it's fine i guess. the monkey sprite looks really funny. some impressive moments for something running on a GBC, but pretty bog standard gameplay beyond that. the whole overworld traversal is pretty ambitious for a GBC game, but goddamn it wears on you fast. only really worth playing if you're anal about starting the series from the first entry/freaking love shantae.

Oh right, I first tried this one thanks to the 3DS's Virtual Console. Still a nice and good time, but at this point why this when there are the PS4/PS5/Switch (especially for portable reasons) ports.