Shantae

Version 1.0.1 on cart.
Played to 100% completion and the version specifically played was the GBC version. There is also a Gameboy Advance enhanced version (not tested).

This game has a major issue.
The issue is related to the internal save system. The game has specific areas that can be used to save your progress. For some reason, the game will sometimes not save at the specific spot where the last save was done. Or, it doesn’t remember the last save.

For example, we would complete a race section, where you have to beat another character in a race. Once you defeat the character, you could progress to the next section and save the game. If you closed the game out, and came back later, the save would revert to the area before the race. Meaning that you would have to race the character all over again.

This happened multiple times at different save areas during the test. We were trying to play and beat the game as intended but were unable to do so, and eventually were forced to just use save states which are built into the LRG version of the game.
Would have preferred beating the game without the use of save states, but the internal save system doesn’t work properly.

The save system is broken, but technically, the game is fully playable as long as you beat the game in one sitting or use save states to save if you need to go do something else. Regardless, this is a very important issue that needs to be made aware of, as it can really affect progress, especially if you aren’t aware of this beforehand.