Contra 4

A game by WayForward for DS, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2007.

Contra 4 is a run and gun shooter that serves as a nostalgia-driven revisit of the NES Contra, while also acting as a direct sequel to Contra III: The Alien Wars on SNES. The game takes place in 2638, two years after the eponymous Alien Wars where Red Falcon was finally defeated by the descendants of the original game’s heroes. (Red Falcon was the primary antagonist in all three canonical Contra games to this point.) But after a short period of peace, the world is once again thrown into chaos when an alien being known as Black Viper descends upon Earth. All seems lost until strange readings are detected near New Zealand on a fictional cluster of islands known as the Galuga Archipelago.

You play as one of four heroes – or two heroes in local 2P co-op – although the differences between them are only cosmetic. You may select one of the heroes from the first two games, Bill Rizer or Lance Bean, or one of the heroes from Contra 3, Mad Dog or Scorpion. By competing objectives in the game’s optional Challenge Mode (which is unlocked when you complete the main game on any difficulty), you can also unlock Probotector from the PAL iterations of the early Contra games, as well as several other heroes from the Contra series, including Lucia, Sheena Etranzi, Jimbo, and Sully.

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 2007, Android, DS, iOS, Konami, WayForward

Shantae and the Seven Sirens

A game by WayForward for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and iOS, with the first episode originally released on Apple Arcade in 2019, and the full version originally released on other platforms in 2020.

Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the fifth in a series of colorful platformers reaching back to the original self-titled game on the Game Boy Color in 2002. After an eight year hiatus, the series returned with Shantae: Risky's Revenge, followed by Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. All of these games star Shantae, a plucky purple-haired half-genie whose parents disappeared when she was a baby.

In her adventures, Shantae demonstrates that she is always willing to jump in and help people in need, which she accomplishes primarily through her ability to transform into various animals with different abilities (although she loses these powers temporarily, as explored in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse). The selection of animal transformations changes from game to game, although some animals have carried over into future installments. For instance, transforming into a monkey has traditionally allowed Shantae to climb walls, and despite the monkey appearing in the opening cutscene and Shantae mentioning her monkey transformation during an early conversation, all of her animal transformations in this outing are entirely new.

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 2019, 2020, iOS, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, WayForward, Xbox One

The Mummy Demastered

A game by WayForward for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, originally released in 2017.

The Mummy Demastered is a licensed tie-in to a film reboot of Universal’s The Mummy, featuring Tom Cruise in the lead role, Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll, and Sofia Boutella as Ahmanet (the mummy). This is Universal’s second run at the franchise following the successful Brendan Fraser-led series that began in 1999 and spawned a pair of sequels, a Universal Studios theme park attraction, the Scorpion King spinoff franchise, and several video games and other tie-ins. The new Mummy film was intended to kick off the Dark Universe franchise, tying together a number of classic Universal Monsters with crossover opportunities in future films.

As part of this new franchise launch, Universal Brand Development worked with WayForward to create a 2D metroidvania “demake” set in the world of The Mummy, rather than a more costly 3D title. As in the film, Princess Ahmanet has risen, and it is up to Prodigium – an agency that specializes in monster hunting – to put a stop to her evil deeds and keep mankind safe from her rampaging supernatural beasts.

Rather than taking on the role of Tom Cruise’s character and replaying the events of the film, you play the part of an unnamed Prodigium operative in full body armor. You explore several themed locales to discover what happened to original Prodigium team that was sent in to investigate, using your arsenal to blast away rats, insects, strange creatures from beyond, and the occasional shrubbery.

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 2017, PC, PS4, Switch, WayForward, Xbox One

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero / Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - Ultimate Edition

A game by WayForward for PC, PS4, PS5, Vita, Xbox One, Switch, Wii U, and Stadia, originally released in 2016, with the Ultimate Edition released in 2018.

The Shantae series got its start on the GameBoy Color in 2002, but it wasn’t until recently that the purple-haired half-genie really made her way into the spotlight. In her original adventure, she used her magical animal transformations and hair whip attack to defend Sequin Land from a nefarious pirate named Risky Boots. But it wouldn't be until 2010 that her story continued with Shantae: Risky's Revenge. In this adventure, Shantae was able to defeat her nemesis once more, but victory came at a price… Shantae lost her magical abilities and was transformed into a human.

In 2014’s Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, Shantae found that a new enemy was on the rise, and she formed an unlikely alliance with Risky Boots in order to save the land once again. Without her ability to transform into animals, Shantae instead uncovered Risky’s pirate gear, with each piece granting her new combat and environmental navigation abilities, allowing her to reach previously inaccessible areas in traditional metroidvania fashion.

As you may have guessed by the title of her latest adventure, Shantae regained her magical abilities (well, in the good ending anyway) and returned to her former half-genie self.

In Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Shantae’s trademark hair whip attack and animal transformations make a return, but the visuals have undergone a significant makeover with a mixture of 2D and 3D elements, not unlike WayForward’s own DuckTales: Remastered. The series' trademark visuals are readily apparent in the new format, with vibrant colors, lots of detail, smooth animations, and loads of personality. (Ed note: Some screenshots were taken from the game’s Early Access Backer Build).

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 2016, 2018, PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Vita, WayForward, Wii U, Xbox One

Mighty Switch Force! Academy

A game by WayForward for PC, originally released in 2015.

