collection or call it way forward waifis
lets a goooooooo.
@Nerdfather1 pirates curse, that's the one I started with, can't go wrong with that.
If they do remake the original, I hope they give her hair a longer range. It was frustrating having to stand barely a pixel away from enemies just to hit them, especially the ones that took multiple hits.
It never ceases to amaze me how after so many of these types of games over the past decade, developers can still find fresh ways to engage gamers.
@RupeeClock
I have. It's the worst Shantae and I'm glad they've improved with sequels. Sure they can make the first game better but personally I'd take a new game over remake anyday.
...
Unless it's a remake of F-Zero GX with online play.
@invictus4000 A return to a pixel art style and its day one for me. I really liked Risky's Revenge and Pirates Curse but 1/2 Genie Hero just seemed generic. I havent even picked up Seven Sirens because of the art style and the gameplay/physics that come with the style.
The only design of Shantae that I realy love, I like the first redisign and the design of the fourth & five but not as much.
I hope she will not be too much redesign (I can always dream).
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