Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a platform game developed by WayForward Technologies for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. It is the third game in the Shantae series, following Shantae: Risky's Revenge. It was released in North America on the 3DS eShop on October 23, 2014 and on the Wii U eShop on December 25, 2014, and in PAL regions on both platforms on February 5, 2015. The game was later ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Amazon Fire TV, and Nintendo Switch. The game follows the adventures of the eponymous half-genie Shantae as she once again has to save Sequin Land from a new foe, the Pirate Master, with help from her nemesis Risky Boots.
The title features a new soundtrack by Jake Kaufman. Met with critical acclaim, just like the first two entries in the series, the game was a nominee for best 3DS game and best platformer by IGN and made the Top 10 of the Club Nintendo 2014 survey of the fans' favorite games. It also was commercially successful. A fourth entry in the series, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, was released on December 20, 2016.
Gameplay
Like its predecessors, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse casts players in the role of Shantae the half-genie, who can attack enemies using her hair. Having lost her genie powers in the previous game, Shantae now makes use of various pirate items that the player obtains during the course of the game. These include a pistol that can be used to shoot enemies and switches from afar, a hat that can be used to glide through the air and ride on gusts of wind, a scimitar that can break blocks using a downwards thrust, boots that send Shantae into a charging dash that can break through certain walls, and a cannon that can be used to perform additional jumps in mid-air. Players can also make use of various items, such as damaging pike balls or health restoring potions. These items, as well as upgrades to Shantae's hair attack and pirate items, can be purchased using gems obtained from enemies and breakable objects. In place of transformation dances, Shantae can use a genie lamp to suck up nearby gems, as well as carry dark magic and other gaseous objects like smells.
Unlike the fully interconnected world of its predecessors, the world of Pirate's Curse is spread across multiple islands that Shantae can travel to via Risky Boots' pirate ship. These islands each require Shantae to gain access to a Den of Evil, where one of the pirate items can be found, and defeat a boss in order to gain a map to the next island. Players will often be required to fulfill certain quests in order to progress, such as finding an item on one island and giving it to someone on another. Hidden across the various islands are twenty cursed Cacklebats, which the player must defeat and extract Dark Magic from in order to obtain the game's best ending. Up to 32 Heart Squids can also be collected, which can be exchanged to increase Shantae's maximum health. Clearing the game unlocks Pirate Mode, which gives Shantae all of her pirate items from the start to allow the player to perform speedruns. Additional bonus artwork is unlocked based on players' final time and completion percentage upon clearing the game. The Nintendo 3DS western physical release and Nintendo Switch version feature an exclusive minigame, "Super Shantae NAB!", based on a Shantae-themed minigame featured in WarioWare D.I.Y., which can be played to earn additional gems.
Plot
Shantae, who destroyed the embodiment of her genie powers in Risky's Revenge, has been adjusting to life as a human. One morning, Shantae awakes to the sound of cannon fire. As Shantae rushes out to investigate, her friends Sky and Bolo tell her that their hometown of Scuttle Town is being taken over by the Ammo Baron, who, after a brief scuffle, reveals that he bought the town from Mayor Scuttlebutt and is legally now its new mayor. Ammo Baron places Shantae under lockdown pending further punishment. Defeated and despondent, Shantae returns home, where she is confronted by her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots. Risky accuses Shantae of robbing her, as her henchmen and items have suddenly gone missing. The two discover that Dark Magic has overtaken Risky's Tinkerbats, turning them into evil Cacklebats. Risky deduces that the Pirate Master, a powerful evil tyrant and her former captain who was sealed away long ago by Sequin Land's genies, is trying to use the Dark Magic to revive himself. Determined to stop his revival at all costs, Risky forms a reluctant alliance with Shantae to destroy the dens of evil giving him power, recover Risky's lost pirate items, and retrieve the Dark Magic inhabiting the Cacklebats. Along the way, Risky reveals that the Dark Magic is actually Shantae's genie magic, which was corrupted and scattered across Sequin Land rather than destroyed.
After Shantae destroys all of the evil dens, Risky attempts to destroy the Pirate Master's grave, but is kidnapped by the revived Pirate Master. Shantae gives chase back to Scuttle Town, and confronts the Pirate Master in the Sequin Land palace. Shantae agrees to give up the Dark Magic she had collected in order to save Risky. To her surprise, she discovers that the magic has turned back into Light Magic, allowing Shantae to once again become a half-genie and defeat the Pirate Master with Risky's help, releasing his curse from Risky's Tinkerbats and weapons. With peace returned to Sequin Land, Shantae and Risky develop a mutual respect and understanding of one another, though Risky admits that she will never be one of the good guys. Later, Shantae uses her powers to return Scuttle Town's ownership and drive the Ammo Baron out of town, while Risky returns to her life of piracy, preparing for when their paths cross again.
If Shantae does not collect all the Dark Magic, an alternate ending occurs where the Pirate Master escapes and Risky retakes her equipment from Shantae, revealing the items' curse which will eventually overtake her. Risky leaves to confront the Pirate Master alone, while Shantae vows to retrieve all of her missing magic.
Development
The game was announced in the November 2012 edition of Nintendo Power. On May 29, 2014, WayForward Technologies announced that more info about the game would be revealed at E3 2014. Just prior to Nintendo's own E3 2014 presentation, WayForward revealed to Nintendo Life that an HD variant of Shantae and the Pirate's Curse was coming to Wii U.
Limited Run Games printed 6,000 physical copies of the PlayStation 4 version, which were released on their website on October 28, 2016. They also released physical copies on Nintendo Switch on December 7, 2018, including a Collector's Edition.
