Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (Switch)

When the original Shantae released back in 2002, it didn’t sell very well, partly due to its low print run and poor distribution. However, that didn’t stop WayForward from envisioning a sequel, which wouldn’t see the light of day until it finally released in October 2010 for, of all things, the Nintendo DSi. This game, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge would then receive an iOS port the following year with a new Magic Mode, followed by a Windows port in 2014, now called Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut, featuring a new Warp system and the iOS version’s Magic Mode. Following my playthrough of Shantae, I naturally went to Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut, but much like the original game, I opted for the physical Switch port from Limited Run Games instead of any of the downloadable versions. While perhaps not as fleshed out as later entries, Risky’s Revenge still proved itself a great step up from the original.

Like the original game, Risky’s Revenge has a simple story at its core. At the annual Relic Hunters Expo in Scuttle Town, Shantae’s Uncle Mimic shows off his latest find, which looks like an ordinary lamp encased in stone. While they try to figure out its purpose, Risky Boots crashes the expo and steals the lamp with the aid of her army of Tinkerbats. Shantae tries to stop Risky and loses, which leads to Scuttle Town’s mayor firing her. Despite this, however, Shantae vows to stop Risky’s plan and prevent her from using the lamp for her own nefarious purposes.

Risky Boots steals the magic lamp for her own evil scheme.

As the plot unfolded from there, I noticed more of an attempt to flesh out the world and characters. The main antagonists are no longer random enemies, but three Barons (Squid, Ammo and Hypno), each with their own distinct personalities. These three would also appear in later games, where they would feel further fleshed out. Shantae’s journey also takes her through more of Sequin Land, which feels livelier with an increased number of distinct NPCs, including minor ones with their own personalities, even if they feel rather one-note. Certain events during the ending set up some of the circumstances behind the events of the following game, Pirate’s Curse, retroactively suggesting more of a dedication to continuity between installments. Based on the player’s performance, in terms of completion time and whether or not they discovered all of the items, they’ll also see one of four special images after the credits.

Shantae’s second adventure plays similarly to her first, with familiar platforming and combat mechanics for returning players. Due to the initial major differences in the original hardware between releases, however, the control scheme feels more natural and takes better advantage of the full controller layout. For instance, both left shoulder buttons let Shantae perform a back dash while both right shoulder buttons activate selected items and magic (as opposed to only the one set of shoulder buttons on the original DSi). The presence of additional buttons also means some general differences that take some getting used to, including which button you press for Shantae’s hair whip. Since Risky’s Revenge started as a DSi game, the menus were clearly designed with its hardware in mind, though you can still use the Switch’s touchscreen to replicate its functionality.

Shantae also fights brand new enemy types.

Risky’s Revenge also reworks the core Transformation Dance mechanic into something far less clunky than its predecessor. By holding the relevant button, Shantae cycles through three poses, one for each transformation. Releasing the button will then initiate the related transformation based on the pose (in the order of Monkey, Elephant and Mermaid). Unlike the original game, time stops during the dance, allowing room for transforming during tricky platforming segments and removing the vulnerability that originally came with the dances. Each transformation also has an associated hidden Relic that grants them an extra ability to help with exploration.

Quality of life changes don’t stop there, however, as players no longer have to worry about a lives system. Instead, making mistakes will only remove partial hearts, though death means returning to the last save point with all unsaved progress lost. Shantae can increase her max health by finding hidden Heart Holders. Warp Squids also received a major upgrade, now letting Shantae teleport anywhere on the map as long as she has found and awoken any of the eight strategically-placed Warp Squids.

This time around, Sequin Land has a new level of depth in its exploration, both figuratively and literally. Jump pads let Shantae transfer between multiple layers of a stage, which can add unique opportunities for finding hidden objects and completing minor side quests. Shantae can also climb chains now, which makes navigating dungeons more interesting and adds new opportunities for testing the player’s platforming abilities beyond the other additions that take advantage of the three transformations, including new underwater segments for the Mermaid form.

Speaking of the dungeons, however, this is where the game’s more visible cracks show. There are only three dungeons before Shantae takes on Risky, one for each of the three Barons. While dungeons are thankfully far easier to navigate now without the aid of a walkthrough, only two of the dungeons actually have boss fights, which can make the game feel shorter and less difficult than it is. Instead of housing a boss fight, the second dungeon, associated with the Ammo Baron, holds the Battle Tower, a timed gauntlet of eleven floors that grants the player special prizes based on their performance. The Battle Tower does offer a way to grind gems like in the first game, but it felt disappointing to not see the Ammo Baron’s capabilities.

The Squid Baron proves a unique challenge.

Along with finding hidden Relics and Heart Holders, Shantae can also find Magic Jam, which lets her upgrade certain abilities in the item shop. No matter how one may feel about requiring a second currency just for useful passive abilities and upgraded magic, however, it should say something if later games would do away with Magic Jam entirely.

Then there’s the Import Room. From my understanding, the original DSi version granted gem bonuses in this room based on the presence and completion of two other WayForward titles, Mighty Flip Champs! and Mighty Milky Way. Since the later iOS release couldn’t interact with these titles, the room instead let players swap freely between Shantae’s regular costume and her Magic Mode costume. In the Switch port, however, the room doesn’t serve any real purpose and is only there because it was already part of the original code. Changing what games granted the rewards, like maybe the original Shantae, could have alleviated this.

This screen renders the Import Room useless.

Naturally, the multigenerational leap in hardware results in improved graphics, with a more fully fleshed-out art style that would make a return in Pirate’s Curse, as well as snappier animations, including the recycled belly dancing, that improve the game’s pace. As a nice touch, bottomless pits that drain health are more clearly marked with skulls floating above the abyss, which helps mitigate the need for leaps of faith. However, despite its best efforts at keeping all of the relevant information on screen, there are rare moments where you’re not sure what is, or will be, underneath you. Cutscenes also now include 2D sprite artwork that shows off the characters in their full glory, though they aren’t as expressive as in later games.

This release of the game also features four screen modes, representing different aspect ratios: 4:3 with borders, 4:3, 16:9 and Original. Original looks too small on an undocked Switch while 16:9 looks too stretched out in either mode. As such, I preferred 4:3 with borders for a good middle ground while filling in the rest of the blank space on the screen. Since I played the game both docked and undocked, I preferred how the graphics looked while undocked, as the sprites looked more appealing when not blown up.

Much like the original game, Jake Kaufman has an excellent score, but one that could take better advantage of improved hardware for a fuller sound. Though the game generally lacks voice acting, Shantae does actually have minimal voice work, including inhaling when surfacing from water, by Meagan Glaser in her only portrayal of the character.

Though perhaps not as fleshed out as its successors, Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut is worth playing through at least once. It’s a fun experience with unique gameplay for the series, so long as you can put up with its shortcomings.