Battle Princess Madelyn / Battle Princess Madelyn Royal Edition

A game by Causal Bit Games for PC, Xbox One, PS4, Vita, Switch, and Wii U, originally released in 2018, with the Royal Edition released in 2020.

Battle Princess Madelyn is an open world action-adventure that takes its inspirations from Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins / Ghouls ‘n Ghosts series, placing the player in the role of an armored knight – with an exaggerated running animation – who has access to a variety of infinite-ammo projectiles, faces off against undead creatures and other such monstrosities in dark and spooky locales, and gets stripped of armor after taking damage and is reduced to fighting in just underwear. However, unlike the famous GnG series, this game stars a female protagonist, and instead of chasing after a damsel in distress, the brave knight is on a mission to avenge the death of her pet dog, Fritzy, who accompanies her in ghost form, while also saving the world from mortal peril.

Development of the game arose out of a conversation between the game’s creative director and his daughter, Madelyn. Christopher Obritsch was playing Ghouls ‘n Ghosts when his daughter asked if he could put her in the game so she could fight the famous “Green Head” boss at the end of the first level. Chris and his daughter are apparently big fans of the series, as Chris previously developed the GnG-inspired Insanity’s Blade and lists Ghouls ‘n Ghosts as his daughter’s favorite game to watch him play. Since Chris couldn’t insert her into that game, he offered to make her a game of her own where she could be a knight, to which she responded that only boys could be knights. In response, he asked what color the knight’s armor should be. His daughter requested pink armor… and so Battle Princess Madelyn was born.

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 2018, 2020, Causal Bit Games, Hound Picked Games, PC, PS4, Switch, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One

Insanity’s Blade

A game by Causal Bit Games for PC, originally released in 2014.

Insanity’s Blade is a dark and gritty action game reminiscent of late 80’s arcade titles like Black Tiger and Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. You take on the role of Thurstan, a muscle-bound warrior on a quest to avenge his wife and daughter after his village is attacked and burned. Thurstan fights his way through hordes of demons and the undead in order to venture into hell and save the souls of his murdered family. Along the way, he teams up with a surly old dwarf (Is there any other kind?) named Finn who appears in interstitial cutscenes in single player mode and is available as a second playable character in offline 2P co-op.

Players may select between Story Mode and Arcade Mode at the title screen. Story Mode sees the player selecting locations on a world map, speaking with the occasional NPC, and returning to previously-completed stages in order to locate objects required to move forward. However, the dialogue and cutscenes are representative of the middling quality of the arcade and 16-bit console era, adding little to the experience. Arcade Mode removes cutscenes, additional quests, and backtracking, along with the ability to save the game, offering a more streamlined pure action experience.

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 2014, Causal Bit Games, PC