FOLLOWING in the vein of Metroid and Castlevania, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a love letter to the old adventure platformers on the SNES and PlayStation.

But instead of sprawling maps, the game follows a simple but fun formula. Each of the game's zones ends with a dungeon that requires a puzzle to open it.

This may consist of collecting items or tracking down and talking to a character along the way.

Each dungeon then culminates in a boss fight, although the battles never present a great challenge as it is simple to work out the techniques to defeat them.

Each dungeon also features pieces of pirate themed loot that helps you progress to new areas.

For example, an oversized hat allows you to float and a cannon lets Shantae triple jump to get to new heights.

These abilities present the biggest challenge in the game, culminating in the final dungeon in which you are forced to demonstrate you have learnt all the techniques.

The Pirate's Curse also features collectables, and in order to unlock the 'true ending' one set of collectables must be completely retrieved.

These are generally easy to find though, requiring backtracking and use of newly acquired abilities to obtain them, and each level has a listing to indicate how many collectables are present.

Special artwork is available for completing the game with a 100 per cent of items, or below a certain amount of time, with an unlockable 'pirate mode' made available to facilitate speed running on a second play through.

Wayforward and Inti Creates' Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is the third game in a trilogy, with the original a late title on the Game Boy Colour and the sequel released on DSiware.

This last part of the trilogy is admittedly aimed at fans as you are expected to know some background (Shantae has lost her powers and characters are only given a minimal backstory when introduced) although it is not necessary in order to enjoy the game.

Characters are clichéd but well written, and present a plot that fits the aesthetic of a light hearted adventure, with the humour being offbeat and poking holes at its own logic.

The sound and music design is excellent too, handled by industry veteran Jake Kaufman.

- Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is available to download for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U

BEN BANTON