Shantae Returns To The Physical World With “Half-Genie Hero”
Here’s some news that will make you shake your booty: you’ll be seeing Shantae in stores again soon.
Created (and 100% owned) by Matt Bozon and his wife, the spunky spirit made her first appearance in a Game Boy Color game that shot its developer, Wayforward Techonologies, into stardom. It’s now considered one of the best (and rarest) games the system had.
From that point, though, Shantae became a harder sell. The Bozons struggled for the next few years trying to convince the big publishers to support a sequel, but they wouldn’t fund a game starring a woman (seriously, this was the reason they were told). It was only due to the rise of Steam and the ability to easily release games digitally that Wayforward was able to make the return of Shantae on their own with Risky’s Revenge in the late 2000’s.
Her fans hadn’t forgotten her, and that sequel resulted in another sequel, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. While Pirate’s Curse was in development, the next Shantae game was crowdfunded via Kickstarter: Half-Genie Hero. Originally planned to be digital like the others, the game has now landed a publishing deal. Shantae is coming back to store shelves for the first time since her debut!
XSeed Games announced today they would be publishing this game in physical form for all platforms it was developed for: Playstation 4, Wii U AND PS Vita. The price will be easy to swallow at $30, plus there’s more: each copy will come shrinkwrapped with a soundtrack CD, “Risky Beats,” attached.
The only information XSeed didn’t provide today was a release date, but that is probably coming during E3. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero will be one of three playable games showcased at XSeed’s E3 booth.