Shantae (series)
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''Shantae'' is a series of
platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...
s developed by
WayForward WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games for consoles such as t ...
. The eponymous heroine of the series, a half-genie, was created by Erin Bozon, while the games were created from this character by her husband Matt Bozon. The series consists of five games: ''
Shantae ''Shantae'' is a series of platform games developed by WayForward. The Shantae (character), eponymous heroine of the series, a half-genie, was created by Erin Bozon, while the games were created from this character by her husband Matt Bozon. The ...
'' (2002), '' Shantae: Risky's Revenge'' (2010), ''
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' is a platform game developed by WayForward Technologies for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. It is the third game in the ''Shantae'' series, following '' Shantae: Risky's Revenge'', and the first to be developed ...
'' (2014), '' Shantae: Half-Genie Hero'' (2016) and '' Shantae and the Seven Sirens'' (2019). Set in the fictional world of Sequin Land, the series follows Shantae, a half-genie who serves as the guardian of her hometown, Scuttle Town, and more generally Sequin Land as a whole, protecting it from various threats, which generally involve to some extent her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots. The setting displays oriental-inspired aesthetics with fantasy, dark fantasy and steampunk elements. All games involve collecting new powers and items, which vary from game to game, to strengthen Shantae and unlock access to new areas. Although released to strong reviews, the first game was a financial disappointment. Its poor sales are generally attributed to its late release on the
Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
, which at the time had been succeeded by the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
. The series resurfaced in 2010 with ''Risky's Revenge'', and has since enjoyed more commercial success and a growth in popularity. The series has been met with strong critical reception, and is considered the flagship series of WayForward. By 2020, the series had sold more than three million copies.


History

The character of Shantae was created by Erin Bell, the wife of Matt Bozon, the game's creator. In 1994, during their engagement, Erin got a flash of inspiration while coming back from her camp counsellor days, and created the character, naming her "Shantae" after one of the campers, as well as developing her dancing abilities. Matt later asked her what she would come up with if she was to create a video game character, and she introduced him to Shantae. Matt liked the idea and fleshed out the mythology and cast of the game. Erin imagined that the character could summon or charm animals by belly-dancing. This would later become the basis for the transformation dances. Matt has provided two contradictory stories about how the idea for the hair whip came to be: in one, he said he was inspired by the nine-foot-long hair of his wife, while in the other he claims that Erin's original sketches already featured Shantae using her hair as a weapon. Matt Bozon has stated that his main influences for the game series are ''
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'', ''
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'', ''
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'', ''
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'' and anime, mostly ''
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'' which he claims as a heavy influence, and others like '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water'',
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's films, and ''
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'', as well as 80s cartoons like ''
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'' or '' The Transformers'', while Erin Bozon's main influence was ''
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''. The signature catchphrase from the franchise, "Ret-2-Go", was created by a friend of them who kept using it when they were working on animation clean up for the
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animated film ''
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'', and the expression made its way into the script as an
inside joke An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...
. Matt also elaborated a bit on the development of Sky's character, who was initially named "Twitch" and had a different appearance. She was altered later on in development, and the original Twitch character served as the basis for a similarly-named character and her friend in ''
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' is a platform game developed by WayForward Technologies for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. It is the third game in the ''Shantae'' series, following '' Shantae: Risky's Revenge'', and the first to be developed ...
''. When asked about whether the ''Shantae'' series was conceived as pushing feminist values because of its strong female cast, Matt Bozon acknowledged that he liked to portray the Shantae world as having the girls "run the show" and not be defined solely by their appearances. While he admitted that most female characters had a deliberately sexy design to them, and the male characters often displayed a variety of weaknesses, he also said that he just liked depicting Shantae's world this way "for no precise reason", and that it was certainly possible that strong male characters could appear later in the franchise's future.


Characters


Shantae

Shantae is a half-genie, the daughter of a human father and genie mother. She is described as having few magical abilities, including being capable to whip her hair as a weapon, but has a strong sense of right and wrong and is a skilled dancer.


