Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Director’s Cut Review

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Director’s Cut

Release: March 24, 2016
Publisher: WayForward
Developer: WayForward
Genre: Action, Adventure, Platformer
PEGI: 10+
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Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Director’s Cut is a port of a game that was once on the Dsi. Now the game is on the Wii U and being labeled a Director’s Cut. Has the game’s visuals been updated? What about its gameplay? Is Shantae: Risky’s Revenge a Wii U game or a quick port of an old game?

I like Shantae: Risky’s Revenge’s story because the game has a fun sense of humor and adventure. I think the game’s dialogue is pretty good too. Though, at times, it can be a little corny. The important thing is that the story doesn’t drag the game down and it does lift the game up a bit. Of course, a good video game story is nothing without its gameplay and Shantae has good gameplay, although it does have some issues.

Shantae features classic hair whipping platforming and Metroidvania style exploration. It also has some fun powerups that let Shantae become creatures, like a monkey or an elephant. The game’s controls work really well and the game is a lot of fun. It does have some issues that hold it back a little though.

The biggest problem with Risky’s Revenge is that you can easily get lost in the levels. There is a map available, but I found the map was only helpful a little bit. I would find my way through levels, eventually, after a lot of backtracking. The game does have a warp system that you can use; you’ll still find yourself backtracking quite a bit. And the tips that you are given by some NPC characters are usually not very helpful. Thankfully you can take your time in most of the levels. There is no timer usually in the game. Well, expect one area and that didn’t work so well.

Most of Shantae doesn’t have a timer, but there is one section in the game that had a timer and it was awful. Shantae is a game that requires a lot of exploration and backtracking. So then you get an area that’s timed and it has neither of those qualitys. While I did find the backtracking bothersome at times, I also felt this timed section was too generic. The levels you go through are too stripped down and uninteresting, with the only real challenge being the timer and the enemies you fight. And you are not given as much time as you need to get through the areas. It was an extremely frustrating experience and you can repeat it if you want for extra prizes, but its not required thankfully. In the end, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge is a good game, however its also obvious that the game wasn’t meant to be on the Wii U.

While Risky’s Revenge does have Off-TV play (its mirrored) available and uses the rumble feature on the gamepad, it does not use any of the Wii U’s other features! It would have been great to have the map always on the second screen at the very least. Shantae also doesn’t support widescreen. The widescreen that’s available is all squished and unplayable. The best way to play this game is with the screen smaller and with boarders around it. And while this is the best way, I can’t say that it impressed me that the game was brought to the Wii U this way.

The gameplay visuals of Shantae: Risky’s Revenge were not updated at all. It still has its Dsi visuals and they don’t look that great on the Wii U. The game isn’t ugly, in fact all the enemies and environments are well designed, but the lack of HD visuals (and widescreen) seems very lazy. There are, however, new HD portraits when the characters talk. They look nice, even though they also seem out of place.  Don’t get me wrong: Risky’s Revenge is not the worst looking game on the Wii U. It still looks very good. I just think it could have looked a lot better.

That said, I really love the audio in this game. It holds up very well. The music is varied and it changes from area to area. I also thought the sound effects were really nice. Overall, Shantae isn’t a bad game at all, but there are places where it could have been so much better.

If you like platformers, Shantae is worth checking out. The gameplay is good, the enemies and environments are well designed, and the audio is excellent. That said, the game isn’t really a Wii U game. Instead, Risky’s Revenge is quick port with nothing much upgraded. I’m not sure why its being called a Director’s Cut. Perhaps the game should have just been released as a DS Virtual Console game and then there would have been no expectations for it. Shantae: Risky’s Revenge for Wii U could have been so much better, though I suppose it could have been so much worse too. Risky’s Revenge is fun and, in the end, that’s what matters most.

Thank you to the developer, Wayforward, for providing a review copy of this game. Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Director’s Cut is currently on the Wii U eshop.

Positives

• Great gameplay
• Interesting story
• Good controls
• Off-TV play
• Very good audio

Negatives

• Graphics were not updated
• Awful Timed Section
• Doesn’t use the Wii U’s other features
• Awful Timed Section

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