A game where you're a half naked girl doing transformation dances. THE BEST.
| Type | Value | Description |
|---|
| Signed Byte | 3042 | Shantae's Speed |
| Signed Byte | a7d | Money Amount |
| Signed Byte | a7f | Lives |
| Signed Byte | 32da | Tinker Ship HP |
| Unsigned Byte | 315F | Risky's HP |
| Unsigned Byte | 364C | Golem's HP |
Eye Door Skip
A useful trick for 100%, as it skips needing to use a Vanish Cream. Just get into the zone where the eye notices you, and run underneath it as the door is pulling back up. Was initially assumed to be Monkey Form only, but it can be done both ways in base form with proper positioning and timing.
Storm Puff Cutscene Walk
Due to the nature of Shantae's engine, death overrides anything that does not freeze time (for example, heart containers.) Exploiting this fact, Storm Puffs can be used to do a variety of tricks. Most notable include:
- Walking out of shops before the game can process money correctly, thereby adding funds AND the item bought to Shantae. Note that Shantae only needs to take damage to trigger the glitch in this case, she doesn't have to die.
- Skipping all the Genie cutscenes.
- Gaining invincibility by having Shantae die during a transition to another screen.
Item Hopping
When using an item in the air, there is 1 frame after the animation ends where the game thinks Shantae is back on the ground, allowing her to do such things as attack and, more importantly, jump. This allows her to have infinite ascension far before she gets the Harpy dance.
This glitch allows the Spider dance to be skipped in any%, and grab the three previously inaccessible fifth squids in Dribble Fountain, Golem Mine, and Cackle Mound for 100%, saving minutes in each category.
Twinkle Palace Out of Bounds
One of the oldest tricks in the book, Twinkle Palace has unique blocks that allow base form to be present in a 1-tile high gap without crouching, which allows her to utilize her dances to push herself out of bounds. This is useful in all categories to skip backtracking after gaining the Harpy form.
Tricks & Tips
Jumping
Jumping causes a 1 frame movement delay, so it should be used only when needed.
Attack/Running
The B button both attacks and runs. This means if the B button is ever let go, Shantae must waste time doing an attack before being allowed to run again.
If one holds the B button during a cutscene, or during a loading screen, Shantae will automatically start running without needing to do an attack first.
In very, very rare situations where Shantae needs to let go of B on the ground, jumping and using an attack is the best way to get moving again.
Additionally, using an attack while in the air out of a run will not slow Shantae down at all. Only if she touches the ground without holding B again will her speed be reset.
Ground in Air
When falling off a ledge, there is a few frames where Shantae can do any 'ground' action while she's also falling, which includes crouching and dancing. This can be done either falling left or right, but is easier to perform going right.
As a side note, pressing Down for a frame right as Shantae begins falling off a ledge allows her to start falling 1 frame sooner.
A frame before Shantae's hair attack hits an enemy, letting go of down will put Shantae in her standing pose immediately, and also make any enemy take an extra hit. This can be chained with multiple crouch attacks.
Using this, one can one round the first phase of the Tinker Ship fight, saving nearly 12 seconds.
Slippery Slope/Vine Climbing
If Shantae continues moving before landing on a vine or slope that would normally cause her to slide off, there is a single frame where she's able to land on the vine and jump again without sliding.
This is useful in Cackle Mound to skip a section that would require the Spider transformation, along with other situational uses.
Instant Stop
Pressing Down for a frame right as Shantae stops running will immediately put her in her default 'standing' animation. This is very useful if you need to stop to transform.
RNG Manipulation
Holding different buttons can affect what happens to the RNG. Notably, pressing different buttons can change what drops Shantae gets from an enemy and what attack an enemy uses. Useful in all categories.
Monkey
The monkey transformation is arguably the most useful transformation. It moves as fast as Shantae, can jump rather high, and can wall climb.
By comparison to base Shantae, however, it has a few significant flaws.
- Jumping and landing in this form creates about 3 frames of stopped motion, which adds up significantly when traveling for long distances.
- Skipping slippery slopes is impossible, due to hitbox differences.
- It cannot attack without the appropriate item, which makes it useless for killing things outside of 100%.
Elephant
The second slowest form, next to the Spider. Unlike most forms, it comes with a dash attack, which means it can attack enemies for some decent damage.
The dash attack itself is similar to the speed increase from a slippery vine, only in reverse. The dash lasts for 82 frames, during which Shantae goes from 3 speed to 2 speed to 1 speed. (2 would be Shantae's base form's running speed.)
It is impossible to cancel a dash unless you hit a wall.
Spider
Spider form is by far the worst one. It walks very slowly, needs an item to attack, and has uses that are so situational they can be completely skipped with glitches or Harpy. Not much else to say. Don't use it.
Harpy
Harpy is a very useful form, due to being able to fly indefinitely and move just as fast as base form. However, momentum is very slippery in this form, being hard to build up and stop.
To reach maximum speed as quickly as possible, do a short jump a few frames after you start pressing a direction.
