Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

 3DS
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
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  1. Game Informer
    Nov 5, 2014
    70
    Fans of Shantae's previous adventures will likely find more to love with Pirate's Curse, but there are enough superior retro-inspired games (Shovel Knight, Strider, Azure Striker Gunvolt, etc.) to make this one hard to recommend unless you've already played them all. However, there is fun to be had if you're a tenacious enough pirate to dig for WayForward's buried gold.
  2. Cubed3
    Oct 26, 2014
    70
    Shantae and the Pirate's Curse might put off a lot of its target audience with its bright and cartoony graphics, but devoted Metroidvania/platformer fans will not want to miss this excellently animated sprite game.

Awards & Rankings

9
#9 Best 3DS Game of 2014
16
#16 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2014
15
#15 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2014

User Reviews

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User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 135 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 118 out of 135
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 135
  3. Negative: 10 out of 135
  1. Yotsuba
    Oct 27, 2014
    10
    Quite possibly the most fun I have had in a Downloadable title in my entire life. The game looks great, the animations are smooth as buttah',Quite possibly the most fun I have had in a Downloadable title in my entire life. The game looks great, the animations are smooth as buttah', the music is good, the gameplay is fun. 60fps and it never dropped for me once.

    Quite possibly my favorite thing about this title is how likable and interesting the characters are in this game and often times how funny the game is. It has a way of playing with your expectations in a way that will make all but the most soulless person chuckle.

    Also the 3D effects look fantastic and really add a lot to the experience of this game, something that you really have to see to fully appreciate.    … Full Review »
  2. yopasp
    Nov 27, 2014
    10
    Very polished and colorful, the art style is great and the game-play is polished and fun there are a lot of fun collectible items and theVery polished and colorful, the art style is great and the game-play is polished and fun there are a lot of fun collectible items and the length of the game is defiantly justified by the price tag and i really have nothing bad to say about this game.… Full Review »
  3. theAGamer
    Nov 9, 2014
    10
    An amazingly engaging and entertaining metroidvania game that proves that genre can still thrive. The presentation is amazingly smooth,An amazingly engaging and entertaining metroidvania game that proves that genre can still thrive. The presentation is amazingly smooth, colorful, and fluid with tons of unique animations and detailed sprites and character drawings in cutscenes. There is also some really impressive ( and somewhat humorous) use of stereoscopic 3d. The music is by Jake Kaufman, so naturally it's incredibly atmospheric and catchy, with funny song names like "Rave in the Grave" (Rottytopps's theme) and "DO U EVEN WHIP" (true ending scene music). Speaking of which, this game's writing can be downright hilarious at times! All the characters are funny, there are some very funny references to things like he-man (bran-son) and some fourth wall breaking sprinkled in. Apart from that, the game's story actually feels like it evolves and progresses a lot, with some very touching and plot heavy moments that really feel substantial, and an overall theme that the game makes apparent at the end that makes you really think about the whole adventure.The game never takes itself too seriously, except for when it needs to, and it nails both. The gameplay is nice and fast paced. The combat might feel slow at first, but you'll be able to buy upgrades to increase your attack speed and power. You can also purchase some "advanced fighters moves" which can help avoid enemies, reduce knock back, and perform a super kick move to do more damage.The trademark "hair whip" that Shantae is known for feels incredibly satisfying, and would even make the likes of Willow Smith impressed! On top of that, there's also an Rpg number damage system that displays how much damage enemies take in numbers above their heads, which really helps in emphasizing the power of some items or damage boosters, and let's you know which way is the most efficient for killing baddies. In addition, the combat and exploration is spiced up with pirate themed items that Shantae gathers on her quest, which really help in making for great new scenarios in exploration, puzzles, and combat. I won't spoil what they are, but they're all fun to use and can be upgraded a lot as well, and keep the exploration and backtracking fresh while still offering usefulness in combat. On to the next bit, there is a bit of backtracking in this game, but I never felt it got entierly too tedious. The way it works is that Risky Boots is docked at the beggining of each island, each having one dungeon and a set number of collectibles and a theme. The islands all felt unique, and the collectibles were very well hidden. The collectibles did also require some backtracking to acquire, but the best way to go about it is to just explore every area to the fullest with every item you have when the game needs you to backtrack to progress, which is very often. The backtracking itself didn't really bother me since your items later on make it much easier to travel and traverse, as well as explore.Some areas were complete slogs to travel through again, but then you can just use a pirate flare to teleport back to Risky's boat. Finally, in terms of length, this game is well worth $20. There are 32 heart squids ( think zelda heart pieces, but squids) and 20 Cacklebats (plot devices that give you a much better ending) to find in the entire game, with 3 squids in each dungeon and however many Cacklebats on an island. The game will tell you how many you have on the island select screen. The time it took me to 100% complete the game was 10 and 1/2 hours, which and i enjoyed every moment. The game is definitely worth $20, and well worth completing. There is also and additional "pirate mode" once you beat the game, which lets you replay the game with all of the gear unlocked from the start and challenges you to try to speed run the game in under two hours, or complete it in the fastest time. I have yet to try this mode, but I can definitely see how it can add a lot of replay value to an already great game. The few nitpicky I have with this game is that there is some knock back, which gets very annoying when you get knocked off a screen or chain. Thankfully, you can purchase the recover move to recover from knock back slightly. The item system is also very unintuitive, since you have to double tap the bottom screen to heal, and you have to wait to fully recover. These are just small annoyances on an incredibly solid game. In conclusion, Shantae and the Pirate's curse is and amazingly charming and engaging game that knows exactly what it wants to be, and has an incredible amount of fun with it. If you're a fan of metroidvania games, zelda games, or even just 2d platformer games in general, don't let this one fly under your radar and make this a must buy for this year.… Full Review »
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