Kevin C. Wong

iOS Game - Shantae: Risky's Revenge (2011) [-]

Shantae: Risky's Revenge is a decade-old iOS port of a Nintendo DS game. You can get the full version free (no in-app purchase required) and I'm surprised it runs on my iPad (game was last updated four years ago and added 64-bit support).

You play Shantae, a half-genie with various magic and dance powers (which you buy or discover as the game progresses). You are trying to stop Risky the pirate from assembling three artifacts that will give her ultimate power and to do that you wander the island, explore dungeons and fight boss monsters.

This is a side-scrolling platform game. Sometimes you can travel into the screen or outwards so it's not quite only side-to-side navigation. There is also controller support though I found not everything can be done with a controller.

The play experience is kind of poor. The game runs slowly and controls are a bit laggy (not sure if it runs on top of an emulation layer). Graphics are very blocky (Nintendo DSi had 256 × 192 pixel screens). As I mentioned if you're using a controller you have to tap screen for certain actions, like selecting an item in your bag.

And maybe all of it wouldn't be so bad except I just finished playing Shantae and the Seven Sirens, a 3-year old iOS game that was made for iOS so controller works smoothly and graphics are great.

Overall I think playing Risky's Revenge would be more for nostalgia than entertainment.