History VideoGame / Shantae2002

* {{Antepiece}}: Cackle Mound is where Shantae gets the spider transformation, allowing her to climb walls of the background. At first, the dungeon shows that webs are among the climbable surfaces, but the boss fight with Wheel Beast in the same dungeon shows that the spider can also climb mesh wire. Doing so in the fight allows Shantae to press buttons that open up pits, doing heavy damage to Wheel Beast should it fall in.

* BattleshipRaid: [[spoiler: The enormous mechanical Tinkertank near the end.]]
* BeefGate: Going immediately west of Scuttle Town in the beginning of the game is not a good idea unless you feel like running headlong into the game's Naga enemies, who have a ton of health, are fairly agile, and boast a homing [[MakeMeWannaShout screech attack]] that can kill you dead even from a distance. Since there's no way to enhance the strength of Shantae's main attack in this game, you'll want to stock up on items, get a few Heart Holders, and maybe pick up some Fighter's Equipment before blazing into them. Besides, even if you make it past using either brute force or Vanish Cream, you'll find a BrokenBridge in the form of a monkey-climbing wall.

* BossArenaIdiocy: The Cackle Mound boss, who fights in a room filled with {{Pit Trap}}s [[spoiler:that you could activate by using the Spider form on the switches on the wall]]. [[GuideDangIt Not that this is obvious]] to a first-time player.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Dying sends you back to the beginning of a room, while getting a Game Over sends you back to the last save point. All of your items and progress are saved, so the only penalty is time lost walking back to the last area. If you die transformed, you'll even stay in the same animal form.

* DragonRider: The boss of the Twinkle Palace is knight astride a wyvern-like dragon. You can't damage him while he's in the air, so you'll need to ground him first [[spoiler:[[GoombaStomp by stomping on his head]] in Harpy form]]. This boss [[GuideDangIt is the only thing in the entire game that can be interacted with in this manner]].

* GiantSpider: Shantae can turn into one after gaining the Spider transformation.
* GoombaStomp: The DragonRider boss can only be damaged by turning into a harpy, flying above him, and dropping on his head.

* {{Unwinnable}}: It's possible to reach the fourth dungeon boss early, without having picked up the Harpy transformation dance. This results in a HopelessBossFight, as the only way to make the boss damageable is to first fly above it and smack it in the head. Dying puts you in the same room, so the only way to get out is to get a Game Over or reset, meaning you have to play the whole dungeon again.

* VideoGameFlight: The Harpy transformation. You can fly anywhere, but you don't get it until the last level, and it has no way to attack at first. Finding the Harpy's Talon, however, bestows upon it the single most powerful attack in the game that doesn't require charging. It can still be a little awkward to use, though, and the momentum from the form takes some getting used to.

* WarpWhistle: Warp ''dance,'' actually. You learn them from a warp ''squid''.

* WrenchWench: Sky, complete with a bird named Wrench who can function as a wrench.

The game would later be released for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS Virtual Console in 2013, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in 2021 and UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and UsefulNotes/Playstation5 in 2023. The second game in the series, in release order, is ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge'', while in-universe, it's followed by ''VideoGame/ShantaeAdvanceRiskyRevolution''.

* DragonRider: The boss of the Twinkle Palace is knight astride a wyvern-like dragon. You can't damage him while he's in the air, so you'll need to ground him first [[spoiler:[[GoombaStomp by stomping on his head]] in Harpy form]].

** In the first game, Shantae did not restart the room with full health after dying, and enemies in the overworld had twice as much health at night.

* RhythmGame: The Dance Hall minigame.

%%* DeathMountain: Oddly, lava-free.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:

** The game utilizes a [[VideoGameLives lives system]], where any deaths respawn you at a checkpoint.

** The game is much more NintendoHard thanks to the inability to increase the strength of Shantae's hair whip attack, to say nothing of its poor reach. The enemies also have a lot more health than in later entries, with the game's day/night system (inspired by ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'') making enemies even more difficult to defeat at night.

** Instead of running off a magic meter, Shantae's spells function as items that you can only hold limited quantities of. In addition, there are several items/spells that have never reappeared in the series, such as the Vanishing Cream for temporary invincibility, or the Float Muffins that make you immune to bottomless pits.

