Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is an unfinished title in the series, which halted development in 2004 and existed only as a demo. However, with series director Matt Bozon, creator Erin Bozon and programmer Michael Stragey reunited, it’s finally a game that channels the GBA aesthetic.

The platformer is set between the first game and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, as the protagonist ventures to Sequin Land to deal with Risky Boots, who uncovers a device that can rotate the continent. In addition to six transformations and rotating stages to access new paths (along with venturing into the background), players can expect a four-player Battle Mode. Stay tuned for more details on a release date in the coming months.

The former sees two players co-oping and completing random objectives, from not using Special Moves to slaying all enemies. VS is a more competitive mode where they collect and spend Souls while killing enemies and nabbing bonuses. Players can also customize their appearances. There will be more details for multiplayer on September 14th.

As for premium content, three new costumes are coming, and Classic Mode 2, Dominique’s Curse, was announced. The latter sees Dominique as a playable character, exploring Limbo and fighting off monsters and bosses (including a returning foe from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon). A release date for the new content wasn’t announced, so stay tuned.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is available for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android and Amazon Luna. Check out our review here.

ArtPlay’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is available now for iOS and Android users, costing $9.99 on the App Store and Google Play Store respectively. Developed with Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi at the helm, the Metroidvania title is billed as a spiritual success to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It focuses on Miriam, a Shardbinder who seeks to stop her former comrade Gebel from destroying England.

Along with including all of the previously released DLC, the mobile version also sports a revamped UI, a button for swapping out weapons and equipment more intuitively and new icons for Skill Shards. There are also Achievements to be earned. Otherwise, the game’s 120+ enemies and bosses, 107 weapons and 23 weapon skills have made the jump.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is also currently available for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch – check out our official review here. It’s performed pretty well since launch with the Switch version performing the best. Time will tell if a sequel ever materializes so stay tuned for more details.

ArtPlay’s critically acclaimed Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night may not have had the most ideal launch on Switch (though major patches have added improvements). But soon, there will be another way to experience the Metroidvania title on the go. The developer has announced a mobile version of the game, published by NetEase Games and supporting multiple languages like English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German and so on.

No release date was provided outside of “soon” but controls will be optimized for mobiles. This is in addition to an overhauled system UI, new icons for Skill Shards and a new system that adds Achievements. One can also expect 107 weapons, 23 weapon skills and more than 120 monsters and bosses. Whether anything has been cut for the mobile release is unknown.

Other new features include a new way to execute command techniques and a button for swapping between weapons and equipment. Stay tuned for more details when the mobile version goes live. In the meantime, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Earlier today, we got word there there could be a Nintendo Direct coming later this month. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but before that, Nintendo has dropped a surprise announcement that they will be having another video that’s totally unexpected: the return of Nintendo Treehouse.

Nintendo Treehouse was Nintendo’s E3 highlight show that had various Nintendo employees showcasing games, usually ones announced at the E3 Direct of that year. It seems this one will feature gameplay from Paper Mario: The Origami King, which releases next week, and then a new game from WayForward. The wording there is interesting as the game is to be a franchise ‘new to the developer’ as opposed to a new franchise, seeming to hint that this is a pre-existing series.

WayForward is primarily known for their Shantae series, but have remained prolific across multiple titles throughout the years. Could they be involved with making a game from a Nintendo IP? We will found out tomorrow, and you can see the details below.

Check out gameplay of the upcoming game #PaperMario: The Origami King tomorrow 7/10 at 10am PT on #NintendoTreehouseLive | July 2020. Plus, we'll feature a first reveal and gameplay for a title in a franchise new to developer WayForward!https://t.co/pWziqZZPd3 pic.twitter.com/ZeubOStUtD

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 9, 2020

WayForward Technologies’ Shantae and the Seven Sirens, which partly launched for Apple Arcade last year, is finally available for consoles and PC. These are both parts of the animated platformer, providing the full experience for fans. Check out the launch trailer below with animation by Studio TRIGGER.

The story sees Shantae and friends traveling to an island for the Half-Genie Festival. However, once the other half-genies disappear, Shantae must embark on a quest to save them, battling the Seven Sirens all the while. Along with classic platforming, Shantae and the Seven Sirens features Fusion Magic which allows for instantly transforming into a creature and using its signature skill to progress.

