It's faster, flashier, and funnier than Shantae: Risky's Revenge, but it's also more slippery. Every controller command and its associated animation in Risky was perfectly timed. Maneuvering Shantae had heft, friction, and consequence. But Pirate's Curse oils up the action, dampening her tangible physicality. And while Pirate's dialogue portraits are more appealing, the game criminally deprives Shantae of her signature belly dance (which was gloriously gussied up in Risky's HD Magic Mode).