Review: Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess!

Developer: Mediatonic

Publisher: Mediatonic

The guys behind the quirky iPhone and online games have given us yet another little gem in the form of a PlayStation mini titled Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess! After your princess is snatched from your castle you, as “The Duke”, are tasked with hunting down all of the monsters one-by-one and retrieving your love in the most stylish, awesome way possible.

The first mode you’ll (probably) head into is the Story Mode, which sees The Duke on his epic quest to get his Princess back, told through a series of mini cutscenes and dialog boxes. The story mode consists of five main levels (plus a bonus one unlocked by getting gold medals in all story levels), where you’ll need to take down the monsters that may or may not be responsible. Once you locate each monster they will start escaping vertically, and thus it’s your job to give chase by use of conveniently-placed platforms. Taking down one of those bad guys requires you to hit them with a double jump three times before they make it home. Don’t think this is an easy task, though, as the monster shoots upwards after each hit forcing you to catch up to them each time; leave it too late, and they’ll make it to safety.

Points are scored by getting a high combo, gained through jumping on the platforms successfully. The more platforms you jump on the higher your combo and the more points you’ll score when hit or take down the monster. Not only does your combo increase your score, but also affects The Duke’s movements and the amazing finishing move you perform once you successfully take down the beast. Racking up a combo of more than 50 unleashes the most epic finishing move available, and is pretty great to watch, so it’s another reason to get those high combos. The story mode is genuinely funny and had me laughing out loud in some places, which is what we’ve come to expect from Mediatonic games.

Once you’re finished with the Story Mode, you’ll naturally want to check out the other main game mode called Score Attack, where you’re able to challenge three monsters in each level instead of one. The aim of the game here is to score as many points as you can for each to gain medals and unlock news monsters to challenge (you start out with only one monster unlocked for each level out of the possible three). It’s still just vertical jumping, but there are new layouts of platforms to keep things interesting. It’s actually extremely addictive, so this mode is where most of your time will be going, setting massive scores and unlocking medals. As if that wasn’t enough, the game even includes in-game trophies and scrap book items for you to unlock through both the Story and Score Attack modes.

Visually it looks great with some fantastic cartoon styling, so it’s one of the better looking minis I’ve played. Sure, it’s 2D vertical scrolling, but anything more isn’t needed and wouldn’t fit in with the style of game. The audio is your typical horrror-style organ playing (with a twist, naturally) which is also a nice addition. All the aspects fit together into one fantastic, addictive, tongue-in-cheek package, and it’s easy to tell that the game doesn’t take itself too seriously or try to be something it isn’t. It’s simple, platform-jumping fun and I loved every second of it.