I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game (XBLIG) every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and are not well represented in the top 50 lists on the Xbox Dashboard. Today is day #177, and today’s game is “Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess”.
“Monsters (Probably) Stole…” began its life as a PSP Mini (playable on both the PSP and the PS3), a service closer to Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) than it is XBLIG. There it’s considered a standout title, and its XBLIG version is just as good. But given there are a much larger number of high-quality downloadable platformers on the Xbox than on PSP Minis, how does it fare? Pretty well, on the whole.
First, from the developer (Mediatonic):
“Take control of the massively awesome and super sexy aristocratic demon known only as “The Duke” in an upwards-scrolling platformer where chasing down giant fleeing monsters is the business at hand. Build combos to unleash increasingly magnificent finishing moves on the (most likely) guilty monsters – and impress your adoring fans.”
As the title suggest, the vampire you play thinks cthulhu-inspired monsters may have made off with a princess, and he sets about pursuing them with vigour. Innocent or guilty, this vampire is on the hunt. The game’s art seems to hint that the monsters are not guilty, as many of them have a look of innocence on them. The game’s presentation in general is fantastic, with great animation and lots of humour contributing to an attractive overall package.
The game is actually on the short side, with only five levels, but the game scores each level attempt allowing for speed run challenges to extend the replay value. There are lots of unlockables along the way too, to add further to the point in playing again, as you again scale up the game in pursuit of various and sundry monsters in this upwards-scrolling platformer.
The game’s controls allow you to jump, double jump, wall jump, and to drop down off of a platform. You build up a combo meter as you leap from platform to platform, but if you should land on the same platform twice it will be reset. You attack a monster by double jumping at it, making the monster back off and forcing you to chase it. Rinse and repeat. Three successful strikes will defeat the monster, with the level ending either by defeating the monster in this way or by the monster escaping. The focus on massive monsters gives “Monsters (Probably) Sole…” a bit of a “Shadow of The Colossus” feel, except here the game warps you right from one fight to the next with none of the lonely exploration in-between.
It’s worth a trial to see if it’s your cup of tea, and XBLIG is the best place to give it a try: all XBLIGs have free trials (not a ubiquitous feature on the game’s native platform, the Playstation Network) and the game there costs 67% more. While not a game that beats the best the XBLIG channel has to offer, it’s still a very good game that costs less than it does on its original platform and offers some replay value beyond beating its main campaign.
Click here to download “Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess”, and then please come back after playing to rate the game.
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Writings of Mass Deduction 
The “Shadow of The Colossus” reference seems a little bit farfetched, but apart from that I pretty much agree with the review. Once you get the hang of the controls and the combo system, the game becomes very addictive, and presentation-wise it’s simply impressive. I really enjoyed the humor throughout the game.
I’m still impressed by how you manage to review a game every day and admire the effort you put into XBLIG. Keep up the good work!
The “Shadow of the Colossus” reference wasn’t meant to go any farther than them both being games that focus strictly on boss fights. And thanks for the kind comments, I’m glad you appreciate the reviews. :)