Whether it’s her somewhat skimpy outfits, seemingly infinite optimism, or ability to dance her way through any tough situation, Shantae has proven to be a pretty popular and compelling throwback to the earlier days of 2D platforming over the years. Risky Revolution has had a rocky road getting released though, after being shelved back when it was originally made as a follow-up to the modestly-successful original. Now, many years and a number of systems later it has finally gotten to see the light of day, featuring an obviously more old-school feel, but still likely having appeal for franchise fans.

It seems that her nemesis Risky Boots has come up with a diabolical way to allow her to attack and plunder any town she’d like from the comfort of her pirate ship. Rather than coming up with the means to bring her minions inland she’ll use technology to rotate the land itself, bringing cities to her instead. Rather than take the time to consider how crazy ridiculous this would be, Shantae will need to dash into action to stop her. If you’ve enjoyed her titles on Switch, for the most part the style of play should feel familiar to you. This is a pretty classically-styled platforming adventure at the end of the day, with you exploring, taking out enemies with Shantae’s signature hair whip move, discovering secret areas, and then using a number of transformations and abilities she’ll acquire along the way to help you progress. You’ll have the option to play it in its original form for full-on pixel lovers, an updated version that features modern high-quality character art and some other tweaks, or even a simple multiplayer game that offers some limited fun. 

For the most part the challenge is more consistent with older handheld games, a little more aggravating in spots with more respawning enemies to make up for the shorter overall length of the adventure, but that compact nature also makes for less overall filler. While the constraints of the older system didn’t allow for quite as much visual flair as we’ve seen in more recent titles, some tricks like moving between the background and foreground that are featured do at least help to compensate with some creativity. That can sometimes lead to at least some mild frustrations as your view can be obstructed, allowing for some cheap problems once in a while, but overall the flow of play is consistent with the series and the difficulty isn’t too far above middle of the road overall.

For true Shantae fans, or retro gamers who love to feel like they’re revisiting titles from the past, this is a pretty solid option to have available. The design is pretty smart, the story and characters are as goofy as ever, and within the confines of the older system the game plays pretty well. If you’re just new to the franchise, or aren’t necessarily a fan of old handheld gaming, you’d likely be better off going with one of the modern titles to cut your teeth on first, knowing that you could always return for this one later. It’s a good time, but it’s still a bit of a step back in terms of the overall experience.