Shantae: Half-Genie Hero raises $776k in funding campaign [Update]
WayForward's Kickstarter project for platformer Shantae: Half-Genie Hero ended today, raising a total of $776,084. The project's final amount was enough to push it past the developer's $700,000 "Costume Swap" stretch goal, which will offer players three more fully-animated outfits for use in the game.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero has players leaping through side-scrolling levels as series protagonist and belly-dancing genie Shantae, using her has a whip-like weapon and dancing to transform into other creatures. WayForward likens the series to that of Metroid and The Legend of Zelda, as it encourages exploration and puzzle-solving in order to see the adventure through to completion. Half-Genie Hero's journey is separated in chapters, each including new "subplots, friends and foes, a new Transformation to discover, puzzles to solve, hazards to overcome and a Boss to conquer."
The game will launch on a number of platforms in August 2014: PS3, Xbox 360, Steam, PS Vita, Vita TV, Wii U and next-gen consoles PS4 and Xbox One.
Update: WayForward added an update to its Kickstarter page, noting that it earned $35,878 from PayPal donors, bringing the total amount of funding to $811,962. It plans to keep its PayPal funding open, and pledges through that system remain eligible for the project's reward tiers.