* MagicIsRareHealthIsCheap: In the first game, the only way to refill skills was to manually purchase more refills. The second game added fairly common magic jar drops instead.

The first game in the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, released for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor in 2002 -- notably, only a year before the system being retired.

* MakeMeWannaShout: The Nagas fight with homing sonic screams.

The game would later be released for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS Virtual Console in 2013, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in 2021 and UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and UsefulNotes/Playstation5 in 2023. The second game in the series, in release order, is ''VideoGame/RiskysRevenge'', while in-universe, it's followed by ''VideoGame/ShantaeAdvanceRiskyRevolution''.

The game would later be released for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS Virtual Console in 2013, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in 2021 and UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and UsefulNotes/Playstation5 in 2023.

The game would later be released for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS Virtual Console in 2013 and the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in 2021.

One day, the evil pirate captain Risky Boots raids Scuttle Town with her army of [[{{Mooks}} Tinkerbats]] and steals the Steam Engine, one of the creations of Shantae's GadgeteerGenius Uncle Mimic. With it, she plans to build an enormous machine which she can use to take over the world -- but in order to do so, she needs [[MacGuffin Four Elemental Stones]]. It's up to Shantae to track them down before she does. This is the only game in the series to not be published by [=WayForward=] themselves; it was instead published by Creator/{{Capcom}}.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the [[VideoGame/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeriesZapped Sabrina]] [[VideoGame/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeriesSpooked Games]] that were also developed by [=WayForward=] for the [=GBC=], which shares a game engine and similar graphics and spritework. Shantae even shares the same walk cycle as Sabrina.

* SpinAttack: The Fighter's Tiara allows you to perform one as an upgrade to your {{Charged Attack}}. It's actually pretty strong, but [[DeathOrGloryAttack it's very easy to kill yourself using it]], since it flings you off uncontrollably at high speed, often past the initial bounds of the screen in a game where [[BottomlessPit bottomless pits]] and [[SpikesOfDoom spikes of doom]] are everywhere.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To the [[VideoGame/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeriesZapped Sabrina]] [[VideoGame/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeriesSpooked Games]] that were also developed by Wayforward for the [=GBC=], which shares a game engine and similar graphics and spritework. Shantae even shares the same walk cycle as Sabrina.

* EasterEgg: The Tinkerbat transformation, which is only available if you play the game on a Gameboy Advance.

** Shantae's default hair whip attack is much shorter here than it is in future games. In addition, there's no way to improve it so it becomes stronger and faster, meaning enemies will never take less hits to defeat.

** Shantae's default hair whip attack is much shorter here than it is in future games. In addition, there's no way to improve it so it becomes stronger and faster, meaning enemies will neever take less hits to defeat.

** Instead of running off a magic meter, Shantae's spells function as items that you can only hold limited quantities of. In additional, there are several items/spells that have never reappeared in the series, such as the Vanishing Cream for temporary invincibility, or the Float Muffins that make you immune to bottomless pits.

* FakeDifficulty: There's plenty of it in the first game. The most obvious example being the enemies in the first real area that love to jump out of the ground directly below you, damaging you. There is absolutely no way to avoid it aside from never being close to the ground, which happens to be impossible until very late in the game. Some enemies like to use homing shockwave attacks before you can see them. Due to how little of the surrounding area the game shows, since the sprites are so big, there are a lot of [[LeapOfFaith Leaps of Faith]]. Some enemies hover just above where you can see them, so if you're unlucky and jump near them, you get an unavoidable hit. Sometimes it's impossible to tell where you can land, meaning you can hit enemies or other, instant death-inducing, hazards. Averted in ''Risky's Revenge'', which even shows you which holes that are harmful.
* {{Fireballs}}: Fire Balls work like improved pike balls, revolving around Shantae at a faster rate to protect her from enemies.

* RubberBandAI: The race against Rottytops. Throughout the entire race, she's right behind you and a single mistake means you're ''definitely'' repeating the race. And beating her is mandatory in order to get to the third dungeon.

[[redirect:VideoGame/{{Shantae}}]]