Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Ultimate Edition

 PC
Metascore
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No score yet - based on 1 Critic Review

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
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  1. Cubed3
    May 15, 2018
    70
    There is plenty here for newcomers of the series to enjoy, as well, as long as they don't care about minor things like character introductions. Along the way, they will encounter some fun and often self-referential humour and some challenging puzzles in a colourful and sugary sweet package.

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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 2 out of 13
  1. Denvers
    Mar 4, 2021
    7
    Shantae: Half Genie Hero tears me - on one hand, it is a fantastically creative platformer that manages to being new life into the extremelyShantae: Half Genie Hero tears me - on one hand, it is a fantastically creative platformer that manages to being new life into the extremely old genre - on the other hand, its really a bad Metroidvania disguised as a platformer. If Metroidvania elements of finding mandatory secrets constantly doesn't bother you, then this game will be a delight. For me, however, I felt constant pain having to find hidden secrets by replaying the same levels over and over again just to move on.… Full Review »
  2. TitaniumDragon
    Jan 22, 2020
    2
    Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a 2D Metroidvania and the fourth game in the Shantae series. You play as the eponymous Shantae, a half-genie whoShantae: Half-Genie Hero is a 2D Metroidvania and the fourth game in the Shantae series. You play as the eponymous Shantae, a half-genie who protects Sequin Town and helps out her eccentric inventor uncle.

    The story is quite simple. At the start of the game, Shantae is warned in a dream that the genie realm is under threat. Upon waking, you’re told by your uncle that he needs your help on the design of some new invention, at which point a pirate steals his blueprints and takes them back to his captain while the town is under attack. The game has two intertwining stories – Shantae acting as the protector of the town (and ultimately, the genie realm), going out and fighting baddies, and Shantae acting to find parts for her uncle so he can complete his machine.

    Unfortunately, this leads into the game’s major weakness – its small scope. Shantae is a game with only six levels in it, and these are not particularly large – indeed, they’re about the length you’d expect from an older 2D platformer. Thus, you go through them, beat them the first time, and then you go back to them after acquiring a power-up during or after the stage in order to go find something for your uncle. This cycle of new level -> revisit old levels repeats after every stage in the game, resulting in you revisiting the first five levels at least twice each, and often three or even four times.

    Worse, the levels are always at their most interesting the first time through, as then, you are progressing the plot and there is a boss at the end. On repeat visits, a few of the enemies are switched out, but the new ones aren’t generally particularly different or more difficult, and you’re scrounging through familiar territory for things you overlooked or couldn’t access the first time.

    And overall, the game doesn’t have a whole lot of mechanical variety, despite Shantae’s transformations. This is because most of the transformations are bad at fighting (and often, they can’t fight at all without an upgrade), meaning that your best bet is generally to be in Shantae’s base form, and then use the transformations to unlock new areas.

    And Shantae’s base form, while not bad, is not particularly remarkable as a platforming character. She can move, she can jump, she can crouch and crawl (though you usually use transformations for small spaces anyway because she’s slow), she can whip stuff with her hair, and that’s about it. You gain access to magic, which can give her some ranged attacks, but a lot of them don’t actually do very much damage so aren’t really worth using too much; the most useful of the lot of them is one that makes her invincible to projectiles and eventually, entirely invincible, which becomes outright broken later on in the game when you gain access to infinite magic.

    The transformations are okay, but mostly unremarkable; the best of the lot of them is the monkey, which can climb walls and jump but not really attack, and the elephant, which has a reasonably powerful charging attack and which can eventually stomp on the ground to pop up stuff. The spider transformation – which allows her to cling to the ceiling – and the bat transformation – which allows her to hover across a level, but not go up and down – are interesting for a few puzzles, but the spider only comes in late in the game.

    The result, unfortunately, is that the game mostly ends up being something of a scavenger hunt over mostly familiar ground, meaning that even though the game is quite short – only a bit over 7 hours to collect everything – it still feels like it wore out its welcome.

    Ultimately, then, the only things this game has going for it is the dialogue and the graphics. The dialogue is amusing – the characters have funny lines, and the game loves its anticlimax jokes, with buildup leading to a “disappointing” but humorous payoff as often as not, leaving the player guessing. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously, with one boss character – Squid Baron – being entirely devoted to breaking the fourth wall. At one point, a passerby child on the street asks your character – who is dressed like a belly dancer – “Are you a Medusa? Mom always tells me to avert my eyes when you walk by.” Most everything in the game is played for laughs, with only a few serious bits here and there.

    Graphically, the game is aesthetically pleasing – it is colorful, the animations are fluid, and the characters are fun to look at. For being a family friendly game, the game does seem to love women with a certain hourglass shape shaking their hips and looking rather buoyant. But it isn’t over the top, and the way that all of the characters are constantly swaying back and forth can be fun to watch.

    All in all, this isn’t a game I can really recommend. It looks good, but in terms of gameplay, it is too repetitive and just isn’t all that mechanically exciting.    … Full Review »
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