Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (Wii U) Review

The Shantae series has come a long way since it first appeared on the Game Boy Color. Developers WayForward Technologies and Inti Creates have released several well-loved and critically acclaimed titles, and recently launched a successful Kickstarter to fund a fourth entry in the series. Most recently, however, is a Wii U port of the third game, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse.

Perhaps it's because the game was ported from the 3DS, but the graphics, with the exception of in-dialogue character portraits, have a stretched-out look to them. They are supposed to be pixellated, likely in tribute to the series' 8-bit origins, but in some cases they just come across as more unpolished than whimsical. That aside, the visuals are fun and colourful, and the character designs are cute and playful. The game's music and sound effects reflect this, with catchy tunes and sound bites.

Enemy designs are clever, but their AI is not. Bad guys are scripted, and it's all too common for one to camp out on a platform and seriously impede progress. Many bosses can be defeated simply by standing at the extreme edge of the screen and mashing the attack button. This, combined with unpredictable hit detection and often too-vague puzzle clues, sometimes results in the game being more tedious than puzzling or challenging. More often than not, however, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse hits its mark. A mixture of platforming action and item collecting/puzzle solving, the game can perhaps be described as The Legend of Zelda if it were a side-scrolling platformer.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is also packed with self-referential humour and breaking of the fourth wall. Even passing NPCs have a strong sense of lore to them, and the narrative is clever and humorous throughout. It does rely a bit too heavily on knowledge of previous games; some of the jokes and dialogue will be lost on those who haven't played previous entries in the series, but for the most part, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse stands well enough on its own.