Published by EastAsiaSoft, Maiden Cops is an old school side-scrolling beat’em up reminiscent of classic brawlers such as Final Fight. Despite walking in one direction and punching repeating enemies, there is just enough depth to the combat to justify a couple of play throughs of this one-hour campaign.
The main gimmick comes from the excellent pixel art and amazing comic-book like illustrations. For a brawler, there is a surprisingly high amount of dialog to explain the narrative. Sure, it is little more than some bad guys are doing bad things, but the plot provides just enough to let the personality of each character come through. You see, this world isn’t comprised of punks within a dystopian metropolitan area. Instead, all characters are half human, half monster. In other words, there are plenty of tails, horns, and scales to be found in any given moment. Oh yeah, and cleavage. Lots of monster, exotic cleavage.
So the character design is different but what about the combat? Thankfully, there is more to just the standard punch, punch, punch combo. While you can certainly play like that, the introduction of a block button, double tap to run and dodge, and super moves on a cool down timer provide much needed variety. Each of the three playable characters have pros and cons too. For example, the tiny monster girl is fast but doesn’t hit as hard, while the amazon monster woman is slow, hits harder, and can pick up large weapons. There are also a handful of different weapons which can be used or thrown. The entire game can be played in local 2-player co-op too. In other words, there is some meat on the bone for a one-dimensional game.
There are over a half dozen stages and each are broken down into checkpoints. Thankfully, the game saves after each segment so the player is free to quit and return at will – a most welcomed feature. There are also two modes: one with infinite continues and one with limited continues but links to the online leaderboard. Completing the game also rewards the player with cash to spend on unlockables: a music player, new skins, cheats, and other options. As a pro tip, saving your cash to unlock the cheats first is the way to go as they make subsequent playthrough faster, more enjoyable, and the Achievements will still pop.
My biggest complaint is one that troubles most beat’em ups – repetition. While there the player has options in terms of combat, it gets a little stale by the halfway point since the same few enemies repeat. The little enemies can be taken down quickly but have this long slide attack that is frustrating. The bigger enemies spawn by leaping across the screen and always causing annoyingly cheap damage. The hefty, horned ladies employ cheap handgun ranged attacks and carry a higher energy bar. It doesn’t take long to identify each baddie and their never changing attack patterns. Which is why activating the endless super move meter in the cheats menu to take them out quickly is a little more respectful of the player’s time once unlocked.
Visually, the game is a treat, and the previously mentioned illustrations are outstanding. The unlockable manga only amplifies this selling point. However, my biggest annoyance comes from the constant “Go! Go! Go!” voice that triggers after each wave of enemies is defeated. Like, yes, I know I need to move to the right now. There is no where else to go. Please shut up now. I also wish there was a level select option to make it easy to replay the levels you want to aim for a gold rating.
While I wish there was some more optional content, like unlockable mini games or something, there is enough here to justify the $15 price tag. If you enjoy classic 16-bit brawlers, there is no reason for you not to enjoy Maiden Cops and its striking visual design. You will see everything the game has to offer in 1-2 hours, but this brief experience can easily generate some smiles and pleasant co-op memoires.
Not As Good As: TMNT: Shredders Revenge in 6p co-op
Also Play: Mighty Final Fight (NES)
Don’t Forget About: the Double Dragon Collection
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
OUR SCORE - 8
8
SCORE
A retro beat’em up with quality illustrations, Maiden Cops is slightly repetitive but has just enough depth to the combat that its welcome is not overstayed. Co-op and the numerous unlockables also helps to keep things interesting.
Editor in Chief - been writing for mygamer,com for 20+ years. Gaming enthusiast. Hater of pants. Publisher of obscure gaming content on my YT channel.
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