I could tell you of the developer’s sleepless nights blurring into text-filled days, which led to the self-taught ability to code. Hours could be spent regaling you with tales of the artists and the intricacies of hundreds of hand-drawn illustrations. Many words could be shared about the creators building public relations and marketing strategies for this indie title called Battle Princess Madelyn. And all would greatly inform you of their amazing game development process . . . but let’s skip ahead to the action!

Battle Princess Madelyn pulls you in the same way I introduced this review – by keeping the story short and getting you straight to the action. This is simply because the narrative is the action. In fact, don’t be surprised if you notice that the game cleverly takes inspiration from a well-known story called The Princess Bride . . . I have a feeling some of you may be familiar with it.

Both tales start in a similar manner, which is a respectful nod to a great story. As for Battle Princess Madelyn, it goes a little something like this: Grampy, an elderly adult, walks into the room to watch over a sick grandchild. The tablet-clutching kid just wants to play video games and invites the grandpa to watch. Instead of accepting the child’s request, the clever elder offers an intriguing alternative – “How about a story?”

Appealing to the short attention span of a child with quick-witted entertainment, Grampy starts on about a princess named Maddi. “That’s my name too!” exclaims little Madelyn. Wisdom surely begets wisdom as Grampy knows her interest is now piqued, “Oh, but she is not only a princess, but also a warrior too.” Maddi’s eyes grow wide with anticipation and wonder. Go on Grampy – let the adventure begin!

A Familiar Story

Battle Princess Madelyn is the tale that Grampy tells young Maddi. A warrior princess must save her family from the clutches of an evil wizard bent on destruction and world domination. Following an attack from the wizard, in the midst of the chaos and flames, Princess Maddi’s dog Fritzy is killed while protecting her (excuse me WHILE I CLUTCH MY HEART). It is emotionally brutal to watch the hand-drawn depictions of losing a beloved pet. But, it was all the motivation I needed to go into Battle Princess Madelyn with grit and determination!

The gameplay starts with Princess Madelyn and her father, the King (Grampy), as they traverse into the depths of evil. But this is only the beginning. After all, Maddi is embarking on a quest to save not only her family, but the entire kingdom as well. It is an adventure full of family, love, transformation, and the occasional absent-minded Kickstarter NPC . . . but we’ll get to get that later.

The transformation seen is primarily of Madelyn O’Lonergan, a girl who grows into a warrior. She is a princess who faces evil creatures head-on with the confidence (and quips) of a royal diplomat. Her main quest involves recovering stolen parts from a powerful machine known as the “Stitchbot”. Recovering these parts and rebuilding the Stitchbot is the key to saving everyone. Not to mention, she’s looking to avenge the death of her pupper as well. As you’ll see, this loyal pet continues its allegiance even after life . . . by continuing to follow her in spirit.

Avenge the Pupper!

AHH – the game had me had me at pupper! Story aside though, this game plays with an air of nostalgic familiarity. If you’ve ever exposed yourself to the brutal punishment that is Super Ghouls’N Ghosts, or Ghosts’N Goblins, then you will understand the feeling. The art style is reminiscent of the greatest 16-bit era console, and my personal favorite, the Super Nintendo. What’s more is that Battle Princess Madelyn goes above and beyond in factoring in additional . . . quality of life elements, ushering in a more modern feel in order to make this an experience worth having that holds up well.

It almost seems like perfect timing to play this indie gem. I had just come down with a cold and decided to stay in bed. What’s better than some quality gaming in pajamas? Grandparents may argue reading a book or hearing a story, but we’ve all known the truth since childhood – just as Maddi did. And playing Battle Princess Madelyn brought me back to the days of my carefree youth.

Though 2D games and 16-bit graphics aren’t always masterpieces, there is such an art to well-crafted 2D visuals. And I’m happy to say Battle Princess Madelyn excels here. Pixelated sprites and chiptune (or their orchestral counterparts) soundtracks paint strokes of retro brilliance on a modern canvas. The Illusions of depth and a focused perspective are attained in vastly diverse environments. However,there may be some confusion because the shifts in environments do not always flow smoothly; one moment you are in an underwater labyrinth and the next you are in a remote area of Russia. So, a suspension of disbelief is greatly appreciated. Because, hey, magical portals and evil wizards don’t exist either, right? So don’t overthink it.

Spiritual Spirits

Speaking of evil, I mentioned Super Ghouls’N Ghosts (and Ghosts’N Goblins) earlier in reference to this indie title. Battle Princess Madelyn takes obvious inspiration from its ghouly counterpart – but mainly due to the style, and not necessarily the progression or difficulty. In a sense, it could be said that Battle Princess Madelyn is a spiritual successor of sorts. But even if it wasn’t, or if you knew nothing of any similar titles, this style is a welcomed complement to the Switch’s hearty 2D platformer lineup.

