Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Christmas game of 2016

4th game in the series and after 1 day I finished it. Even though I haven't played any of the games since the last game come out I can feel the reflexes still kick in while playing. And I gotta say, after the high-note of the last game which... basically threw out everything that was a Shantae game (transformations and magic) it felt rather nice and double fun to see old transformations like harpy, mermaid and the monkey return. And at least they got rid of remembering the combo to activate the transformation. Story is that Shantae's uncle once again have unearthed a blue print for a machine and... as usual Risky Boots is there to steal it. Stop her and begin constructing the machine that will protect Sequine land forever with the energy boost.

And your off, visiting 5 main levels until you can defeat Risky once again. In between finding the next map you have to travel back and forth between the areas to gather certain items to unlock the next part of the story and doing so get's you more money to upgrade your equipment or find extra hearts or gallery keys. And if you are good enough you can find an item long before it's needed which will spare you a trip and the headache to remember where it was. They also brought back the map overview of watching the different maps and see what they have left to find skipping the irritating wander all over the maps like the first games. What they did get rid of was the world maps... and I find it rather irritating. Usually you could look at the map and learn where you haven't gone. Often that it wasn't fully explored due to missing some ability and with a new move set you think "maybe I can get past with this?". I would assume the reason they got rid of it is due to the stages being rather short. 7 hours total gameplay and then the first playthrough was over, unlocking the hero mode which I haven't started yet since as of writing it's the day before christmas and my sisters are home causing all trouble so I can't play (except finishing the game right as they arrived home for the holidays).

Overall the best traditional Shantae with magic and such of the four existing. And I feel they get easier, but with some of the platforming required I would like to think my platforming skills have been improved by playing. As I jump from platform to platform and instantly switches to the right transformation to continue. Feels like... a Sonic game with the speed. I recall the Pirate's Curse final level to the boss and I feel that it trained me very well for platformers. Overall a good game, now only I could kick out my sisters so that I can finish Hero mode and unlock what I suspect is either Risky's mode or Shantae in Risky's equipment like in Pirate's Curse. Lucky I got a long holiday this year since I was forced to use up all my vacation days I had left.