As a long time Shantae fan, I can only ever recommend Risky's Revenge for a new player starting out from the beginning.

Risky's Revenge did start a lot of the things we knew and love later, from the familiar artstyle to a lot of mecanical and narrative things (not everything of course, since we had the original before, but it definitely added even more AND locked in preexisting stuff).

Unfortunately, the game itself is just… raw. Maybe not visually and in audio, but definitely in gameplay, as it's just nowhere near as fun to play as even the orignial (although I may be the only one in that regard). Pirate's Curse, in comparison, is such an amazing step up it's not even funny.

Risky's Revenge is a game you play once, or at least until you grab every achievement, and never again. At least, that is how I feel about it. It's not fun to return to it, even less so than to the original GBC game.

Yet, again, it's an important piece of history and lore, plus it's very funny still, trademarked WayForward humour is shining even as far as this game, and that alone is enough to warrant the playthrough.

Ultimately, it is a good game, but not good enough for me anymore.

Also, it's more like, a Zeldventure, rather than Metrovania, just like the first game, so be careful with expectations. If you want a Metrovania – go with Pirate's Curse or Seven Sirens.