“Over the years we’ve been sent a lot of fan letters and drawings, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of the fans in person. Without them, this never would have come to fruition! But here we are, 20 years later, and fans are still spreading their love of Shantae. Looking back, it was a lot harder and took many years and multiple games to build up a fanbase. I planned for the possibility of sequel games, with more dances and transformations, and a wide array of characters and creatures. I wanted to see if we could develop it into a full game, and maybe if it caught on, it could expand into TV shows or even a toy. “When I started, my focus was on character animation, and Shantae was my first original game pitch. It wouldn’t be a proper anniversary without some thoughts from Erin herself, so…take it away, Erin! She created both the Shantae character and the original game concept, and has worked on the series in many roles, as a game developer, brand manager, artist, animator, and producer. None of this would have been possible without the help of a lot of people, not the least of which is Erin Bozon. The opening animation for the game was created by Studio TRIGGER, and animated cutscenes play during key moments of the adventure, giving Seven Sirens the feel of a TV show! The game was recently updated with additional play modes (all for free!) and is available right now.įun Fact: If you perform Shantae’s Refresh Dance near her zombie friend Rottytops, Rotty will briefly regain human form! Here’s Erin! Beneath the mysterious island lies a sunken city, home of the ravenous Seven Sirens. ![]() There Shantae meets brand-new Half-Genies - other girls born with magical powers much like herself - and fast friendships are made. The fifth and most recent game in the series, Shantae and the Seven Sirens, takes Shantae away from Sequin Land when she receives an all-expenses paid trip to Paradise Island to participate in the Half-Genie Spectacular stage show. Later the idea was changed to allow Shantae to transform by learning magical dance moves. Thankfully, it will be made widely available on PS4 and PS5 later this year, so you won’t have to pay an arm and a leg to try this classic!įun Fact: In Erin’s original design, Shantae could belly dance to charm “animal helpers.” These animals could be summoned and controlled by the player, used to slash enemies, leap across pits, or trample obstacles. The combination of low manufacturing runs and critical acclaim gave Shantae a sort of “cult status,” making it one of the rarest collectible games out there. The game was so large, in fact, that it required a prohibitively expensive cartridge. The character animation was fluid, and backgrounds were lush and vibrant, with lots of parallaxing effects, day and night cycles, a massive track list of catchy tunes, and a new gameplay gimmick lurking around every corner. The first game, simply titled “Shantae,” established a lot of the series’ core gameplay and introduced players to the world of Sequin Land, as well as characters like Shantae, her adopted uncle Mimic, best friends Sky, Bolo, and Rottytops, and arch-nemesis Risky Boots! The world was vast and filled with whimsical townsfolk and monsters. Together we formed a husband-and-wife creative team, laying the series groundwork for several years. ![]() The result was Shantae, a Half-Genie with a hair-whipping ponytail and the ability to belly dance to transform into a monkey, elephant, and other creatures. Erin began concepting a new game starring a prominent female lead, in hopes of inspiring more girl gamers, and at the same time, create an action/fantasy game that everyone would enjoy. ![]() Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start)! Shantae was created by Erin Bozon in 1994 during a time when it was rare to see a lead female video game character - and when they did exist, it was often as an optional secondary character or a masked heroine.
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