One of gaming’s most difficult series has inspired a new Kickstarter success story

Battle Princess Madelyn passed its crowdfunding goal today, raising $159,020 to easily eclipse its $44,865 target. Battle Princess Madelyn is a retro-style 2D platformer, taking its inspiration from the classic Ghosts ‘n Goblins series. That Capcom series was famous for its punishing difficulty and monster-filled sword-and-sorcery setting. Developer Casual Bit Games is planning to release Madelyn for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Vita, and Wii U.

“The campaign for Battle Princess Madelyn was an incredible and humbling experience,” said Christopher Obritsch, creative director at Causal Bit Games, in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “We honestly didn’t anticipate such a strong response for our game and it’s absolutely overwhelming hearing how people can relate to Maddi’s story. With this level of funding we will deliver our vision and make the game the very best it can be.”

Casual Bit Games is still taking money via a PayPal page. That PayPal lets the Canadian developer continue to take in funding, and it also gives would-be backers a way to still get rewards after the Kickstarter campaign’s closure.

Retro-style games have had a strong history with Kickstarter. One of crowdfunding’s best gaming success stories, Shovel Knight, raised $311,502 on the site back in 2013. That platformer has since sold over 1.5 million copies, and its available on all major platforms. The developer, Yacht Club Games, has supported it with downloadable content (including new character campaigns), and its star even got his own Amiibo. Shovel Knight recently came out as a launch game for the Nintendo Switch.