Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, a platform game from 2014, was made by WayForward Technologies for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. It's the third game in the Shantae series, coming after Shantae: Risky's Revenge, and it was the first in the series made for a home console. The story follows the half-genie Shantae as she must save Sequin Land from a new enemy, the Pirate Master, with the help of her usual foe, Risky Boots. The game came out on the 3DS eShop in North America on October 23, 2014, and on the Wii U eShop on December 25, 2014. In PAL regions, it launched on both platforms on February 5, 2015. Later ports went to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Amazon Fire TV, Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna. Jake Kaufman created a new soundtrack for the title. Critics gave it generally favorable reviews, and it sold well, landing in the Top 10 of Club Nintendo's 2014 fan-favorite survey and earning nominations from IGN for best 3DS game and best platformer.

In terms of gameplay, players control Shantae, who attacks enemies with her hair. Since she lost her genie powers in the previous game, she now uses pirate items found during the adventure. These include a pistol for shooting enemies and switches from a distance, a hat for gliding and riding wind gusts, a scimitar for breaking blocks with a downward thrust, boots for a charging dash that breaks certain walls, and a cannon for extra mid-air jumps. Players can also use items like damaging pike balls or health potions. Gems from enemies and breakable objects buy upgrades for Shantae's hair and pirate items, as well as these items. Instead of transformation dances, Shantae uses a genie lamp to suck up nearby gems and carry dark magic or other gaseous things like smells. The world is not fully interconnected like earlier games; instead, it's split into multiple islands. Shantae travels between them on Risky Boots' pirate ship. Each island requires her to reach a Den of Evil, find a pirate item there, and beat a boss to get a map to the next island. Players often complete quests, like finding an item on one island and giving it to someone on another. Hidden across the islands are twenty cursed Cacklebats; defeating them and extracting Dark Magic is needed for the best ending. Up to 32 Heart Squids can be collected and traded to increase Shantae's maximum health.