Take the progression for instance – I would argue that it has a strong blend of Metroidvania in with a side-scrolling platformer foundation. You simply cannot progress through certain areas without specific items (LOOKING AT YOU, BOOTS). There are two main methods of stumbling across said items: one, scouring the entire level until you finally find it, or two, completing a task that grants you a specific key. Thankfully, if you decide to scour your search is made easier by the plentiful amount of “hint” prompts strewn about. It’s either this or paying close attention to NPC dialogue that points you in the right direction.

As for those keys mentioned, they grant you access to enter it’s respective type of door. The entryways have subtle aesthetic differences depending on which type of door it is. The doors, which are either boss doors or secret area doors, hide the item you need. Seems simple enough; and each path, boss or otherwise, will provide an experience both unique and challenging in their own way!

One Door Closed is Another Door Open

Along with my praise I have two very minor points to discuss with this setup. The first is that the keys are very similar in appearance, as are the doors. It might just be me, but I had to constantly check my menu to figure out which type of key I had just received. Next, I would have to try and remember which type of door they give me access to. I would get confused because sometimes I would collect multiple keys before coming across any doors to use them on.

Not only this, but the fact that the levels are MASSIVE. You may even consider drawing your own maps of the darn game. In the end I found it easier just trying every door with every key I got. Thankfully, it eventually worked out (as long as you find all the keys).

The second point to mention that each key does not necessarily go to one specific door, just the specific type (as mentioned). You can find a key in the second area and use it to unlock a door in the fifth region if you’d like. This is nice for granting access. However, it’s horrible if you miss a key along the way early on. That will leave you stuck on a search mission to find the one you missed because now you’re at a locked door you can’t get past. This was my experience. Let’s just say because of this I became intimately acquainted with these levels.

Suffice it to say, exploration will inevitably play a huge role in Battle Princess Madelyn. Each level is simply too large to see everything in one go. I repeatedly found myself trying new paths over and over again. Not only because of the aforementioned key and door situation, but also because some jumps require almost pixel-perfect timing in order to access.

Falling . . . with Style

I use the term “jump” loosely. I really mean ‘take a leap of faith’ because half of the time you aren’t 100% sure where you will land. You’ll come to the edge of a platform or tree branch or something with nothing in front of you but open level. It can be disheartening to jump into the unknown only to find yourself falling onto spikes, or into the grainy mitt of a boulder-rolling sandhand. Trial and error, my friends – get used to it.

Traversing the unknown aspects of the large, open, level layouts can be repetitive, exhausting, and infuriating. However, the successful navigation and discovery can be so rewarding when you finally DO make it to the area you were trying to access. This is fine; I can deal with this – I would even say I enjoy it. But, and this is a huge but, as much as I love high-skill platforming (I hate constant backtracking though), there was one glaring issue in my opinion: the lack of any sort of map!

Let’s Stop and Ask

As far as I’ve seen, there is simply no map or map-like function in Battle Princess Madelyn. I was shocked. Even the original Ghosts’N Goblins shows you a quick glance at your relative location/progress prior to starting. What this means is the player is left to memorize every inch of the level. And I don’t mean only for the completionists . . . I’m talking for those who just want to beat the game.

This is because, as I mentioned earlier, certain mandatory items (or even bosses) can only be found behind locked doors. Those locked doors require keys – keys that are only obtained from triggering certain events (don’t want to give away too much). Guess what? Those events are sometimes only found within those hidden areas in a level. Progress can become an intricate and time-consuming process because of this. I have to assume this is by design, but was it the right choice?

I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this element. On one hand, I enjoy and embrace the challenge. On the other, many people aren’t as tenacious as I am and would give up far before they found the answer. Luckily you have Fritzy’s welcomed barks and a skeleton hand pointing you in the right direction when you’re close to . . . something. Keep in mind that I played Battle Princess Madelyn prior to any coverage, leaks, or guidance coming out, so I suppose with a little help this problem is easily resolved. But for those warriors brave enough to tackle this indie title blind – I salute you; you’ve earned it.

The Good, the Bad, and the Awkward

On the subject of respect, I really appreciate the variety of enemies in Battle Princess Madelyn. First off, there are 10 unique regions to get lost in. All, except the castle, contain individual areas and secret zones within those regions, each with unique foes to battle. Both the baddies and their attack animations are lovingly crafted, and mix up the gameplay as you try and figure out how to narrowly avoid ranged attacks, projectiles, and a myriad of other dangers.

