Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is the upcoming sixth game in the Shantae franchise, serving as an interquel to Shantae (2002) and Risky's Revenge. Originally developed for the Game Boy Advance, the title was intended as the second installment of the series, but was shelved due to the low sales of the original Shantae. It is scheduled to release in early 2024 on a physical Game Boy Advance cartridge, courtesy of Limited Run Games, as well as on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam.
This time around, Risky Boots has discovered a massive underground cavern underneath Sequin Land. Realizing that she can use this to her advantage, Risky plants devices in the caverns that allow her to rotate the entire geography of Sequin Land, letting her attack towns previously inaccessible to her pirate crew. To stop Risky's renewed reign of terror, Shantae, the half-genie hero, travels down into the depths herself and uses Risky's revolutionary devices to gain the upper hand against the evil pirates.
This game contains examples of:
- Art Evolution: Shantae's design as seen in the promotional art combines the original Shantae design from the first game with stylistic elements of the modern Shantae design, giving her the original cartoony face and body while using her current Animesque colors and shading. The character mugshots are as Animesque as ever, though.
- Competitive Multiplayer: A touted addition in the announcement trailer is a multiplayer game mode where up to four Game Boy Advances (using one Game Pak) can play a competitive platforming challenge with rotating level geometry.
- Fireballs: One of Shantae's magic items seen in the announcement trailer is a small fireball that shoots forward, striking down enemies in its path.
- Lampshade Hanging: As Shantae leaves home to meet up with her uncle, she mentions it's better to be 22 years later than never.
- Non-Linear Sequel: Retroactively became this given its delays. It was originally made to be the second game in the series, but was pushed back into becoming the sixth; yet the announcement trailer states that this game would bridge the gap between the original GBC game and Risky's Revenge.
- Shock and Awe: The announcement trailer shows off Shantae using a magic item that resembles the Storm Puff, which shoots lighting bolts erratically from above to attack foes.
- Stripped to the Bone: One of the enemies in the announcement trailer is seen instantly turning into a pile of bones that scatters across the screen upon being struck by a Storm Puff.
- Super Title 64 Advance: The game's title is Shantae Advance, and it's releasing on the Game Boy Advance, though it's also releasing on several other platforms.
