WayForward brings Shantae: Half-Genie Hero to Kickstarter
UPDATE: Minimum goal funded with 10 days to go.
UPDATE: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero has belly-danced past its minimum Kickstarter goal of $400K. It currently has $416,045 with 10 days on the clock before its 4th October deadline.
It still has plenty of stretch goals to hit and every $100K will greenlight additional chapters, costumes and game modes.
Original Story: This spring a crew of ex-WayForward staff used Kickstarter to finance its upcoming retro platformer Shovel Knight and now WayForward itself is following suit to fund an upcoming Shantae adventure subtitled Half-Genie Hero.
While WayForward is best known for its modern treatments on old classics like A Boy and His Blob, BloodRayne: Betrayal, and most recently Ducktales: Remastered, Shantae is one of the studio's original IPs. It first debuted in 2004 for Gameboy Colour before being brought to GBA later, and it was succeeded by its sequel, Shantae: Risky's Revenge, on DSiWare and later iOS. In fact, Half-Genie Hero will actually be the fourth title in the series as WayForward is also developing Shantae and the Pirate's Curse for the 3DS eShop due later this year.
Half-Genie Hero would reach a wider audience as the studio noted on its Kickstarter page that it's already been approved for Wii U, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC via Steam. It will be a "metroidvania" of sorts as the belly-dancing heroine uses her magical hair to fight monsters and save Sequin Land like some sort of less sexualised variant of Bayonetta.
The game will be told over three chapters if it hits its minimum $400K goal, but WayForward is hoping to expand on that by adding new chapters at $600K, $800K, $1 million, and $1.2 million. Additionally, it will only take $500K for WayForward to add a mini-campaign for the game's antagonist, a pirate gal named Risky Boots.
WayForward fans can guarantee a copy of the game on the platform of their choice with a $15 pledge, while $25 donations come with a digital soundtrack as well - complete with an exclusive track - and backers who give $35 receive all that plus a digital art book.
Having just launched today, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero has already raised $54,940 of its $400,000 goal with 29 days left before its 4th October deadline. The final game is estimated to come out in October 2014.