Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (PlayStation 4) Review

Chunky pixel graphics have seen a revival in the last few years, harking back to the sprite-based glory days of the 8- and 16-bit eras. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse follows its predecessors' examples, although it is clear that this was built primarily for the smaller screen size of the Nintendo 3DS first and foremost, since visuals are noticeably blurrier and further zoomed in, bringing up pixels that shouldn't be so apparent. Pitting the 3DS and PS4 versions side by side does show a far crisper and less pixelated look on the portable screen. Not necessarily a major issue, but some graphics filter options might have circumvented the natural blowing up of the image on the large screen.

Either way, this is still one beautiful little world, and the anime character portraits are sharp and feature multiple poses - some of which are only used a couple of times throughout the adventure - highlighting the dedication of the artists to bring personality to each quirky individual. Most NPCs are those that have appeared in previous games, and some of the dialogue might be lost on anyone that hasn't played Shantae's past adventures, as there is plenty of reference to previous encounters. Most characters unfortunately don't get much time in the limelight, but Risky Boots showing her good side and teaming up with Shantae makes for a welcome change from being the bad girl in earlier titles - it's just a shame she isn't playable (Half-Genie Hero will fix that).

Sticking to the Metroidvania style it knows best, Pirate's Curse is more of a beginner-friendly and light-hearted take on the genre. It rarely causes problems in terms of difficulty, and progression is pretty linear in the sense that there are few times that newly acquired items are used to backtrack to visited locations to access new areas, except really only to pick up health upgrades or find special enemies that need defeating to unlock the best ending. A straightforward path is usually followed, with some platforming, dialogue, hunting for key items, and then gaining access to a dungeon generally being the order of play. A few instances can cause head-scratching moments, such as not knowing who to pass a certain item to in order to progress, so there can be some aimless wandering around, speaking to nearly every NPC in the hopes of gaining a clue, but these are few and far between.

Platforming and combat is made easy to perform thanks to responsive controls, and the new moves learned from items found throughout each dungeon add to the joy of discovery, even if they are mostly only put to use in the labyrinths they are found in. The invincibility frames do seem a bit too on the short side, since some frustrating moments can occur if forced onto the edge of a screen and caught up by an enemy or more, getting hit and unable to recover quickly enough to jump out of the pummelling. Like Samus and her gunarm, Shantae's hair is her primary monster killer. It is relied on perhaps too much over the course of the quest, with most enemies and bosses being susceptible to it, and not forcing much use of other abilities that are learnt. Credit must go to the designers for providing a visual aid that details that a pit is lethal through the use of toxic symbols - an effective way to help players prevent unnecessary deaths.