Shantae: Half-Genie Hero coming to PS3, PS4, Vita in 2014

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Shantae: Half-Genie Hero coming to PS3, PS4, Vita in 2014
Shantae

Next year, WayForward is bringing the highly animated action adventure series Shantae to PS3, PS4, and PS Vita in the form of a brand new game: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero!

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero on PS3, PS4 and PS Vita

Since there’s a good chance you’re hearing about Shantae for the first time, here’s a bit of background. Shantae is the name of the half-genie main character who carves through enemies with her destructive ponytail, and belly dances to transform into mythological creatures, animals, swords… and well, pretty much anything. There aren’t many games that include the art of sensual dance as a main game mechanic, but Shantae pulls it off nicely.

The gameplay is best compared to Super Metroid or Castlevania Symphony of the Night, but with the visual styling of WayForward’s own Ducktales: Remastered. WayForward puts its traditional feature film style animation in the front row along side rock solid gameplay, which has its roots firmly planted in the 8 and 16 bit era of classic gaming. WayForward’s engine moves the game along at a 60 frames per second in full HD.

Risky

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero on PS3, PS4 and PS Vita

The game is described as a “fresh start” for the series, making it an ideal entry point for new players. Half-Genie Hero is humorous, flirtatious, and like many WayForward games takes an off-the wall approach to boss and character design. The series is sometimes self-referential, and features a dominantly female cast of friends, foes, and monsters… with a few guys, puppies, and cyclopses thrown in for good measure. Platforming, exploration, customization, puzzles and item usage form the backbone of every Shantae game.

Shantae Half-Genie Hero is being developed by WayForward, with compositions by Jake (Virt) Kaufman and additional artwork by Mega Man developer Inti Creates — plus animation talent best known for Skullgirls! The game was in pre-production for over a year, and was recently crowd funded on Kickstarter, and is now making its way to full production for an expected October 2014 release. With one day left in Shantae’s Kickstarter campaign, there are still Stretch Goals to be met, so consider stopping by to see the game in action.

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57 Comments

10 Author Replies

  • Planning to pledge to the Kickstarter in the final hours. So glad you are making a Vita version.

    • Yep, we’re really into Vita TV too. That looks to be a pretty rad device. I’m always in the market for another way to play me some Symphony of the Night! Aaaaaaaand, I suppose there are always new games too. Ha ha.

  • Great to see the post on the PS Blog! Hopefully we can reach funding to get the rest of the costumes.

  • Avatar photo

    Shantae! :D

  • While I am unable to fund this project due a limited budget. I have however been following since the beginning of the Kickstarter and excited that this has been funded and coming out. Can’t wait to play it once it is finally out.

  • Glad that you guys were able to put it on PS Vita too. I’ve been pretty bummed that most of your other recent multiplatform games aren’t on PS Vita. ):

    Already backed.

    • Right. Most of our work is owned by publishers who make those calls. I’d love to have Double Dragon Neon on Vita.

  • I’ve already backed the KS. I’m looking forward to Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse on the 3DS also.

  • I’ll pick this up when it releases! Can’t wait to play it, saw it on kickstarter but waiting till finished product.

    PSVita version.

  • This appears as though this will be a unique take on the adventure platforming games. I’ll keep a eye out for this 1. PS 4 day 1 I’m out

  • Pledged on Kickstarter. The different powers remind of something akin to Kirbys dreamland for the snes. I can tell this is gonna be awesome.

  • Pledged this, Mighty 9 which is great that it reached its PS4 and even Vita goals, and don’t forget Hyper Light Drifter. Another awesome game on Kickstarter. Check it out and pledge if you like. You guys here who run the blogs, you def. got to mention Hyper Light Drifter please!!!!

  • Backed it. Never heard of it but looks like a fun game. Definitely worth my $15…

  • Backed it days ago.

  • Hyper Light Drifter looks really cool. We’re cross promoting with those guys.. adding our main villain Risky Boots to both of our games :)

  • Half-Genie Hero is kind of to Castlevania as Parodius is to Gradius. That probably makes no sense.

