The game was designed to push the GBA hardware to its limits. It utilizes a 32-bit color palette and advanced parallax scrolling.

Players use belly-dance transformations (monkey, crab, elephant) to traverse environments and solve puzzles.

The gameplay in Shantae Advance remains faithful to the original GBA release. Players control Shantae, a half-genie who must navigate through various levels, battling enemies and collecting power-ups. The game features a variety of magical transformations, allowing Shantae to access new areas, defeat tougher foes, and overcome obstacles.

The ROM is a prototype. Expect glitches:

The game utilizes a "sprite-scaling" technique that was popular on the GBA to simulate 3D effects. The character sprites are larger and more detailed than the GBC original, utilizing the GBA's wider color palette.

Shantae Advance is a popular action-adventure game developed by WayForward Technologies and released for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) in 2002. The game follows the story of Shantae, a half-genie who must use her magical powers to defeat an evil sorcerer and save the world.