Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse has all the makings of a good 2D Metroidvania platformer; clever puzzle design, progressive empowerment through new abilities, and an emphasis on exploration. It’s the sharp sense of humor and vivacious world, though, that ultimately propel Pirate’s Curse to greatness and help it stand out from the glut of retro-inspired platformers.

During the 10 hours or so it took me to completely traverse its six islands, I appreciated the many nods Pirate’s Curse expertly makes to the classic gameplay of Metroid and Castlevania. It offers an even blend of combat and puzzle solving; you’ll smoothly go from whipping your enemies with Shantae’s magic hair to utilizing a bevy of pirate tools to further explore the islands and their dens of evil. The pacing feels just right, and though there are gigantic bosses to slay and multi-step puzzles to solve, neither overstay their welcome.

The gameplay isn’t entirely original, but Pirate’s Curse does a superb job of capturing the spirit of the Metroidvania platformer. Instead of one giant environment, Shantae must explore six disparate islands. With unique enemies and environmental hazards, I found that each island had a distinct feel that kept me from growing bored as I explored every inch of them. Harnessing the power of Shantae’s increased abilities to steadily fill in each island’s classic grid-based map scratches that completionist itch, and with an assortment of hidden items to discover, including optional battles that directly determine whether you get the good or bad ending, there is certainly a push to explore as much as you can. But by spreading the action across six separate locations and clearly displaying how many secrets are still undiscovered at each, the task never seemed all that overbearing. The smaller, more focused approach kept me engaged.

Though cutting through enemies with Shantae’s hair is mostly fun, the second half of the story is bogged down by a few areas with constantly respawning enemies. Levels become filled with enemies that reappear in seconds. This isn’t such an issue the first time you visit an island, but it begins to wear thin as you travel back and forth across each island multiple times. Though you can upgrade Shantae’s attack, it isn’t until very late in Pirate’s Curse that you become powerful enough to cut through the onslaught with ease. With no fast travel, or an ability to skip to specific spots on an island, things can sometimes turn into a grind.

Still, those brief moments of frustration are usually washed away by the strong writing and vibrant look of Pirate’s Curse. The dialogue is consistently funny, and readily breaks the fourth wall throughout. The offbeat humor is built into the puzzle-solving, too. In one early example, Shantae wakes a dragon with the scent of a ham, causing it to drool down the mountain it’s perched upon. The drool collects in a pool, which attracts a couple of spring breakers, whose pale skin reflects the sunlight onto a nearby temple wall, revealing a hidden petrification spell Shantae has been searching for. In those moments when a particular puzzle or boss left me feeling fatigued, some inane, hilarious scenario like this would pull me right back in.