It’s been more than 20 years in the making, and now it’s time to dive into a new adventure with everyone’s favorite half-genie hero. Check out our Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution review!
It’s been more than 20 years in the making, and now it’s time to dive into a new adventure with everyone’s favorite half-genie hero. WayForward and Limited Run Games have worked on bringing back to life the canceled Shantae Advance, which had initially been planned for a Game Boy Advance release that would have landed between the original Shantae on the Game Boy Color and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, which initially saw a digital release on the Nintendo DSi Shop. Yes, there was a Nintendo DS console which had a digital storefront. It’s now 2025, and after getting a physical release from Limited Run Games on an actual Game Boy Advance cartridge, we can now dive into the definitive edition of Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution!
For this new – but old – adventure, Risky Boots is doing what Risky Boots does: coming up with a plan to rule over Sequin Land once and for all! This new plan has Risky Boots rotating the entire continent at will, moving any town next to the coast so that she can more easily plunder everything! You’ll have to use Risky’s plan against her as you mix and match multilayered levels by shifting and twisting areas. Shantae will be making good use of the four dances from the first game – elephant, monkey, spider, and harpy – along with two new dances for this sequel: the crab and the mermaid. Going back to the whole shifting areas gameplay mechanic, this game reminded me a bit of how games such as Mutant Mudds handle content on the foreground and the background, which is interesting for a game that was originally planned for the Game Boy Advance.
You can enjoy three different modes in Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution: Story Mode, Battle Mode, and Classic Mode. Story Mode is going to be the main atraction since it offers you a chance to dive into a modern version of Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. This one features HD graphics for the user interface and character portraits, vibration support, and even includes some gorgeous hand-drawn cinematic cutscene images. Battle Mode is a free-for-all combat scenario for 2-4 players to dive into locally. As for Classic Mode, it allows you to dive into the original version for Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution in all of its glory. That last one is certainly appreciated, since it allows us to take a look at the game as it would have been released way back in 2004 on Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance console on a physical cartridge.
You’ll be taking control of Shantae by using the left analog stick or the D-Pad as you jump by pressing the B button, and pressing the Y button to attack by whipping your hair. Her hair is a powerful weapon, since it can destroy enemies both small and large, as well as make short work of the many bosses that you’ll be going up against. The single-use items and magical items that you buy with your gems – more on this in a bit – can be used by selecting them from the menu and then pressing the A button as needed.
Dance by pressing the X, L, or ZL buttons, which will allow you to activate the transformations you’ve managed to unlock so far. You can also use your dance to suck up items. If you’ve played the previous Shantae game on the Game Boy Color, then you’ll have a good idea of what some of the different dances will do. Turn into the monkey so that you can climb up walls and jump really high, or transform into the elephant to dash and destroy obstacles. Transform into a crab to dive underwater and explore the depths! Oh, and if you double-press and then hold down the X, L, or ZL buttons, you’ll enter look mode, which will allow you to move the camera around you for a little bit.
The gems that you collect as you defeat enemies and destroy objects can be put to good use at the shop. You can spend your hard-earned gems to get useful items that will aid you on your adventure. These include a Heart Vial you can use to refill your health, a Heart Pack that contains three Heart Vials, an Exit Candy that will allow you to exit your current location, a Fireball that you can launch at enemies from a long range, a Storm Puff that will conjure up lightning strikes that deal considerable damage, Pants Ants that allow you tos pend magic to run faster, or a Shampoo that will make your ahir whip attack hit faster and harder, to name some examples.
It’s been more than 20 years in the making, and now it’s time to dive into a new adventure with everyone’s favorite half-genie hero. Shantae Advance, which had initially been planned for a Game Boy Advance release that would have landed between the original Shantae on the Game Boy Color and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, which initially saw a digital release on the Nintendo DSi Shop, is now RET-2-GO on Nintendo Switch. We can now dive into the definitive edition of this game thanks to Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution!
The physical Game Boy Advance cartridge version from Limited Run Games is now sold out – both in its standard and Collector’s Edition versions – but you can still get yourself a physical copy on Nintendo Switch if you click right here. But if you really want a physical Game Boy Advance copy for your collection, you can get a variant red clear cartridge edition over at VideoGamesPlus.
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution launches tomorrow on Nintendo Switch with a $24.99 price tag. You can also go all-in and get the Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution – Deluxe Edition for $34.99. This one includes the main game as well as three special bonus outfits that change Shantae’s appearance and boost her magical abilities! These additional outfits are:
Sizzle Armor Costume (enhanced Fireball Power)
Relic Hunter Costume (enhanced Pike Ball Power)
High Voltage Costume (enhanced Storm Puff Power)
Disclaimer
This Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by WayForward.
