The video game follows the adventures of the titular half-genie Shantae as she travels across Sequin Land to thwart the domination plans of the evil lady pirate Risky Boots.

During her quest, she learns various dances and acquires items which make her progressively stronger as well as unlocking new abilities and locations, culminating in a final showdown with Risky at her hideout.

The main character, Shantae, is one such half-genie, appointed as the Guardian Genie of the small fishing village of Scuttle Town, where she resides in the abandoned lighthouse.

Other characters include the antagonist, Risky Boots, self appointed "Queen of the Seven Seas", who reigns over a silent pirate crew of creatures called "Tinkerbats" who are bound to her will; Uncle Mimic, an aged member of a congregation of adventurers called the Relic Hunters who acts as a surrogate parent figure to Shantae; Bolo, Shantae's sparring partner who happens to be somewhat air-headed and submissive to women; Sky, Shantae's lifelong friend who raises and trains war birds, and is always shown with her pet war bird Wrench; and the zombie Rottytops, who is described as friendly, but mischievous and untrustworthy.

Mimic tells Shantae, the guardian of Scuttle Town, that if Risky retrieves four magical "elemental stones", she could power up the steam engine and create an unstoppable weapon out of it.

Shantae travels across Sequin Land, determined to retrieve the steam engine and the elemental stones and stop Risky.

Shantae subsequently discovers the location of Risky's hideout with a magical flying telescope called the Spy Scope, and teleports there.

She refuses and is sent back to Scuttle Town where she announces to Mimic that she had to destroy the steam engine, but is relieved to hear from him that it was probably for the best.

An archived version of the company's official website showcases a very different approach to the game, which was at the time considered for development on PC or PlayStation, in full 3D with traditionally animated characters moving in a 3D background.

Back then, her magic was capable, as envisioned by Erin Bozon, the original creator of the character,[9] of summoning animals, but transformation was already planned, as Shantae could turn into a harpy.

He and Erin pitched the game with help from veteran programmer Jimmy Huey, who worked with WayForward at the time.

[3] GameSpot claimed it to be a "fine example" of a portable platformer, "firmly rooted in the traditional conventions of the [platform game] genre", and added that "one area that this game truly shines in is the animation", although they complained about the music being "simple" and "repetitive", with "bland" sound effects.

"[16] Retrospective reviews were positive as well, with Kaes Delgrego and Corbie Dillard of Nintendo Life and Kyle MacGregor of Destructoid claiming the game to be a "cult classic".

He added that the graphics and sound are "outstanding", although acknowledged some issues with the tiny screen of the Game Boy and overall lack of guidance in-game.

[19] A new 2013 review for the re-release of the game on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console by Mike Mason claimed that the "2D platformer is sprinkled with enough genie-magic to keep it fresh and interesting for a modern audience.

[36] Later the game was also released on Wii U,[37] Microsoft Windows,[38] PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Amazon Fire TV.

[42] A fifth game, Shantae and the Seven Sirens, was released for Apple Arcade in 2019, and for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2020.

[43][44] The previously canceled sequel, Risky Revolution, is set for release in 2025 as the sixth game in the series.

The port, released on April 22, 2021, allows players to toggle the Game Boy Advance enhancements on and off; it also includes save state functionality, alternate display options, and an in-game art gallery.

[48][49] Homebrew developer Dimitris Giannakis, who runs the YouTube channel Modern Vintage Gamer, was hired to develop the emulation software used in this release, known as the Carbon Engine; Limited Run has since utilized the Carbon Engine in several subsequent game re-releases for modern hardware.