More Like A Blessing!



Developed and published by WayForward Shantae And The Pirate's Curse is the final game in the first story arc of the Shantae series and it features streamlined gameplay and more polished mechanics than earlier games in the series, but is it enough to give this game our seal of approval? Keep reading our review to find out!

The story of Shantae And The Pirate's Curse isn't a major part of the game, but the story itself is quite humorous as are the plethora of comical characters that you will run across during your adventure. These elements make for quite an enjoyable experience in this regard, however more importantly the gameplay is highly polished compared to the earlier Shantae titles! The game's world is split amongst 7 different islands each with their own dungeon and pirate tool! Pirate tools that are found in the dungeons can help you reach places and solve puzzles that you can't reach or solve before obtaining the tools! This includes areas in islands that you've already visited so backtracking is a must.

The first island is where you can do all of your shopping to spend your hard earned Rupees which you'll want to do before heading off to a new island. Extra health can be earned by collecting 4 Heart Squids and bringing them to a certain character on a certain island rather than after defeating a boss. These Heart Squids are usually easy to find, but a few are quite cleverly hidden.



The platforming in the game starts out simple, but becomes increasingly more difficult as the game progresses and the same can be said about the game's puzzles. Some of the puzzles late in the game are quite perplexing to say the least, but aren't unfairly difficult either. The bosses are quite unique and provide a decent challenge. These bosses usually require you to use the pirate tool that you obtained earlier in the dungeon in order to avoid its attacks or in some cases even damage it. The game also has an unlockable game mode for those of you who finish the game which adds to the game's replayability!

The controls in Shantae And The Pirate's Curse are superb and easy to learn. The sheer amount of controller options is a nice feature of the game! The Gamepad is used as a map, inventory screen, etc. when using it as your controller and can also be used for Off-TV-Play which is a much appreciated feature of this game!



The music in the game is absolutely breathtaking and fits the game remarkably well and the game's sound effects are quite nice as well! The characters are also partially voiced over in a similar fashion to the more recent Zelda titles with a name or single word occasionally being spoken by a character. This is a neat little touch that adds an extra layer of polish to the already excellent audio that this game messages your ears with!

The graphics are decidedly retro and look absolutely amazing. The level of detail for the character models and backgrounds in the game is quite impressive as are the special effects and HD character still images that are shown during cut-scenes! All-in-all Shantae And The Pirate's Curse is flawless in-terms of its audio-visual presentation!



Bottom-Line:

With highly polished and enjoyable gameplay, a humorous story and characters, superb controls, and excellent audio-visual presentation Shantae And The Pirate's Curse is an eshop game that no Wii U or 3DS owner should hesitate downloading! This is one of the best eshop titles released during 2014 and we give this game the highest level of recommendation!

Price: $19.99

Score:

★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10