  • Wait, a platformer actually coming to Vita?! Finally a smart developer!

  • I have already pledge $60 for the Tinkerbat transformation :)

  • Was really glad to see this coming to PS3, PS4, and most important, Vita! =) Always had an interest in these games, but never really got to play them till it came to the iphone. Is there a chance we can at least see Shantae Risky’s Revenge on PS3, PS4, and Vita or is it lockdown?

  • I would really love to reach the animated cutscenes stretch goal. That would be so awesome. But I’ll settle for as many bonus chapters as I can get.

  • I’ll buy Vita version when it releases. We need more Vita love!

  • Backed you guys as soon as I found out about the Kickstarter! Hopefully this gets you a lot of exposure!

    Everyone, if you haven’t backed, go do it! The more money they raise now, the bigger the game will be when it’s released!

  • Thanks for fixing her skin tone, but do all the female characters need push up bras? Isn’t the mid-riff being exposed sexualizing enough?

    Looking forward to playing in co-op at 1080p with HD audio!

  • Also, curious about how you’re taking advantage of the extra freedom that crowd funding gives versus the traditional publisher route. A prominent female lead who isn’t white is a good start, of course. What about LGBT characters from Hindu mythology? There’s a great Wikipedia article with some neat ideas: LGBT_themes_in_Hindu_mythology

  • Beautiful art presented in this game preview! Remembering classic Sega Genesis Walt Disney games, like Aladdin! Very good Job!

    I have a lot of interest!

  • Kool that u are bringing it to the vita! :) thanks

  • Put in my support for this on day one, huuuuuge Shantae fan. Bought Risky’s Revenge on my DSi, DSiXL, 3DS, 3DSXL, iPhone/iPad (both versions), and will get it again whenever it arrives on Steam, and I cannot wait for Pirate’s Curse to arrive later this year!! You don’t know how bad it’s killing me that I don’t have the funds to support you guys for the $200 tier, the rewards at that level are like a fan dream come true. I’m only in at $60 right now, and if it wasn’t for rent, you all would have whatever funds I had available.

    Congrats on the Kickstarter success so far, and best of luck on the remaining couple days. I’m personally hoping we’ll get up to the Hero Modes (although it’s looking unlikely) as I’d love to play as Rottytops, Sky, and Bolo. The additional chapters all sound like so much fun as well, and the costumes are damn adorable. I want them all, you made the stretch goals too good :D

  • *Also quick addendum to the above, THANK YOU for getting the original GBC Shantae on the 3DS Virtual Console.

  • This and Mighty No.9 are going to be day 1 purchases for me!

  • Thank you for releasing this on Vita. It will be a purchase for me. Vita is a great system. I own Double Dragon Neon for PS3, but I would also buy Double Dragon Neon for the Vita. Game like that is meant to be played on the Vita. Thank you again.

  • Already bought! Please bring Double Dragon Neon to PS VITA. Plz!

    • DD Neon would be totally up to Majesco Entertainment. I’m sure they’d love to hear that their game is being requested! Hit them up at their site any time :)

  • Already put in enough to be in the “groovy Shantae T-Shirt” tier.My hype for the game is at godly levels,and its great to see Shantae appearing on other consoles :D

  • I wanna know her voice looks like! She’s just too cute!

  • Shantae, you stay.

  • This game looks great! I’m a big fan of WayForward, and really loved games like Mighty Flip Champs, Double Dragon and Adventure Time, so I’m extremely looking forward to this (especially on Vita)!

    I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’d love to see lots of other great WayForward games (old and new) make their way to Vita!

  • Backed this one a while ago. Bumped my pledge up from the $12 early bird to the $60 tier just after Mighty No. 9 finished.

    By the by, any chance of getting the Beck costume from that bit of fan art from update 17 into the game? That was AWESOME.

  • Finally! Been wanting to play Shantae for years.

    “Half-Genie Hero is kind of to Castlevania as Parodius is to Gradius. That probably makes no sense.”

    Makes perfect sense to me! You’re just pandering to me right now. Love the Konami analogy.