Mimic

Mimic is a member of the Relic Hunters, a society of treasure hunters who unearth and study ancient artifacts. Although not related to her by blood, he is Shantae's adoptive uncle, as he raised her after her parents' disappearance.


Sky

Sky is Shantae's friend, a war bird trainer and the daughter of a Relic Hunter herself. Never seen without her pet war bird Wrench, she is described as being in a hurry to grow up. Sky appears as a playable character in ''Half-Genie Hero''s "Friends to the End" mode.


Bolo

Bolo is Shantae's friend and sparring partner. He is described as being rather slow and very easily attracted to girls, though he seeks to prove himself as capable of being a hero. Bolo appears as a playable character in ''Half-Genie Hero''s "Friends to the End" mode.


Rottytops

Rottytops is a sentient zombie girl who is described as being mischievous and constantly looking for trouble for fun. After her first encounter with Shantae in the first game, although her behavior toward her remains ambiguous, in-game dialogue in ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' reveals that she holds Shantae in great esteem and wants to be her friend. She has two brothers named Abner Cadaver and Poe. Rottytops appears as a playable character in ''Half-Genie Hero''s "Friends to the End" mode.


Risky Boots

Risky Boots the lady-pirate is Shantae's evil nemesis and the series' primary antagonist. She constantly seeks to conquer Sequin Land or take revenge on Shantae for ruining her schemes. Risky is aided by her pirate crew, made up of tiny humanoid creatures called Tinkerbats. ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' reveals that she was once second-in-command to a very dangerous being named the Pirate Master, and was corrupted by dark magic while serving him. Risky aids Shantae against the Pirate Master in ''Pirate's Curse'' and appears as a playable character in ''Half-Genie Hero''s "Pirate Queen's Quest" mode.


Games


''Shantae'' (2002)

The first game in the series, ''Shantae'', was released for the
Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
in 2002, and was met with generally positive responses. However, according to director Matt Bozon, the game sold poorly, due in part to releasing after the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
. However, the game has since gained significant recognition, with some reviewers considering it one of the best games released for the Game Boy Color. The game was re-released for the
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
on July 18, 2013, with a
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
re-release releasing later on April 22, 2021, with a special
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
-enhanced mode, featuring a bonus Tinkerbat transformation and save states, multiple display options, control improvements, and a mini art gallery.


''Shantae: Risky's Revenge'' (2010)

The second game in the series, ''Shantae: Risky's Revenge'', was released for the
Nintendo DSi The is a dual-screen handheld game console released by Nintendo. The console launched in Japan on November 1, 2008, and worldwide beginning in April 2009. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony In ...
via the system's DSiWare service in 2010, and was later ported to
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
in 2011. The game received positive reviews, being awarded the Best Visuals and Best DS Game awards for 2010 from
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
. An enhanced port, titled ''Shantae: Risky's Revenge – Director's Cut'', was released for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
on June 14, 2014,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
on June 23, 2015,
Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...
on March 24, 2016,
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
and
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
on October 15, 2020, and
Google Stadia Stadia is a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google. Known in development as Project Stream, the service debuted through a closed beta in October 2018, and publicly launched in November 2019. The service was to compete with Sony' ...
on February 23, 2021.


''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'' (2014)

The third game in the series, ''Shantae and the Pirate's Curse'', was released for
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
on October 23, 2014, and for
Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...
on December 25, 2014, both via the
Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...
. The game received critical acclaim, and was featured in the best sellers list on the 3DS eShop soon after release. The game was later ported to
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, and
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
.


''Shantae: Half-Genie Hero'' (2016)

The fourth game in the series, ''Shantae: Half-Genie Hero'', was
crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
via a
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign in 2013. The game was released digitally and physically on December 20, 2016 for
Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...
,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...
, and digitally on
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
. It was also released on
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
on June 8, 2017, and
Google Stadia Stadia is a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google. Known in development as Project Stream, the service debuted through a closed beta in October 2018, and publicly launched in November 2019. The service was to compete with Sony' ...
on February 23, 2021.


