Shantae (USA) ROM

You play as Shantae, a half-genie guardian of a small town who is attacked by the she-pirate Risky Boots in a nice little intro to the game. You go through several towns (four, to be exact) on your quest to stop Risky from completing her plans.

If there was ever a Gameboy Color game that offered even a bit of sex appeal, it would be Shantae. 
 
But there's much more to this game than just the sexy swaying of hips and the subtle bouncing of pixelated boobs. There are tight controls, interesting weapons, delightfully groovy Arabian tunes, animal transformations, amulets that augment said transformations, and new attacks that alter your fighting style significantly from a simple hair whip.
 
The only downfalls are grinding for gems through either tedious farming of enemies, or various minigames that can be fun, but grow stale after awhile. It is also difficult to speed run through levels, as the limited Gameboy screen allows enemies to surprise you without a chance to react. There is also some lazy level design, specifically in dungeons.
 
If anything, Shantae is a cult classic that recieved a sequel on the DSI store for a reason. It's fun to play and, in my opinion, even more fun to watch.
 
It's just so hard for me to keep my thumb away from that select button. Oh yes Shantae, dance for me.

A platformer from WayForward Technologies, with smoothly-animated character designs by Matt Bozon, and music from Jake Kaufman (Virt).
Shantae is the half-genie protector of Scuttle Town, a small burg by the sea. The vicious pirate captain Risky Boots steals old man Mimic's newly developed steam engine, and plans to use it with a set of ancient relics to build an unstoppable war machine.
You've got a huge, nonlinear world to explore, with complex dungeons and tough bosses at the end of each one. At first Shantae's only method of fighting enemies is her hair-whipping attack, but you can buy special items and subweapons in certain places, and in each dungeon you'll learn a magic dance to transform into some type of animal with unique abilities.