Nick15's Guide To The FAQ For The Walkthrough Of Shantae The Game On The
Nintendo Brand Game Boy Color (aka the Shantae FAQ & Walkthrough)
Version 0.9 [Created June 17th, 2002]
By: nickfifteen (aka Philippe Van Lieu, nick15[at]mac[dot]com)
**INCOMPLETE!**
[Insert Cheesy Chiche ASCII Title Art Here] (Probably never though.)
This is a FAQ and Walkthrough of the Game Boy Color game "Shantae",
produced by WayForward Technologies, published by Capcom. In this you'll
find all sorts of info about the game, including the walkthrough, secret
items and locations, item costs, dance info, and the kitchen sink.
Warning though; this FAQ has a TON of SPOILERS, so I suggest that if you
don't want to ruin anything for yourself that you NOT read this FAQ.
... Why are you even reading this in the first place if you haven't
beaten it yet! YOU'RE A CHEATER! This is also my first FAQ (not counting
my Pokemon site with info on the card game and video games), so it's a
lot a bit rough around the corners. Sla.
But first, the table of contents:
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Table Of Contents:
1. Praise and Ego Trip (aka Introduction)
2. Walkthrough
3. Item List/Location
4. Dances
5. Animal Transformations
6. Locations
7. Enemy List
8. Game Boy Advance Features
9. Secrets & Glitches
10. Reader Tips
11. Random Tidbits
12. Legal Department, Thanks, and Links
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1. Praise and Ego Trip (aka Introduction)
If you haven't played this game, get off your lasy butt and buy it! This
has got to be one of the best games in the existance of the Game Boy
Color! It's sad that it was released at the end of the GBC's life, but
never the less it makes up for it greatly. Had it been released a year
or two ago, then it would have redefined gaming on the Game Boy Color,
and frankly set the standard for other GBC games to come.
So why is it so good? WayForward pushed the Game Boy Color's
capabilities to the very edge, and then some. This game harnests
features that Game Boy Advance games (!) take for granted, like multiple
scrolling background, transparencies, and large-scale pallet swapping.
Not to mention it's original platform game style and impressive
animation framerate! Nothing, in the history of the Game Boy Color, is
like this game, and unfortunately, nothing else will.
Despite it's Game Boy Color-ness, it's still a wonderful game, and it
even gives GBA games a run for their money! But now, onto the rest of
the FAQ.
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2. Walkthrough
Here I'm gonna explain the exact steps needed to beat the game. Side
missions and more detailed information isn't included, and if you want
to learn more about the secrets and crap, check out the sections below.
Deal?
First off, lemme give you a quick overview of the controls, ok?
D-Pad: Does all your basic moving and whatnot.
* Left/Right: Moves you left or right.
* Down: You duck.
* Down+Left/Right: You can crawl!
* Left/Right+B: Running time!
* Up+B: Allows you to use special items.
A-Button: Does all your regular jumping stuff.
B-Button: Multi-use button.
* This is your attack button!
* And if you see someone who isn't a baddy, you can use this
button to talk to 'em.
* If you're in the sub-screen, B button switches you from
seeing what items you have and what dances you know.
Start: Pauses the game, also allows you to view the sub-screen.
Select: Get down! This is the button to start dancin'. Groovy.
And now... the walkthrough. Cheater.
...
Turn on the game, watch the intro, blah blah blah. [gasp!] Some pirate
just blowed up your house! Time to warn Skuttle Town! ... Just keep
walkin right until you get to the end. It's best you run though it, it
makes it go by quicker. Then this mystery pirate will reveal herself to
you. Nya.
Next, you'll be on your way through Skuttle Town, killing hordes of
Tinkerbats and whatnot. It's pretty straight forward... you have to go
uhm... straight forward. (If you're still reading this, then you REALLY
need to learn how to play games in general.)
Here's a quick tip: You know those cannonballs that fall from the sky
and Tinkerbats jump out of them? First off, if you're low on hearts,
stick around and attack all the Tinkerbats that jump out. You'll get a
few free hearts and money while you do it. Then when you're tired of it,
just attack the cannonball thingy itself and it'll blow up.
Eventually you'll reach Risky Boot's ship. Surprizingly enough, you'll
be facing the first boss of the game. Yeow! Beating it is simple,
although it took me forever on my first try. Here's what you do....
First off, avoid the cannonballs (trust me, you can't smack them back to
defeat Risky or whatever). Next, two Tinkerbats walk out from a door
from below the cannon. Jump over them, and begin the smack the door
while it's open (notice the barrel of TNT under the cannon while the
door is open?). Do it enough times and the top deck will explode. But
you're not finished yet. Here's a small tip: run all the way to the
right of the deck as far as you can go, right up against the door. That
way, the cannonballs won't touch you and you'll be primed for attack
when the door opens.
After you blow up the top part of the ship, what you need to do now is
attack the Tinkerbats that are throwing out the barrels of TNT at you.
Watch out though, there isn't much jumping space. One slip and you're
done for.
Anyway, after you blow up Risky's ship, you're treated to a small back
story of whatever the heck is going on. Enjoy it.
At this point, you probably should do what Mimic says and save your game
at the save room. Get acquainted with the way Skuttle Town is set up,
because most of the other towns are like this. After you save, you might
also want to go to the bath house to replenish yourt hearts. Then head
out through the town gates.
Next, you'll want to head towards your right (NOT THE LEFT) in order to
WATER TOWN. Pay attention to the characters, they tell you what to do
(and that way, you wouldn't have to resort ot cheating by reading this
FAQ).
Yup, keep going right, killing the bad guys, blah blah blah. At the end
of the Forest level is a save point. SAVE YOUR GAME. You'll need it
(unless you have a thing for mindless tedium while you go back through
these levels because you DIED).
Now after the Forest level is a sort of weird statue with water coming
out of its mouth. THIS IS NOT WATER TOWN, and you can't get into it, so
don't bother with it for now. Keep going right.
The Waterfalls level is tough, because there's a lot of jumping
involved. Keep to the top of the level and you'll be fine. BTW, you
might want to stick around any place where the little snakes come out of
the walls. They'll give you extra hearts and money. You'll need it.
You'll get to Water Town (eventually). You'll know you're there because
the front of it looks like the front of Skuttle Town (with the whole
Town Gates thing).
Go in, find Bolo's Gazebo, and talk to Bolo. He'll help you get into the
first Labyrinth, that statue thingy with the water coming out of its
mouth. Hmmm! When you're done talking to him, save, take a bath (in the
game, silly), and walk out of the town. When you're out, head LEFT back
past the Waterfalls level and to the DRIBBLE FOUNTAIN (that's the... you
know by now).
You'll see Bolo, and he'll open the door for you. You may want to save
the game before you go in, because going back through the Waterfall
level can be a major pain in the butt when you DIE.
When you're in the Dribble Fountain, the object is to find keys, open
doors, LIVE, find the Guardian Genie who was trapped by Risky (or
someone else), and defeat the boss. You can do it. I can wait. You want
me to explain it to you? Ppppffftt... FINE.
You go in. Duh. You'll see Risky, talk, and she'll disappear through the
hole in the ground, and then cover it up. Don't even bother with the
hole, there's no way in it. What you'll need to do is jump up to where
Risky was and duck-attack the grate so that it opens up. Crawl through
it and you'll end up on the other side. Next, jump down. Then go through
the only exit you can go through. In this room, kill the bad guys, and
then head right. (In the middle of the room, you'll see a Baby Warp
Squid, don't bother with it, you can't get it yet.)
In the next room you'll see a bunch of red platforms that can electro-
cute you. When you enter this room, jump down to the bottom (up and
right is for later). At the bottom, go through the door on your left.
Here in this room you won't be able to get out until you defeat the
mini-mini-boss of the level (the watery she-demon). Kill her, grab her
booty (er, the money or heart that's left over when she dies, silly!),
and exit to your left.
This next room will be filled with a lot of bright light. Head left,
obviously crawling through small spaces when necessary. There's a door
on the other side.... go though it. Next is a room with a bunch of
unnecessairly placed flying platforms. Make your way through them and
head up. You'll then see a placard with a few symbols. Memorize them,
and then jump down through the hole in the ground. You'll then meet up
with a spinny thingy with the same few symbols. Attack the symbols so
that they look exactly like the symbols you saw and you'll be rewarded
with a key. Then head right, jump down through a hole in the ground, and
exit through the same door you came in through. Then head right once
more through this room, and the next room, and back out the way you
came.
When you come back to the room that goes up, go up. When you reach the
first opening that goes right, go right. The key will unlock the door
and you'll be able to go through. Then keep heading right through the
exit.
When you enter this room, just RUN through (don't walk), and you'll pass
through the pits with the flying crab thingys quite easily.
*** Oops, I haven't finished it yet. Sorry. ***
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3. Item List/Location
This section tells you where ALL the little extra can be found. Need
info on some of the animal forms I use in this section? Check out the
next two sections.
Firefly:
1.
Hearts:
1. Corn Stalks [One Area East of Skuttle Town]; search for the
platform that forms the Roman numeral "3". Transform into
either the Monkey or Harpie form to get to it.
2. Forest [Two Areas East of Skuttle Town]; find the hill that you
can't walk up the sides. Transform into the Spider form and
just climb up the middle of the hill to get to it.
3. Archer Forest [One Area East of The Zombie Caravan]; keep head-
ing East until you reach the first tree stump you find. Trans-
form into Elephant form and destroy the stump. A stairway is
revealed. Go down into it, and you'll meet up with... a weird
clown dude who likes seeing girls dance. Be sure you have a
Mint on you (took me forever to figure this out). Use it and
dance away. The weirdo clown dude will blast off and die at the
mercy of the spikes above his head, opening the pathway to the
Heart Container.
4. Mount Pointy [Where the Twinkle Palace Is]; Transform into a
Harpie and fly towards the top of the area (but not TOO high!).
On the West side of the area is an opening of sorts, and in it
is the Heart Container.
5. Disgusting Bog [One Area West of Oasis Town]; Near the
beginning if the level if you enter the East side of the area,
are two little black globs that hang down from the celing of a
small corridor (one in the beginning and one in the end). When
you pass the second one, drop down and you'll see a block.
Transform into the Elephant form and smash it. A stairway is
revealed, so be a good girl and go down it. In the cave is a
deep pit, one that you cannot cross unless you transform into
Harpie form and fly across. On the other side is the Heart.
6. Male Scorpian Desert [Two Areas East of Skuttle Town];
Transform into Harpie form and hug the top of the area.
Eventually you'll find a floating upside-down pyramid with the
Heart Container in it.
7. Sexy Snake Desert [One Area West of Skuttle Town]; If you enter
this area from the West, you'll eventually reach a small hole.
You can either crawl through or transform into a Monkey to pass
through it. After you pass it, you'll reach a stairway just
sitting there. Go down it, and you'll see the Heart Container
behind a wall that won't let you pass through. Now this took me
a while to figure out, but use the Vanish Cream (sold at almost
any local Item Shop) and you'll be able to walk through the
passage way before the door slams down before you.
Animal Talisman:
Monkey's Claw: ?
Elephant's Tote: In the Waterfalls level [One Area East of the
Dribble Fountain], transform into the Harpie and
keep to the top of the level. As you reach the
top-right-most area of the level, you'll see a
block that is smashable. Transform into the
Elephant and smash it. Then walk down the ladder.
In the cave, head all the way to the right (mind
the spikes), and you'll see the Elephant's Tote.
Spider Venom: In the Disgusting Bog area [One Area West of
Oasis Town], transform into a Harpie and fly up
towards the top of the area. Sooner or later
you'll see the talisman on the top of one of
those beetle statues.
Harpy Talon: In the Cornstalks area [One Area East of Skuttle
Town], transform into a Harpie and fly towards
the top of the level. Sooner or later you'll see
the talisman on the top of a floating platform.
Baby Warp Squid Locations:
Dribble Fountain-
1.
Other Items:
Vial1 / Small Vial: Restores a few Hearts.
Vial2 / Medium Vial: Restores several Hearts.
Vial3 / Large Vial: Restores all Hearts.
Cream / Vanish Cream: Lets you walk past enemies!
Storm / Storm Puffs: Tricky to use, but extremely powerful!
Pball / Pike Balls: Defend your body and attack your foes!
Float / Float Muffins: Eat one for protection against pits!
Candy / Exit Candy: Useful for exiting labyrinths.
Flash / Flash Bolts: Attack from a distance!
Mints / Twin Mints: Twice the attack and double the fun!
Greed / Greedy Jars: Makes enemies drop double the loot!
Fball / Fireballs: Faster and more powerful than a Pike
Ball.
Boot / Fighter's Boot: Double-Tap Up for a 2 hit Spin Kick.
Sash / Fighter's Sash: Attack during a Spin Kick to Drill
through your foes!
Cuff / Fighter's Cuff: Hold down Attack to charge up a mighty
Elbow Dash!
Tiara / Fighter's Tiara: Attack during an Elbow Dash for a
powerful Twirl Attack!
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4. Dances
Just about every game has their "super powers", special transformations
that seperate the measily basic player to the supah-charged warrior.
Mario has his mushrooms. Sonic has his shields. And Shantae has her
dances! These dances help Shantae on her way, by either giving her
animals power or warping her to a previous location. Good times.
Below is the list of dances. They're pretty simple to execute; just
press the SELECT button and push the right buttons at the right pace and
it'll activate! (Remember, U is Up, D is Down, L is Left, and R is Right
on the D-Pad.)
Monkey [Transformation]: DR
Elephant [Transformation]: DL
Spider [Transformation]: DA
Harpie [Transformation]: DB
Heart [?]: ?
Scuttle Town [Warp]: DULR
Water Town [Warp]: DURLBA
Oasis Town [Warp]: DURRBA
Zombie Caravan [Warp]: ?
Bandit Town [Warp]: DUBLBR
Tinkerbat [Advance Dance]: DUU
Simple, no? But then again, you'd actually have to beat certain levels
and such to actually *use* them. And by that time, you would have known
how to do it anyway. Oh well. To learn more about these animals and
cities and such, check out the next sections.
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5. Animal Transformations
Who are these animals? What do they do? This bit here will discribe them
for you.
Monkey:
This little critter form is fast and agile, and can climb walls and fit
in those small hole to get to those hard to reach places. In the
beginning of the game, however, it can't attack, so using from the
get-go isn't always the wisest choice. But it's so KYUUUUUUUTE!!
Elephant:
The Elephant form is slow and lumpy, and has the worst jump. However
it's best at smacking down walls, and is the only form that can attack
without the use of a Talisman.
Spider:
The Spider form and jump pretty high and can climb on the inner wall of
certain areas, but cannot run.
Harpie:
My personal favorite; the Harpie form flies. Enough said. However
walking leaves something to be desired.... the control for it is really
awkward. But then again the Harpie form is meant to fly. ;)
Tinkerbat [Game Boy Advance Only!]:
Probably the weirdest transformations.... The Tinkerbat form has a sword
to attack with, and run and jump pretty well. It also has picked up a
few traits from the other forms. It can climb walls like the Spider and
Monkey forms, and can ram into things (down+B) like the Elephant form.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Locations
This section here explains all the stuff you can find in each of the
different levels, starting at Skuttle Town and going East from there. As
for each town, I start at the gates and go right from there. Hmmmm!
Sooner or later I might actually list all the things that the people in
each level say, but I'm too lazy right now.
* Skuttle Town:
Scuttle Town Gates - Leaving so soon?
Dance Parlor - Test out your dancing skills and make a few
extra bucks in the mean while.
Warp Squid Hut - Find 4 Warp Squid Babies in a Labyrinth? Toss
'em in here and the Mama Warp Squid will teach
you a dance that can warp you back to this
town.
Mimic's Dock - The Dock of Mimic. Mimic is your inventor bud.
Bath House - Replenishes Hearts. Good times.
Save Room - Saves Your Game. Score!
Item Shop - Sells stuff:
Vial1 / 50
Vial2 / 75
Vial3 / 100
Cream / 30
Storm / 25
PBall / 25
* Corn Stalks [One Area East of Skuttle Town]:
Firefly (1) - About midway through, you'll see a sort of
three level cement platform. Jump to the top to
get a firefly.
Heart Container (1)- Exactly right from the firefly platform is
another platform where the colums form the
Roman numeral "3". Use the Monkey or Harpie
form in order to get up there.
Hidden Caves - Nope.
Other Items - Nope.
General Tips - Watch out for those Crow People that jump out
from behind the corn stalks!
* Forest [Two Areas East of Skuttle Town]:
Firefly (?) - ?
Heart Container (1)- Midway through, you'll reach a pretty high hill
with sides you can't walk up. Use the Spider
form to walk along side of the hill in order to
get the container.
Hidden Caves - Nope.
Other Items - Nope.
General Tips - At the end of this level is a Save Point. I
HIGHLY suggest you save every time you pass
this point.
* Dribble Fountain [Between Skuttle Town and Water Town]:
Dance Recieved - Monkey
Warp Squid Spots - Somewhere.
Big Bad Boss - A large squid, one not unlike Phantoon from
Super Metroid
Other Items - Nope.
General Tips - I got nothin'.
* Waterfalls [One Area West of Water Town:]
Firefly (1) - Just as you enter this area from the left,
there's one at your feet. Do a bit of
exploration using the Spider form to get to it.
Heart Container (?)- ?
Hidden Caves - Nope.
Other Items - Nope.
General Tips - Keep an eye out for the little nasties BEHIND
the waterfalls.
* Water Town:
Water Town Gates - Where you came from.
Warp Squid Hut - Did you find all 4 of her little squiddies in a
Labyrinth yet?
Bolo's Gazebo - Your womanizing friend Bolo lives here. ;)
Item Shop - Sells things:
Vial1 / 50
Vial2 / 75
Vial3 / 100
Float / 20
Candy / 20
Flash / 25
Boot / 300
Sash / 400
Cuff / 500
Tiara / 900 (!)
Firefly Shrine - You know those friendly fireflys you capture
beyond their will? Drop them in here and light
up the place. What happens is beyond me right
now.
Bath House - The place to replinish your health.
Save Room - Save you stuff here.
* Floodsville [One Area East of Water Town]:
Firefly (?) - ?
Heart Container (?)- ?
Hidden Caves - Nope.
Other Items - Nope.
General Tips - ?
* Rolling Hills [Two Area East of Water Town]:
Firefly (1) - Midway through.
Heart Container (?)- ?
Hidden Caves - Nope.
Other Items - Nope.
General Tips - ?
***.... Still Being Worked on....***
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7. Enemy List
*** Under construction. ***
------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Game Boy Advance Features
So what does the GBA add to the game? Not much, but hey, it's better
than nothin'.
* Color correction:
Ever notice how GBC games look darker on GBA? Well, the colors
were fiddled with a bit so that they look a lot better on the GBA.
* Secret (sort of) GBA Dance:
It's not a secret if I tell you about it, but if you pay some
bloke in Bandit Town 500 Gems, he'll teach you the Tinkerbat
dance.
* Secret Mode?:
Someone tells me that there is a "secret mode" in Shantae when
played on the GBA. You got me....
* Spinny Icon:
When you start the game, a spinny icon on the corner of the Title
screen telling you that the game is GBA Enhanced. Good times.
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9. Secrets & Glitches
Secrets? To be listed.
Glitches? I found one.... while in the 4th Labyrinth, suddenly I
couldn't take any damage from enemies. Has anyone else encountered this
glitch?
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10. Reader Tips
No one has read this yet, so I have no Reader Tips.
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11. Random Tidbits
Word is that only 13,000 copies of this game were produced. Did somebody
say "Collectors Item"? ;)
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12. Legal Department, Thanks, and Links
Let's see... I wrote this FAQ, so don't steal it.
Me (Nick15):
Email - nick15[at]mac[dot]com
AIM - nickfifteen
And I hear it's taboo to link to FAQ's, so don't like to this one.
Please? If you want this FAQ on your site, give me an email and we'll
discuss it.
Thanks to:
Me for writing this FAQ
WayForward for making this game (Good times had by all)
Capcom for distributating this game!!
Links (Stuff to ammuse you):
* Nick15.com [Free Advertising Mode Activated!]:
http://www.nick15.com/
* WayForward Technologies [The Cool Guys Who Made The Game!]:
http://www.wayforward.com/
http://www.wayforward.com/shantae/index.asp
* Matt Bozon's Site [One of the big guys who worked on Shantae]:
http://home.earthlink.net/~bozon/
* .virt [The Cool Guy Who Did the Music!]:
http://virt.vgmix.com/
http://virt.vgmix.com/shantae.html
* Capcom [Life Savers Extraordinare]:
http://www.capcom.com/
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Bork bork bork.
