When it comes to modern takes on the classic action-platforming genre, WayForward has been one of the best in the business for decades. And while its bread and butter is contract work crafting fun games for big properties (from SpongeBob to Batman), its original Shantae series has always been where its full skill, genius and creativity is on show.
Blending the company's trademark cutesy art with great humour, tough challenges and thumping Arabian-style beats from frequent collaborator Jake Kaufman, the series wears its nostalgic influences on its sleeve but forges its own path with fun characters and the eponymous lead's unique ability to transform into a range of different animals.
Half-Genie Hero is, in many ways, a change of pace for the series and its purple-haired heroine. Funded via Kickstarter, this fourth entry is the first not made with Nintendo handhelds in mind, dropping the retro aesthetic for a beautiful hand-drawn look. The entire game now looks like the detailed portrait art always has, allowing for heaps more expression from the colourful cast of characters (including a sassy zombie and an old woman blobfish) and the diverse roster of baddies (mostly woman-monster hybrids that are simultaneously cute and intimidating).
The detailed animations and magical, woman-dominated world have always been highlights of the Shantae games, but this truly feels like the ultimate expression of the original art.
Combined with the new look and expansion to new platforms, the soft-reboot nature of the game's story makes it really feel like an effort to find a broader audience. Series fans will notice that, even though there are a handful of tongue-in-cheek references hidden in the reliably funny dialogue, none of the events of the previous three games affect the narrative here.
In essence, this is an attempt to reframe the introductory tale of the original Game Boy Color game and all the series' main players within a noticeably tighter structure which one assumes will be the norm going forward.
Players assume the role of Scuttle Town's resident protector, half-genie and frequently bemused gal as she travels around Sequin Land solving mysteries and thwarting the plans of an array of bad guys, from arch-nemisis Risky Boots to fouth-wall-breaking Squid Baron. While previous games have taken place in open, interconnected spaces, Half-Genie Hero has you warping out to separate sprawling stages from the central hub town.
Far from being limiting, however, I found this made the gimmick of revisiting old places to uncover secrets better and more accessible than ever before.
Shantae begins with the ability to defeat enemies by whipping her hair, but as the game progresses she'll buy powerful spells and learn new dances that grant special abilities by way of animal transformations (become a monkey to climb walls, or an elephant to smash through barriers, for example).
Each new level presents a series of challenging platforming and action sections, but revisit an area once you have some new abilities under your belt and you'll find the stages were much more complex and treasure-filled than you first anticipated.
Tweaks to the items, hints, spells and saving systems are smart, and also make this the least difficult of the Shantae games. While this may disappoint some fans, it ultimately makes for a less frustrating experience. There are still plenty of nailbiting sequences and headscratching puzzles, but you're never in danger of losing ages of progress because of one bad jump.
Meanwhile optional side-quests, secret dances, multiple endings depending on how dedicated you are to finding everything and a "hero mode" custom built for speedrunners means more serious players will have heaps to do even after the satisfying initial playthrough of the story.
Half-Genie Hero is a masterclass in small-scale game design, packing hours of gorgeous, hilarious, brilliantly-crafted jumping and hair-whipping into just a handful of stages. The series has changed a lot in the past 15 years, but this latest entry has only strengthened my belief that it's one of the best and most under-appreciated there is.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is out now for PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Wii U and PC.
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