Shantae: Risky's Revenge playthrough log

Oh wow, this gameplay is so much smoother than the first game... I really appreciate how the death pits are clearly marked with death clouds floating up out of them. The attack items are now tied to magic instead of inventory, so you can actually use them now. also this game has the same sorta thing as Wario Land VB and Kirby TD, where you go can through multiple layers of the Z-dimension.

But the biggest improvement is... This game actually has a built in overworld map. Just that is enough to make me want to play this completely blind without a walkthrough... If it turns out I'm missing some hidden stuff I'll use a walkthrough after beating the game to get everything.

11/11/2015

I started to notice this game was gonna be very short and easy compared to the first one... If there's really only 3 seals to collect and that map of Sequin Land covers every area in the game...

The first labyrinth was expectedly easy. It had the monkey transformation (which has much better controls now), and I think I got all the magic jams in the level. You need magic jams in addition to gems in order to buy all higher level magic powers.

The 2nd level wasn't actually a proper labyrinth.. It has you exploring a desert with lots of bottomless pits, and a fairly complex network of caves... Before going here though, the characters back in town hint you towards going to see the mayor who is currently near the lighthouse at the beginning of the game...

Shantae playthrough log

Reading the manual for the first game now... it seems kind of interesting. A looping overworld section leading to 5 separate town areas, a day/night system, and labyrinths (the game's dungeons) which are locked until you do some specific story tasks. The pause screen is very Zelda-like, showing a bunch of optional hidden collectibles as well as required story items.

One of the optional collectibles, warp squids, give you different warp dance powers that warp you to a certain place depending which warp room you returned those warp squids to.

Shantae has dance powers. Magical dances that give her different abilities. The dancing mechanic works kind of like playing the ocarina or conducting the wind. There's also a secret dance you can only learn if playing the game on a GBA.

Wow, this game is tough... not only is it tough to just survive (enemies ambush you constantly), it's also tough to find your way around... In particular I got kind of lost at this huge waterfall area on the way to the 2nd town, and the respawning enemies and pitfalls make it very inconvenient to explore...