If you’ve been waiting anxiously for the Virtual Console release of Shantae, I have some bad news for you. It looks like you’re going to have to wait a little while longer.
Matt Bozon, WayForward’s Creative Director and founding-member, announced on his Twitter account that the game’s Virtual Console release has been pushed back until sometime in July. He doesn’t give any reasons why, but promises that more information will be announced on the WayForward blog when it’s available.
Speculation on the delay ranges from “this is the first step on the road to cancellation” to “the game is getting reworked for a release as part of the 3D Classics series.” Most likely is it’s neither and this is just your run-of-the-mill delay. However, it’s kind of fun to guess.
For those who don’t know, Shantae is an action-platformer in the style of older NES games like Castlevania where you play as the titular half-genie as she tries to chase down the nefarious pirate Risky Boots, who stole a steam engine from Shantae’s quiet little fishing village. The game was originally released in 2002 for Nintendo’s Gameboy Color at the end of the handheld’s life-cycle. As such, it didn’t stay on store shelves for long and eventually developed into somewhat of a cult classic. It also became a collector’s item, sometimes being sold for upwards of $200.
The game was only released in North America, so this pending Virtual Console release will be the first chance gamers in PAL regions, such as Europe and Australia, will have to experience this game.
So sit tight Shantae fans. It’s only another month before you can get your finally hands on this game- that is, without going broke of course.
