The “Greenhead” boss Madelyn watched her father battle in Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.
When Christopher Obritsch showed his daughter his favorite classic arcade game, Ghouls N’ Ghosts, young Madelyn Obritsch became entranced by the game. She would make her father replay her favorite level and watch as he, the hero, slayed the monsters and the — in her words — “Green Head” boss at the end of the first level. Madelyn wanted to be in the game as the hero but lamented to her dad that she believed that only boys could be knights. Obritsch, a game developer, knew otherwise. To show to his daughter that girls could be just as tough and brave as boys, Obritsch began working on Battle Princess Madelyn, creating an experience very much inspired by the Ghouls N’ Ghosts game they both loved. While Obritsch worked on the game, developing its characters, level layouts and mechanics, Madelyn oversaw the design details as the Honorary Assistant Creative Director. The battle princess should have pink armor, she advised.
And so, Battle Princess Madelyn was born.
After years in development, Battle Princess Madelyn is soon releasing. The newest gameplay trailer announced that the game was “Coming This Fall” to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, and Wii U.
With her ghost dog, Fritzy, Madelyn will battle monsters of many designs throughout forests, castles, graveyards and towns. With a self-adjusting difficulty, Obritsch ensures that players of all skill levels can play and enjoy Battle Princess Madelyn. The game contains hidden collectibles, upgradable weapons (Fritzy can also be powered-up to battle alongside Madelyn), and two gameplay modes: a story and arcade mode.
Once a level is completed, players will have the ability to replay it as much as they want, at any point in time. While this feature will be handy for players hunting for hidden collectibles, I get the feeling this was included so that players, like Madelyn herself, will have the ability to go back and play their favorite parts over and over, as much as they desire.
Another interesting aspect of Battle Princess Madelyn is that it has two soundtracks, so players have the ability to choose how the game’s soundtrack sounds during their playthrough. There is the “Classic Arcade FM/PCM” soundtrack and “Modern Orchestrated” soundtrack for players to choose from. I’m happy for this because I’m not a fan of chiptune-style music, so having the option to choose something else that isn’t removed from the game is great.
Battle Princess Madelyn’s 10-level story is written by an unnamed, “professional children’s author” so hopefully that means good things for the story connecting the game’s levels together. It seems that due to the game’s success on Kickstarter, some parts of the story are animated, so that likely means we’ll see the characters interacting in ways that the retro graphics would be otherwise unable to facilitate. The animation also looks crisp, which always serves to make getting to cutscene sequences that much more rewarding.
Look for Battle Princess Madelyn this fall. In the meantime, you can follow the developer, Casual Bit Games, on Twitter.
