For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Cleeem's Shantae (GBC) maps.
Shantae is the Guardian Genie of Scuttle Town. Technically, she is a half-genie, but her powers are enough to fight against lady pirate Risky Boots, who terrorizes the seas with her army of Tinkerbats. Risky Boots steals Uncle Mimic's Steam Engine, and seeks four Magical Stones for some nefarious purpose, which Shantae aims to stop.
When Shantae was released in 2002 for the Game Boy Color, it was a cult hit; despite being critically acclaimed, it didn't get many sales, as the GBC's successor, the Game Boy Advance, had already been out for almost a year. (Though this game also has a brighter palette and other bonuses when played on a GBA.) It didn't help that the publisher, Capcom, was slow to release it, and the required 32-megabit battery-backed cart was expensive to produce, so there were only between 20,000 and 25,000 cartridges made in a single run, making the game rare and now quite collectible.
Thankfully, the game managed to get a DSi sequel eight years later, and has moved on to have five games for multiple platforms. All of them are now available on the Nintendo Switch, and there was recently a rerelease of the original game by Limited Run Games on a cartridge compatible with the Game Boy Color. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate includes Shantae costume parts for their Mii Fighters, which were just announced and released. So Shantae clearly has her fans!
As for the original game, Cleeem has mapped out this first adventure of the half-genie hero, from her lighthouse home to Risky Boots's TinkerTank. You should have no trouble saving the citizens of Scuttle Town with this complete map set.
So to recognize the effort put into mapping this cult classic, Cleeem's Shantae (GBC) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for July 2021.
