I think I’ve mentioned this before, one of the most common games that most indie developers start off on is the platformer. They usually pull inspiration from classic platformers such as Mario, Sonic, Castlevania, Contra, Metroid, etc. One platformer that I haven’t seen copies/clones of is Capcom’s Ghost n’ Goblins. Maybe its due to it being one of the more difficult games in the NES library or maybe it might be one of the more lesser known series due to not having as many games as the other platformers that I mentioned. Whatever the cause may be, that didn’t deter Causal Bit Games Inc to look towards Ghost n’ Goblins for inspiration for their game, Battle Princess Madelyn.
Battle Prince Power
A granddaughter’s tale- One of the most endearing aspects of Battle Princess Madelyn is its story mode, as its a story being told by a grandpa to his granddaughter. It stars Madelyn, a ordinary girl who is at home sick in bed. As she is playing on her smartphone, her grandpa come visits her and wants to read story to her. Not really impressed, Madelyn refuses and tells her grandpa to watch her play her game with her. He convinces her to listen to the story, as its about a young female knight/princess who has the same name as her. The knight Madelyn is out training when she gets word that an evil wizard has laid siege to the castle. As she makes her way back home, she enters the throne room just as the wizard kidnaps her family. Her dog, Frizy tries to attack him but is knock back by the wizards blast and is killed. Her, her grandparents and a few of the royal guards retreat to the cemetery to laid her dog to rest. As she mourns, she is told by her grandfather that its up to her to save her family and the kingdom. She accepts and right before she leaves, the royal crone revives Frizy to accompany her on her journey. The way that the games has its story within a story can be a bit confusing, but its a really sweet touch to have it be told by a grandpa to his granddaughter.
Gameplay is old school- Most people gravitate to older retro games in this generation of modern gaming because they feel that modern games don’t really test their skills the way they used to. Timing jumps, remembering routes, picking up the best weapon upgrade while avoiding the lesser ones, these are what testes the skills of gamers from the 80’s and 90’s. And most feel that Ghosts N’ Goblins for the NES did this better than any other game. Battle Princess Madelyn pays homage to Ghosts N’ Goblins by keeping it old school. See the game plays similarlly to Ghosts N’ Goblins: Madelyn has two hits per life, she jumps in an arc, she gets knocked back when hit, and her armor can be upgraded.
Music is whimsical- One things that everyone loves about retro games is the music. Each game has its own unique and iconic track that we can tell right away from what game its from. They also set the tempo and mood of the game, letting player know when its time to take it easy and when its time to kick it in game. Battle Princess Madelyn’s music channels all of that into one great sounding OST. The music varies when Madelyn travels to different areas, as no two tracks sound alike. When she enters boss battles, the music kicks up in intensity. The music is nothing but 16-bit goodness. The enjoyment doesn’t stop there, as there is an option to change the music from retro sounding to a fully orchestrated modern soundtrack which sounds just as great as the 16-bit tunes.
Awesome sprite work- As graphics continue to evolve towards the photo-realistic, sprite based graphics continue to thrive through indie games. Some games keep it simple with 8-bit sprite work, while other go all out with amazing 16-bit sprites. Battle Princess Madelyn is the latter as the game has some really amazing and beautiful sprite work. The background, enemies, villages, everything looked amazing. Even the huge screen filling bosses look amazing. Even with today’s software programs being able to let anyone to create a game, sprite work is still tedious to create, especially if the development team is small.
Damsel in distress
No guidance in story mode- In most platformers you usually are traveling from left to right. In some cases you might have to backtrack a bit, but the game will visually tell you if you need to by way of signs or a flashing signal pointing the way. They might even have some type of map. In Battle Princess Madelyn’s story mode however, it doesn’t tell you where to go. Some might say that this is a throwback to classic platformers, however those games where designed to lead the player left to right naturally. And as I mentioned, even if you have to backtrack to a previous place, it might be because the player has now gained the ability to access an area they weren’t able to before. I know most players won’t want their handheld all of the time, but after spending a couple of minuets going back and forth a simple blinking finger or an arrow pointing the way to go would be nice. In fact, the game does give directional signs, but only in the arcade mode.
No visible checklist- In the story mode, players will encounter various villagers that will ask you to either bring back their lost item or find someone who got lost. These are essentially side quest and encourage players to explore and backtrack through out several levels. While they do give players this incentive to backtrack, the game doesn’t really tell you if you have the thing that is need or found the missing person. In other words, Battle Princess Madelyn doesn’t have an in-game check list.
No additional modes- In the era of modern indie retro games, indie developers can create even more content to extend the players time with the game. Time attack, boss rush, speed runs, etc are all examples of extra modes that developers add in to their games. Unfortunately for Battle Princess Madelyn there isn’t any extra modes. Most modern retro games have these types of modes added in, even game collections like the Mega Man X Legacy Collection have extra modes. Its modes like these that increase replayability.
Battle Princess Madelyn is a fun throwback to one of the more harder games in the NES library. The story within a story concept is cute, the gameplay is old school solid, the music is catchy and whimsical and the sprite artwork is amazing. However there is no guidance in the story mode that at least tells players where to go, no checklist to let players know if they picked up the thing that a villager asked for, and no other modes besides arcade. Battle Princess Madelyn while a flawed and a bit thin on gameplay content, is still an enjoyable and fun experience that all should at least check out.
