Target Acquired: Battle Princess Madelyn

Battle Princess Madelyn is from Causal Bit Games, the developers behind the dark and gritty Insanity's Blade, a game inspired by late 80's arcade games like Black Tiger and Ghouls 'n Ghosts. The game got its start as the developer's daughter enjoyed watching her dad play the first level of Ghouls ‘n Ghosts over and over so she could watch him fight what she called "Green Head", the first level boss. And, while her dad couldn't exactly put her into GnG, he could make her the star of her own GnG-style game, and so Battle Princess Madelyn was born. The game begins as Maddi's village comes under attack, and an evil wizard kidnaps her family and kills her dog, so she heads out to to kill the wizard, tossing projectiles like King Arthur before her (with a very similar running animation). Accompanied by the ghost of her dead pooch, she cuts a swath through the undead and other monstrous creatures, traverses detailed environments, and faces off against huge bosses. The game offers an open world story mode and a more straightforward arcade mode.

The game is available now for PC via Steam and Xbox One via Microsoft Store. The game arrives on PS4 and Switch on December 20, and is also planned for Wii U and Vita later in 2019. Check our coverage here.