Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Battle Princess Madelyn
Developer: Causal Bit Games
Publisher: Causal Bit Games
Genre: Platformer, Action, Adventure, Metroidvania, Arcade
Number of Players: 1 player
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 20 Dec 2018
Price: $19.99
Also Available On: Steam, PS4, XB1
I had been waiting to play this since I first heard about it last year. Not that I’m a big Ghosts ‘n Goblins series fan (the big inspiration behind this game), but because the title sounded badass. Battle Princess Madelyn. That’s a badass title. Plus it seemed quite nice with its retro aesthetics and music. I was pretty sure it would play good as well.
I finally got my hands on it and… well, simply put, I was expecting too much. The game is not bad per se, no, not at all. It does look and sound good, as I was expecting, but the gameplay is not as good as I had been expecting.
In this game, you play as the titular Princess Madelyn, a princess who gets catapulted to a great adventure after an evil wizard attacked her town. Also, her dog, Fritzy, gets killed by the attack, but he comes back as a ghost. Cool. Anyway, as Madelyn and Fritzy embark on this epic journey, they get to battle against skeletons, acid-spitting giant snakes, flying insects, and other monstrosities, while also obtaining gears and learning skills that will help them in their journey. It’s up to this unlikely duo to free the world of evil.
That’s pretty much it, story-wise. Again, this game is heavily-inspired by the Ghouls n’ Ghost series, so much so that this could pass as a sequel if one is told as such. From the looks to gameplay to how the Madelyn runs on the screen, it just screams Ghosts ‘n Goblins everywhere. Add to that the awesome musical scores. Yes, plural, because you can choose between a chiptune-styled one and an orchestrated one (it still sound electronic, though). This is brilliant, I must say, as you may want a game that looks retro but scored with (pseudo-) orchestral instruments, if that sort of mood hits you. By the way, you could also make the visuals look more retro by using the CRT scan lines option. It’s not for me, but if you dig that look, it’s in the game for you to try.
Whereas the original Ghosts ‘n Goblins games are linear, Causal Bit decided to make the Story Mode into a metroidvania game, with lots of backtracking and hunting for new equipment and skills and such. Now, this would have been great, but the lack of an in-game map, sub-quest list, and signposting made it a bit more tedious to play than it had to be. I can take the high difficulty and lack of checkpoints, since this is retro-inspired, after all, but getting lost in a vast level with no way to accurately know which way to go next is just too troublesome. Even the original Metroid, though also lacking an in-game map, made it more obvious where to go next with enemy and obstacle placements. On this game, upon entering a level, you wouldn’t really know which way to go. A bony hand would appear from time to time to point to the general direction of where you MAY want to go next, since usually you would find a treasure or two there, but it only appears when you are already near that area. If there was an in-game map, things would have been much better.
Fortunately, Causal Bit games also included an Arcade mode with linear levels that are much closer gameplay-wise to the Ghosts ‘n Goblins games. Gone are the backtracking and sub-quests from NPCs and all those shenanigans. In this mode, you come equip with almost everything that you need from the get go, and you are free to battle your way to the end of the level and to the next. No path forks! This should have been the main mode of playing the game, since this is more enjoyable to play. (EDIT: it seems that Causal Bit just updated the game, and I now see the Arcade Mode before Story Mode. I’m not sure if it’s been always like that, but they probably listened to the online complaints and now promote the Arcade Mode as the main mode of playing the game. Good move!)
Overall, Battle Princess Madelyn, despite its shortcomings and flaws, is a good game. It is nostalgia-inducing, generally plays well, and just looks and sounds amazing from start to finish. If you are a fan of old-school arcade games, you will find this game as a really good buy. If you would stick to the arcade mode, that is. The adventure mode is not the best way to enjoy the game, but it’s there if you want a longer and tougher play time. So be ready and be always on your toes as you battle against evil monsters. Guide Princess Madelyn and Fritzy to victory!
REPLAY VALUE: Medium
PROS
- Excellent retro-inspired visuals
- Two musical scores to choose from, and both sound amazing
- Very good level and character design
- Heavily inspired by the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series
- High degree of difficulty on both Story and Arcade modes
- Awesome boss battles
- Arcade mode is the best way to enjoy the game
CONS
- Story mode is very tedious to play
- Lack of in-game map and sub-quest list
- Lack of in-game tutorials
- Lack of signposting makes you get lost quite easily in levels on Adventure mode
- NPCs showing hints are more of an annoyance than help
- In-game inventory looks dull
- Animation could be better
RATING: 3.5/5 Battle Princesses and Fritzies
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