Shantae Advance is an really new GBA sport

Look, I’m not going to fake that new video games on retro {hardware} is a novel idea. If Destructoid’s Zoey “The Flying Zebra” Handley can write 1000+ phrases about an Atari Lynx sport that got here out in 2009, nothing ought to shock me. I say ought to, as a result of WayForward has introduced that Shantae Advance: Dangerous Revolution will hit the Recreation Boy Advance in 2024, and it’s taken me hour to wrap my thoughts round it.

To supply some backstory, Shantae Advance is a protracted, lengthy misplaced chapter of WayForward’s trademark Shantae collection. Although it started improvement within the early 2000s, the lackluster gross sales of the primary Shantae sport scared off potential publishers. Refusing to launch a compromised model of the sport, WayForward determined to cancel the undertaking in 2004.

Thankfully, all that work by no means went to waste. In a world of abysmal sport preservation, WayForward had the foresight to archive the sport’s information. Now, roughly 20 years later, the unique group of creator Erin Bozon, director Matt Bozon, and programmer Michael Stragey have reunited to select up precisely the place they left off.

In years previous, the prospect of a group like WayForward releasing a title for a legacy console would sound preposterous. Nonetheless, because of a rising curiosity in retro video games and the efforts of Restricted Run Video games, Shantae Advance has what it must cross that improvement end line.

A misplaced chapter of Shantae lore

In a behind-the-scenes video, Matt Bozon particulars what to anticipate from Shantae Advance. Notably, he talks about how the cancelation of Shantae Advance has impacted the collection canon.

“Dangerous Revolution is when a variety of the primary forged meets, in some circumstances for the primary time,” Bozon explains. “We went straight into Shantae: Dangerous’s Revenge the place everybody simply in some way is aware of all people. There’s a whole lacking chapter of their lives that was by no means touched on.”

Reasonably than exist as a sheer novelty, WayForward appears intent on fulfilling their unique imaginative and prescient of the sport. To this point, we’ve got the promise of “a number of chapters, quite a few cities and labyrinths, six creature transformations, fierce bosses, and a soundtrack by acclaimed composer Maddie Lim”. Moreover, Shantae Advance will function four-player Hyperlink Cable help in what appears like a aggressive minigame. This function will fortuitously require only one cart, although good luck discovering three mates with Recreation Boy Advances readily available.

General, Shantae Advance appears legitimately spectacular, even past its console novelty. I’ve performed a variety of GBA video games recently, and Shantae’s giving even the system’s lookers a run for his or her cash. Sadly, WayForward has not introduced any plans to launch the title on trendy {hardware}. We’ll must see if it stays unique to the retro handheld.

Shantae Advance: Dangerous Revolution will launch in early 2024.

Timothy Monbleau

Information Editor – Timothy began writing group blogs for Destructoid in 2012. He appreciated it a lot he determined to jot down articles for the positioning professionally. His love for RPGs and the Ys collection will endure endlessly.

Extra Tales by Timothy Monbleau