I will say the same for a majority of the characters in the kingdom as well. Unfortunately, I can’t say it for the obvious Kickstarter-created NPC’s. First off, it’s obvious they do not mesh with the canon of Battle Princess Madelyn. Their dress, character models, and even positioning seems off from everything else. Sometimes they are just on a random cliff somewhere, or some other remote location. Other times they are mixed in with townspeople and stick out like sore thumbs.

Aside from their awkward placement, every ”sidequest” they give you is high risk and little reward. Most often it is literally just fetching some random household item that they somehow misplaced. How your cup ended up in the highest branches of a tree filled with man-eating bush monsters (5 levels ago), Marc, I’ll never know. But this is the last time I’m getting it for you! Don’t get me started on the dog’s wig.

NPC = No Personality Character

I understand it’s cool to see yourself as an NPC. It’s also a perk of certain backing tiers, but I think it could have been implemented better. They could have been part of the actual town and had some purpose. Or, at the very least, they could offer you better rewards than some coin and an upgrade shard. Unique items or dyes for optional palette swaps would have been cool!

Another issue to note is that the initial dialogue spoken from each NPC is never repeated. If someone tells you where to find a lost child or item the first time you speak to them, you may want to write it down. Maybe also note where they are standing . . . because next time you go back and try and talk to them, they’re only going to ask if you’ve found that missing person or item. I feel like this is a relatively easy fix, and will make it much easier to come back and pick up the game if you’ve left it for a prolonged period of time. There’s nothing worse than coming back to a game, excited to play, only to realize you forgot everything you were doing and what anyone is talking about.

Don’t Look Away Just Yet

I don’t mean to rant on and make this seem like a bad game, because it’s definitely not. It’s actually far from it. Battle Princess Madelyn is an amazing, hand-crafted platformer. I mentioned some quality of life enhancements that this title brings to the table. Here they are:

Hit boxes in this game are some of the most accurate and fair that I have ever experienced.

The almost pixel-perfect navigation of platforms rivals the precision that the Mega Man franchise is well-known for.

Unlimited lives (or no traditional “game over”). I can’t stress how important this is.

The ability to upgrade both offense and defense, along with multiple methods of attack, and your choice of unlockable weapons

Dying will start you back at the last checkpoint, which includes entering doors. This is amazing for boss fights, which allow you to skip cutscenes.

Once killed, most enemies only respawn if you leave the area and return, or if your player dies.

Includes 30-second capture ability. This should be standard for all games but, unfortunately, it isn’t.

Fritz does that adorable air paddle as he follows you – just like dogs do when you carry them through the air or above water.

The Levels in the Details

There are so many good things, both obvious and more nuanced, about this game. Because of this, I feel the need to specifically dive into the negatives and address them; no game is perfect. I want it to be known that I highly recommend this indie title, and am grateful to have had the pleasure of playing it. I look forward to any potential updates, DLC’s, sequels, or future titles from Causal Bit Games. Keep your eye on them; it is almost certain that this quality and attention to detail will carry on in their work to come.

Let’s talk final thoughts for the indie platformer that is Battle Princess Madelyn. Overall, this action/ adventure game does so many things right. The movement, the graphics, the unique enemies and bosses, and the sheer variety will continue to keep you battling for hours upon hours. I’ve put over 25 in myself and could do it all over again. The quality of life improvements are a blessing and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Do it for the Pupper

I appreciate the obvious care and time spent that went into the creation of this game. I hope to see continued efforts from the developers and look forward to the future of Battle Princess Madelyn and Causal Games in general. My main request, aside from the inclusion of at least a mini-map, is to make repeatable dialogue available (since canonical NPC’s only mention the whereabouts of certain objectives the very first time you speak with them). These the first couple adjustments I’d like to see. Despite these suggested inclusions, I personally found the difficulty for my skills was right on par – never too difficult but never too easy (just time consuming). So spend some time with it and you’ll get it! Regardless, I suggest you all make time for Battle Princess Madelyn; it’s a great game. If nothing else, do it for the pupper!

Side note – I know we “skipped ahead to the action” at the beginning of this review. However, there is a great piece of content published in Dual Shockers outlining all of the impressive details that went into the making of this game. From start to finish, the true story behind Battle Princess Madelyn is a roller coaster full of emotions, hard work, and dedication. Plus, you know, it’s awesome that this entire game was inspired by (and modeled after) the adorable 7 year old Madelyn! Take a look here at the documentary written by the eloquent Ben Bayliss.

Reader, you are a gentleperson and a scholar! Thank you so much for stopping by and engaging with my many thoughts in this review. I wanted to give as clear a scope as possible so you can make the right decision on picking this one up. I truly enjoyed my time with it – I hope it shows in the writing! If you enjoyed it, share it! We are on Twitter, Facebook, Discord, Reddit, and YouTube. If you want to throw some spare coin at us, check out our Patreon and Ko-fi pages. Until next time!

