The canceled Game Boy Advance sequel to the original 2002 game Shantae is getting a revival thanks to series developer WayForward and publisher Limited Run Games.
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution was announced during Limited Run Games’ LRG3 showcase and will be released on Game Boy Advance cartridges early next year.
The resurrected title’s development is being led by Shantae creator Erin Bozon, series director Matt Bozon, and programmer Michael Stragey.
According to WayForward, the team is using “GBA-era development tools to authentically complete the handheld experience that was planned so many years ago.”
“Previously existing only in unfinished demo form, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution will be released as a full game with all of the hair-whipping, belly-dancing action that Shantae fans have come to expect,” WayForward’s press release reads. “[It will also include] multiple chapters, numerous towns and labyrinths, six creature transformations, fierce bosses, and a soundtrack by acclaimed composer Maddie Lim, plus a 4-player battle mode.”
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution will see Shantae once again protecting Sequin Land from her nemesis Risky Boots, who plans to use a secret subterranean device to rotate and rearrange their continent (hence the game’s title), create new coastal cities, and plunder them for riches.
The game will narratively function as an interquel, “filling in the gaps” between Shantae (2002) and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (2010).
“Risky Revolution is when a lot of the main cast meets, in some cases, for the first time,” director Matt Bozon said. “So [without Risky Revolution] we went straight into Shantae: Risky’s Revenge where everyone somehow knows everybody. There’s an entire missing chapter of their lives that was never touched on.”
Risky Revolution will also include Link Cable support, allowing up to four players on separate Game Boy Advances to play battle mode from one device.
The game is set to release as a physical Game Boy Advance-compatible cartridge through Limited Run Games in early 2024. A pre-order window has not yet been announced.
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Written by Daniel Dell-Cornejo
Daniel is an editor at Nintendo Wire. Always with his head in the clouds, he is never apart from his creative thoughts – a blessing for an aspiring fiction writer. As a journalist and lifelong gamer, he aims to provide readers with the very best in Nintendo coverage.
