Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – Ultimate Edition Releases Today

The Ultimate Edition of acclaimed Metroivania game Shantae: Half-Genie Hero has been released today on digital storefronts.

After a number of individual releases for DLC and free updates over the past few years, the final commercial edition of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is digitally available on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam. The Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition includes all of the DLC and content updates previously released for the game, as well as several pieces of content previously available only to backers of Kickstarter, including various costumes and the ability to transform into a Tinkerbat.

There is also a limited physical retail version of the game on Nintendo Switch, published by XSeed Games, dubbed the “Ultimate Day One Edition,” which can be purchased while it lasts from WayForward’s official site. This physical edition comes with a special case which contains the game, a 25-page manual, a soundtrack CD, and an art book.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero was first released in 2016 following its successful funding campaign on Kickstarter, where it managed to meet about half of its projected stretch goals. This is the fourth game in the series, but it’s the first to be made from the ground up for consoles rather than handhelds. It stars the eponymous Shantae, who has retrieved her genie transformation powers since her last adventure, and must now defend Sequin Land from a swath of new threats in order to help her uncle build a machine to protect her home of Scuttle Town.

Shantae’s tale is the main story, but the Ultimate Edition also includes the additional DLC campaigns that add to the story, “Friends to the End” and “Pirate Queen’s Quest,” as well as the Costume Pack DLC, which allows the player to run through Shantae’s adventure again with entirely new mechanics and tweaked plotlines and dialogue.

“Friends to the End” has Shantae’s friends Sky, Bolo, and Rottytops working together and utilizing their unique abilities to save Shantae from her evil doppelganger Nega-Shantae, who has trapped Shantae in her own twisted memories.

“Pirate Queen’s Quest” takes place in tandem with the main story, and has Shantae’s rival Risky Boots traversing Sequin Land and laying the foundation for her evil plan, playing around with tools similar to the pirate gear from Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – Ultimate Edition is available now on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam. Be sure to stick with GameSkinny for all things Shantae, and let us know if you plan on picking it up!