''Shantae and the Seven Sirens'' (2019)

The fifth game in the series, ''Shantae and the Seven Sirens'' was announced in March 2019 and released for
Apple Arcade Apple Arcade is a video game subscription service offered by Apple Inc. It is available through a dedicated tab of the App Store on devices running iOS 13, tvOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina or later. The service launched on September 19 ...
in September 2019. Ports for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
were released on May 28, 2020.


Other games

Some characters from the series have made crossover appearances in other games: Shantae and Bolo appear as playable characters in the
Apple Watch Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
game ''Watch Quest''. A Shantae-themed microgame, "Shantae NAB!", was created by Matt Bozon in '' WarioWare D.I.Y.'' and distributed by Nintendo as one of its "Big Name Games" entries. Risky Boots was meant to be featured in ''
Hyper Light Drifter ''Hyper Light Drifter'' is a 2D action role-playing game developed by Heart Machine. The game pays homage to 8-bit and 16-bit games, and is considered by its lead developer Alx Preston as a combination of '' The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pa ...
'' by Heart Machine, as part of a mutual support action between the
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
funding campaigns for that game and ''Half-Genie Hero'', but this was absent from the final game. Shantae appeared as a guest character in '' Mutant Mudds Super Challenge'' and in ''
Runbow ''Runbow'' is a platform racing video game made for the Wii U and later ported to Microsoft Windows, New Nintendo 3DS, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. ''Runbow'' was developed by Canadian indie team 13AM Games as their debut ti ...
'' and '' Blaster Master Zero'' as a downloadable guest character. Both Shantae and Risky Boots appear in ''
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeeding ...
'' as spirits, with Shantae later becoming available as a Mii Brawler costume via
downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
alongside the "Neo Burning Town" music track from ''Shantae: Half-Genie Hero'' on June 29, 2021. Shantae was planned to be featured as a playable supporting character in the crowdfunded game '' Indivisible'', but was later canceled.


Canceled games

Plans for a sequel to ''Shantae'' started soon after its release. In the early 2000s, WayForward exprimented with protoyping a 3D ''Shantae'' game for the
GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
, but these plans were set aside in favor of focusing on a handheld sequel. ''Shantae Advance'', also known as ''Shantae 2: Risky Revolution'', was a sequel that was in development for the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
, but was canceled after not being picked up by a publisher. A demo of the first world was developed, and while not released to the public, WayForward
streamed Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
a full playthrough of it on October 3, 2013, as part of a promotion for the crowdfunding of ''Half-Genie Hero''. ''Shantae Advance'' was planned to consist of eight chapters of gameplay split over seven towns, six islands, and six labyrinths; this was estimated to take about twenty hours to play through. In addition to the regular gameplay, six minigames and a multiplayer battle mode were planned. Four of the labyrinths were supposed to be based on the four seasons; the first labyrinth, which was featured in the demo, was based on autumn, and its hub room was filled with falling autumn leaves. The story of ''Shantae Advance'' involved Risky having her Tinkerbats digging under Sequin Land, and putting a pillar in the middle, allowing the land to be rotated. This could be used in the gameplay to rotate the world, lining up the foreground with objects in the background, thus giving the player access to new areas. New gameplay elements for ''Shantae Advance'' included the ability to move between the foreground and background, swimming, flying in 3D on the back of Sky's bird Wrench, and some new forms for Shantae to transform into; these included a new version of the spider, a crab, and a mermaid. Many of these features were ultimately implemented into later titles; background movement, swimming, and the mermaid transformation were introduced in ''Risky's Revenge'', while flying on Wrench and all three transformations were used in ''Half-Genie Hero''. As with the original game, ''Shantae Advance'' was developed by Matt Bozon on his own time. Another attempt at a ''Shantae'' sequel was ''Shantae: Risky Waters'', a game planned for the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
with experimental gameplay taking advantage of the double screen function of the console. Plans were scrapped after WayForward failed to find a publisher as well as with ''Shantae Advance''.


Notes


References

{{Shantae series Video games about shapeshifting Video game franchises Metroidvania games Video game franchises introduced in 2002 Video games about magic Video games featuring female protagonists Wayforward games Indie video games