Mighty Switch Force! Academy is a new take on Mighty Switch Force, which stars Patricia Wagon as she attempts to round up the five Hooligan Sisters and toss them back in the clink. In order to accomplish this, Patty is able to use the police siren mounted on her helmet to switch the environment around her, making transparent blocks turn solid and vice versa. Things quickly become more complex as Patty uses the environment to destroy enemies, boost off through the sky, and lock certain blocks in place to make them immune to switching... allowing for some puzzle-based platforming with a bit of shooting thrown in for good measure.

The gameplay in Mighty Switch Force Academy is very similar to that found in the original Mighty Switch Force – and it even includes some of the original levels – except that the screen is zoomed way out, allowing players to view the entire area at once. Backgrounds feature a trippy neon vector aesthetic, as this is meant to be a virtual training simulation for Patty, which also explains the “Academy” suffix in the title. In addition, up to four players can take on the game simultaneously in offline co-op.

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 2015, PC, WayForward

Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition

A game by WayForward for PC and Wii U, originally released in 2012.

Mighty Switch Force got its start on the 3DS as a downloadable title showcasing the system’s stereoscopic 3D effects while providing a short fast-paced puzzle platforming adventure. It is the third entry in WayForward’s “Mighty” series, following Mighty Milky Way and Mighty Flip Champs. The game introduces police officer Patricia Wagon (a play on “paddy wagon”) as she attempts to round up five escaped female prisoners in each level, with a supplementary goal of completing each of the 16 levels under a specified par time. Completing each of these levels unlocks five tougher bonus levels (originally released as free DLC on the 3DS).

Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition (a.k.a. Mighty Switch Force HD) is a high definition re-release of the original game with redrawn HD graphics. In addition, the game offers an entirely new set of Hyper levels, remixing the original levels into a more challenging experience with tougher layouts and more difficult environmental puzzles.

The Hyper Drive Edition was originally released on Wii U where the system mimicked its portable counterpart’s dual screen display, showing a map on the game pad that helped the player locate the escaped convicts. Other versions of the game feature onscreen indicators when the player gets close to a convict, which operates in a functionally similar manner.

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 2012, PC, WayForward, Wii U

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse

A game by WayForward for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Wii U, and 3DS, originally released in 2014.

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse stars Shantae, a purple haired heroine with a storied past… Shantae got her start in a self-titled adventure on the Game Boy Color in 2002, but despite the critical praise it received, the game arrived late in the system’s lifespan and only saw moderate success. WayForward struggled for many years to bring Shantae back, with plans to deliver a retail sequel on the Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS, but they were ultimately unable to find a publisher for these projects.

Finally, in 2010, WayForward released a downloadable sequel in the form of Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, which sees Shantae facing off against her nemesis, Risky Boots, after her defeat in the first game. However, defeating Risky a second time came at a price, as Shantae lost her magic and was changed from a half-genie into a human.

This new sequel picks up where the last game left off, with Shantae living her life as a human. However, a new evil is rising…

Long ago, the Pirate Master was defeated by the last of the world’s genies, but a new source of evil has been found, and the Pirate Master hopes to use it to rise once again. As it turns out, Risky Boots once served under the Pirate Master’s flag, and her crew are now being controlled by this new dark magic.

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 2014, 3DS, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, WayForward, Wii U

A Boy and His Blob

A game by WayForward for Wii, Xbox One, PS4, Vita, PC, and Switch, originally released in 2009.

CONTEXT
Today, we are simultaneously blessed and cursed with “reimaginings” of popular entertainment. Rather than making a direct sequel to a pre-existing franchise, a reimagining is an attempt to retell the same story in a more modern context, using modern-day technology. And generally, these reimaginings take certain liberties with the original narrative and other core elements, which is often done to make things more plausible, but other times just to make them different enough that they aren’t outright remakes. Sometimes this is successful, and manages to capture the attention of a whole new audience while keeping fans of the original happy, but other times – especially since the original is usually an established favorite – the newer version fails to live up to its lineage.

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 2009, Majesco, PC, PS4, Switch, Vita, WayForward, Wii, Xbox One

Shantae: Risky's Revenge / Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut

A game by WayForward for PC, DS, Wii U, 3DS, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, iOS, and Stadia, originally released in 2010, with the Director's Cut released in 2020.

In 2002, Capcom published a WayForward-developed game called Shantae for the GameBoy Color. The title arrived on shelves very late in the platform’s lifespan, releasing after the GameBoy Advance had already hit the market, and thus saw only moderate success despite positive reviews. The game featured a half-genie girl, Shantae, intent on tracking down Risky Boots, a pirate who attacked Scuttle Town, and prevent her from gathering relics which would allow her to rule Sequin Land.

In this oft-overlooked GBC platformer, Shantae travels through a colorful fantasy world, exploring the environment, whipping enemies with her purple hair, and performing belly dance moves to transform into various creatures with drastically different movement abilities. Similar to the Metroid games, the player encounters areas that are inaccessible until Shantae gains the proper animal transformations.

For years, a GBA sequel was planned, screenshots were released, and a demo was developed, but the game failed to attract a publisher and never materialized, and this was also the case with a planned sequel on the Nintendo DS. But finally, after years of false-starts, WayForward’s May 2008 newsletter unveiled a Nintendo DS sequel, to be released as a 3-part episodic series via Nintendo’s DSiWare service.

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 2010, 2020, 3DS, DS, DSiWare, iOS, PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, WayForward, Wii U