Review: Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess is 20 minutes of pure joy! This PlayStation Mini never really got the attention it deserves, so I thought I’d write a little something.

It’s a short, simple but yet challenging little game with enough personality and charm to make an impression that will stay with me for quite a while. The game is about an egocentric, pompous, arrogant and highly amusing vampire who is known simply as “The Duke”. He reminded me (somewhat) of that cartoon skunk, Pepé Le Pew and no he does not shimmer in the sunlight. Anyway, The Duke wakes up one morning to find that his princess has gone missing *gasp*. Naturally, the only conclusion one can make is that she has been stolen by a monster.

Our “hero” embarks on a journey to visit unsuspecting monsters and take them down with blind fury. Each level starts with the monster running in fear and The Duke pursuing by jumping vertically from platform to platform attacking the monsters before they can get away. Every level has hilarious dialogue, smooth animations and epic organ music. What more could a guy ask for? Oh you also collect comical photo’s that you store in your scrap-book back at the castle that are sure to make you chuckle.

What most people will fail to see is that Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess is really a score chaser at heart. Getting gold medal scores is easier said than done, but it’s definitely worth the time. Finishing a level with a gold score will give you a different boss fight animation and will help to unlock a secret level. One really cool feature about this game is that one download from the PSN store and the game installs both on your PSP and PlayStation 3! That’s right; you can play it on both systems, whenever you want. Why don’t games do this more often, it’s entirely brilliant.

Sadly, there are only five levels with absolutely no variety between them. Each level has a different looking monster, a fresh coat of paint and the platforms have been moved around. That’s about it. I wish the developers could have put more levels into the game, but at the same time, would more of the same thing make it any better? I’m told that less is more; whatever that means. Other than that, this is the perfect game to just pick up and play when you’re looking for a quick diversion. If you like super simple platforming games such as Doodle Jump, then you’ll (probably) love Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess.