Battle Princess Madelyn Reviews
Although the existence of an Arcade Mode offers a more enjoyable experience and should please retrogamers, it is unfortunate that the length of the dungeons and the repetitiveness compromises the enjoyment of the ambitious story mode. Madelyn's adventure is problematic and needed more development time. The potential is there, it just needed a bit more of effort.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Battle Princess Madelyn is clearly an homage to Capcom titles about slaying ghouls, ghosts and goblins but presented in an endearing, story within a story fashion.
With all this packaged together, the player is presented with a well-balanced package that gives gamers a taste of what it used to be like to be called a gamer but never pushing so hard as to cause a rage quit, tip over the arcade machine and demand your quarters back.
We both liked playing Battle Princess Madelyn even though we thought that there was certainly room for improvement to the game.
For better and worse, Battle Princess Madelyn is an authentic retro experience.
WORTH CONSIDERING - I had such high hopes for Battle Princess Madelyn. The core concept works and if you’re just looking for another Ghouls ‘N Ghosts action game, play the arcade mode. The adventure mode is a mess with poor stage design and little to no direction on where or what to do next. Without a walkthrough most will never see the end.
Battle Princess Madelyn might not be a bad game; it just isn't special. All the difficulty stems from tricks, meaning the difficulty no longer exists once a player realizes it's all smoke and mirrors. With enemies, bosses and stages lasting longer than they really need to, it's an experience that doesn't invoke a desire to replay. At most alternate paths and hidden story bosses might, though even that is limited. So, unless you really want to play something like Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, Battle Princess Madelyn is simply too hollow to be fun.
The arcadey gameplay of Battle Princess Madelyn is a treat, but the game's weak story mode drags down the package.
A good game that will please retro lovers but one that offers too few new things to a genre that is getting saturated.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While its adventurous ambitions fall short of nailing it, there's a lot to love about Battle Princess Madelyn. It's a beautiful game in sight and sound, with a dead-on Ghouls ‘N Ghosts vibe but designed to be much less frustrating, an incredible soundtrack with both old and new-school arrangements options, and an adorable Story Mode that pays homage to a classic story in adorable fashion. It's a bedtime story based on a nightmare that somehow comes out on the more pleasant, earnest end of that old school madness, and while it's a pain in the butt to find your way around without a map, the gorgeous settings and pitch-perfect platforming action make it feel worth the struggle.
Battle Princess Madelyn is certainly a time capsule from a few decades ago for better and worse. Where the game succeeds, it does so well and with style. But, the multitude of minor pitfalls that inhibits gameplay progression and causes frustration held Madelyn back from being a true indie gem.
Too much hand-holding in games can be a problem, but Battle Princess Madelyn goes in the opposite direction with its main Story mode and is just as annoying (if not more so) as a result. Thankfully, its alternative Arcade mode really does save the day, stripping away all the convoluted and confused exploration and leaving nothing but pure, unfiltered arcade action goodness. It's just a shame its main mode – and perhaps the key reason the developer wants your £15.79 / $19.99 – is so frustratingly unhelpful and awkward to play. Still, fans of Capcom's Ghouls ‘n Ghosts will most definitely want to check this out.
Battle Princess Madelyn from Causal Bit Games and Hound Picked Games is quite an enjoyable game and one you should certainly check out!
In trying to revive a decades-old series, Causal Bit Games created a Frankenstein's Monster of sorts. Adding adventure and exploration elements to the Ghouls ‘N Ghosts formula hasn't improved the experience. Forcing the player to replay the entire game only to retrieve a special weapon that can truly defeat the final boss was a better design choice than the ones made in Battle Princess Madelyn's Story Mode. The Arcade Mode saves it from mediocrity in that it allows players to enjoy the different environments, weapons, and bosses through a tough but beatable campaign. Regardless, questionable design choices and lack of gameplay explanations detract from the overall satisfaction. After spending time with Battle Princess Madelyn, I'm left with one lasting impression: I really want to replay Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts.
Battle Princess Madelyn is everything you need in a retro romp. The lack of a map with limited direction may be frustrating at times, but the heart and soul of Ghosts & Goblins remains true to form. Battle Princess Madelyn is a joy to play and a must for retro fans.
There’s no doubt that in terms of both the look and overall feel of the controls in the game Madelyn nails the classic feel of Ghouls ‘N Ghosts...
A decent platformer with nods to difficult classics, there are a few problems with this one that keep the score down. Might be best to look elsewhere until a patch arrives.
All in all though Battle Princess Madelyn has been a wonderful waltz down memory lane.
Battle Princess Madelyn is not bad. But it's not good either. Apart from the compelling graphics, it is simply too uninspired, and thus the famous "one among many". In 2018 the competition is just too big. There are too many games that are better in terms of playability and gameplay than you should spend your time with this blender. Although the creators promised a few improvements via patch, at the time of the test, unfortunately nothing was yet to be seen.
Review in German | Read full review
A game confused about what it wants to be — an accessible and fun side-scroller for the whole family to enjoy, or a brutal experiment into what Dark Souls would be like in a 16-bit format. Battle Princess Madelyn looks and sounds the part, but is so unforgiving it sucks all the fun out of it.