Battle Princess
Madelyn

Battle Princess Madelyn (2018) is a running and jumping game where you defeat hordes of enemies like the classic arcade game Ghosts 'n' Goblins. It's similarly fast-paced and difficult, here though you have to pick your way through labyrinthine levels, and use magical powers to find secret locations and portals.

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You play the princess Madelyn, who finds her family gone and her kingdom in ruins. You set out on a quest to rid the land of evil, defeating the multitude of enemies that have invaded and fighting powerful bosses. You run and jump across vast chasms and traverse huge expanses, with a variety of both short-and-long-range weapons. When you defeat enemies, they drop gear and weapons you can then use to take on more powerful enemies.

The game map is huge and has many secret passages and alternate routes that can lead you to treasures and helpful weapons, armour and items you need later on, so exploration is essential. The combat and traversal are intentionally challenging and require a degree of memorisation of the layout, position of portals and how to defeat the many types of enemy.

Unlike other games that grant you plenty of health, a few hits from any attack or one mistake when avoiding obstacles and you'll have to start the stage again. You'll die often, but part of the fun is in overcoming the intense challenge. The arcade mode does away with the story and focuses exclusively on the gameplay challenge, featuring more but smaller rooms which require even tighter, more focused gameplay execution.

It's a unique take on the classic platforming formula, which adds new challenges and mechanics, but still requires the same ultra-precise actions and fast-paced reflexes.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Battle Princess Madelyn 22 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 14 months ago.