Players can also collect monster cards and further strengthen Shantae over the course of her journey. Shantae and the Seven Sirens can be played on Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch (or iOS via Apple Arcade since the second part has been out for a while). Stay tuned for more details on other WayForward projects in the future.

WayForward Technologies has announced that Shantae and the Seven Sirens, which originally launched for Apple Arcade last year, has a release date for consoles and PC. It’s out on May 28th for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PC. As for current players on iOS, the second half of the game is now available, providing access to the full experience.

Of course, console and PC players will have access to the full game at launch in May for $29.99. The story revolves around Shantae taking a vacation and running afoul of the Seven Sirens while struggling to save her Half-Genie allies. Utilizing new Fusion Magic, Shantae will explore a plethora of labyrinths, face imposing bosses and platform across various levels.

If you’re a fan of previous Shantae games, namely Shantae and The Pirate’s Curse and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, then Shantae and the Seven Sirens should be right up your alley. Stay tuned for more details on it in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out the gameplay trailer below for more details.

Microsoft has unveiled its Xbox Games With Gold for March, starting with Batman: The Enemy Within – The Complete Season on Xbox One and Castlevania: Lords of Shadows 2 on Xbox 360. The former is available until March 31st while the latter can be downloaded till March 15th.

On March 16th, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero becomes available for Xbox One owners until April 15th. For Xbox 360, Sonic Generations will replace Castlevania on March 16th and be available until March 31st. Overall, it’s a solid selection of titles and backwards compatibility ensures that Xbox One players get four free games for the month.

It’s not too late to download this month’s Xbox Games With Gold which includes the Star Wars Battlefront (Classic) and Call of Cthulhu. Xbox Games With Gold is included with Xbox Live Gold for $9.99 per month or $59.99 annually. Alternatively, one can purchase Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which includes Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass for PC and console at $14.99 per month.

Last year’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was a solid metroidvania title, and a comfortably familiar experience for all those who’ve been yearning for a good classic Castlevania title for years. However, the game’s launch was somewhat marred by the poorly optimized Switch version. It was so poorly optimized, in fact, that the game’s own director was surprised by its performance, while the developers have been consistently rolling out new patches to fix the game and bring it up to snuff.

The game’s latest Switch patch, update 1.0.4, is a significant one (you can check out the patch notes below). Most notably, the developer points out that with this newest patch, the Switch version of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is finally in “a nearly identical state for content” to other versions of the game- though they also ensure that they will “continue to work on overall performance improvements for Switch.”

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is currently available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

PATCH NOTES:

• Stability improvements, such as crashes experienced while interacting with bookcases
• Fixed an issue with corruption during dialogue which could lead to crash
• Some Performance improvements related to animations
• General Bug Fixing

Several months after the launch of Part 1 on Apple Arcade, Shantae and The Seven Sirens has received a development update. According to WayForward Technologies on Twitter, the action platformer is “nearly finished” for consoles and PC. The release window has been moved to Spring 2020 but the developer promises that it will be “worth the wait!”

The current plan is also to release Part 2 for Apple Arcade at the same time. WayForward mentioned that this should be the biggest game yet in the series but we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves. In the meantime, Shantae fans will have to wait several months more.

Shantae and The Seven Sirens sees the half-genie invited to an island for a festival involving her ilk. When the other half-genies go missing, it’s up to Shantae to find them. Along with exploring dungeons, fighting bosses and unlocking new abilities, Shantae can transform into different creatures and use their abilities. The game is currently slated to release for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Hey, everyone! Development on Shantae and the Seven Sirens for Console/PC (and Apple Arcade Part 2) is nearly finished! We've moved the release window to Spring 2020, but promise it will be worth the wait! Thank you for your support! pic.twitter.com/7fJMzileVl

— WayForward (@WayForward) December 12, 2019

Yes, we expect to release the full game on consoles/PC the same time Apple Arcade gets the Part 2 update. It should be the biggest Shantae game yet!

— WayForward (@WayForward) December 12, 2019