Shantae

Sometimes a game's fate is decided not by its quality but by its timing. And few titles illustrate this as sadly and yet as charmingly as Shantae from the studio WayForward. It came out in 2002 — at a time when the successor Game Boy Advance already ruled the spotlight and interest in the old black-and-white and color Game Boys was waning. The game thus arrived as the swan song of an era that was just closing.

The result? It sold pitifully few copies, and years later became one of the most sought-after collector's pieces for the GBC ever. Original cartridges today change hands for hundreds of dollars, which given its quality is both ironic and fitting at once. Anyone who missed it back then pays for it today — literally.

And yet from a purely technical standpoint it was a small miracle. Shantae pushed the aging Game Boy Color hardware to the very edge of its capabilities: smooth, richly animated characters, splendid effects, and a lively, colorful world you wouldn't expect on a 1998 console. The titular half-genie Shantae doesn't lack personality and flair, which earned her a cult standing.

The gameplay stands on a proven metroidvania foundation, spiced with one charming idea — Shantae changes her form through dance. She transforms into a monkey, an elephant, or a spider, and each of these forms opens new paths and ways to solve puzzles and overcome previously impassable places. Exploration and the gradual unlocking of the world thus take on a distinctive, dancing flavor.

The game itself, moreover, laid the foundations for a series that, despite its catastrophic start, didn't die — on the contrary, it lives and is released to this day. The road to sequels was not easy, though; WayForward long couldn't afford to follow up on their own creation, and Shantae worked her way from an almost forgotten title into a beloved indie icon. The 2002 original meanwhile remains that rare cornerstone, crafted at the edge of the hardware's capabilities, on which everything stands.

Why play: A technically dazzling and immensely charming metroidvania that launched a cult series — and today ranks among the rarest treasures of the Game Boy Color library.