Publisher Limited Run Games and developer WayForward have announced Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution for Game Boy Advance. The long-lost sequel to the original Shantae is back in development after being shelved for nearly two decades, and will finally launch in early 2024. A release on modern platforms was not announced.
“Restoring the lost Shantae sequel has been an incredible adventure!” said Shantae series director Matt Bozon in a press release. “After reuniting as a team, we restored the original game demo, and now are working hard to complete the full game on original hardware! This isn’t a demake or a new retro-style game, but an actual Game Boy Advance-era title that was lost to time. We paused development in 2004, and now we’re back at it nearly 20 years later with the same tools, hardware, and Link Cables that we were using back then. It’s crazy, it feels impossible, but it’s happening! We’re on a time-travel mission to save Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, and finally bring it to the fans!”
Here is an overview of the game, via WayForward:
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, the long-lost sequel to the original Shantae, is back in development after being put on the shelf for nearly two decades. Building off the original game code from the early 2000s, this once-canceled title will be completed and released physically on a Game Boy Advance-compatible game cartridge.
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution reunites the design team of Shantae creator Erin Bozon, series director Matt Bozon, and programmer Michael Stragey, who are using Game Boy Advance-era development tools to authentically complete the handheld experience that was planned so many years ago. Previously existing only in unfinished demo form, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution will be released as a full game with all of the hair-whipping, belly-dancing action that Shantae fans have come to expect, along with multiple chapters, numerous towns and labyrinths, six creature transformations, fierce bosses, and a soundtrack by acclaimed composer Maddie Lim, plus a four-player battle mode.
Filling in the gaps between the original Shantae (2002) and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (2010), Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution sees Shantae protecting Sequin Land from a twisted new plot orchestrated by her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots. Using a secret subterranean device, Risky is able to rotate and rearrange the continent, plunging it into chaos and giving her more coastal cities to plunder. Fortunately, by harnessing this technology and the knowledge of the Relic Hunters, players will be able to turn the tables on Risky, giving Shantae new paths through environments and a chance to thwart the villain’s scheme.
Watch the announcement trailer below. View a set of screenshots at the gallery.