After several years in development, the third Shantae game is finally out for 3DS (the Wii U version will be released at some point later). I've only put a very small amount of time into it, but so far so good. I love this series for its super charming take on 2D action/adventure games, and I'm dying to dig into this one properly.

Man I wish they'd localize these games to Japan

Better yet, STOP REGION LOCKING YOUR DAMN CONSOLES NINTENDO.
You're actively preventing me from supporting the devs like this.

I played it for over 8 hours today.

Make that what you will.

I finished the game with 100% in about 11 hours. Really enjoyed it. In addition to the solid gameplay and fantastic music, they really upped the writing this time around. The game is genuinely funny in many places, and I had a blast playing it. Can't recommend it enough.

Now try getting the speedrun wall paper

My yearly game purchase was $60 of Nintendo eShop points/vouchers, whatever, and I made damn sure that it went to getting the three Shantae games released thus far.

I'm amazed at the level of detail in the animation. Shantae herself is just so full of life and vim that simply watching her dance and move about is a tremendous treat. Also, the music is wonderful. Can't wait to beat it and get to Risky's Revenge.

There just aren't enough 2D platformers with this level of love in them anymore.

You may be a bit disappointed with Risky's Revenge after playing PC -- or even the original for that matter. It's just in general a smaller game. But it's still great fun and though the same general feel on the one hand still pretty different (consider, say, the difference between Mario 3 and Mario World)

Yes, these are truly lovely games. The best part about going from the original to RR is that the somewhat stiff controls of the original are totally fixed from the second one on. RR is a much shorter game, but it's still a blast to be in that world. And once you get to PC, the writing gets really entertaining.