  • Glad to see this on the Playstation Blog. I guess since Sony got Mighty No. 9 on it, it’s only fair that they get Shantae: Half-Genie Hero on it as well.

    Try to see if you can get Capcom to allow WayForward to make a PS Vita port of DuckTales: Remastered. I’m sure a lot of people would appreciate it.

  • Matt Bozon, Shantae’s adventure looks like to be her best yet, even with the ongoing pledges rising up every moment. Hope I get to see her future adventures that have more than 3 Chapters, because, honestly, 3 Chapters in Shantae’s adventures is too short.

    Also, DuckTales: Remastered was one of the best games I’ve seen yet! I liked how it turned out, although, the final boss could have taken more hits than 7 to take down, because that hit amount number is a bit anticlimactic to me, and some bosses could have taken more than 5 hits to defeat. Other than that, I was happy that few took more than 5 hits to defeat and more health increases.

    Hope you listen to this, because I wish for Scrooge McDuck’s sequel gets the same treatment really soon, but with more health increases than up to 8, all bosses taking more hits to defeat, and a new more climactic endgame level with a new final boss that’ll take much more hits to defeat. I would like to see Glomgold come up with a greater challenge for Scrooge than the sequel’s original version, not that I’ve played it or anything ’cause I didn’t get the chance.

  • You had me interested at the belly dancing, but I was SOLD when mention was made of Castlevania Symphony of the Night. EASILY, one of my all time faves, and I loved how Guacamelee implemented the same style of exploration based side scroller. Consider another copy of Shantae sold to a happy VITA/PS4/PS3 owner :D

  • even though the game comes out in October 2014, will you be able to add some of the extra stuff like the costumes and playable charcters which are part of the kickstarter goals after the kickstarter ends. because I really want to play as Shantae in those costumes and play as Rollytops and those two other charcters.

  • @ plaztiksyck

    Please, stop pushing your agenda here.

  • I’m so happy that this is coming to the Playstation 4! I was always a little bummed that Shantae was a handheld game.

  • Anybody and everybody even considering this game in the slightest should support this now on Kickstarter rather than later after it’s released. Supporting it now not only helps get you more content for it, but you also get 3 backer exclusives for pledging enough to get a digital copy. Buying it later, you won’t get those exclusives and run the risk of not reaching stretch goals for additional chapters. Support it now for more game!

  • I always wanted to try out the GBC Shantae, but never got the chance. Then, I pre-ordered DuckTales: Remastered and absolutely loved it. Right before I checked PSBlog tonight, I had just donated to the Kickstarter campaign. I was definitely surprised to see the game I had just donated to now appear on the Blog.

    You guys are great, and I can’t wait for this. Thanks for helping to keep classic gaming alive.

  • I just fired off a question to the Kickstarter page, and as soon as I get an answer back, consider this project backed by me. I’ve heard some amazing things about the Shantae games but have never had the pleasure of playing one. Now I have the chance to play it in glorious 1080p on my PS4? Yes, please!

    You guys have made several games I’ve enjoyed over the years. Keep up the amazing work!

  • I played the second Shantae a bit and it was pretty fun, so I am interested in this. Glad to see the series getting more exposure!

  • Hey I think I saw this game before…I just dont know if it was here on the blog or in another place but anyway..it looks really good…thank you for bringing this to the Vita…I hardly buy something without a demo but this looks just like my type of game….looks really fun.Any word if it’ll be cross-buy between PS3 and Vita?..I want this on Vita but on PS3 would be great too…..ah and dont even bother to make a PS4 vesion.

  • I’m planning to pledge soon, finally have some money left over too but I have a question. If I pledge through paypal, will I get the backer bonuses? Backer exclusive costumes and such.

  • i also buy the ps vita version

  • Mr. Bozon I have the deepest respect with Wayforward… You guys rock for bringing soooo many solid 2d platformers over the years!!! Glad to see your company mascot Shantae getting noticed with the gaming community!!!

    Getting the PS ViTa Version!!! :D

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