Maiden Cops

There is no denying the charm and style of Maiden Cops! This is a beat-em-up that plays homage to many of the classics and there is a great deal of fun to be had here. I mean, let’s start by stating the obvious, this game looks fantastic! It is some of the best pixel art that I have seen in a game this year! The actual gameplay here is, well it is something that takes a little while to get used to and is not for those who are not willing to roll up their sleeves and deal with one hell of a tough challenge! If you can get past the difficulty though, you will have a fantastic time with this game.

I Can See The Inspiration

The developer of Maiden Cops clearly loves the classic beat-em-ups. I will say that while referencing stuff like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, Streets of Rage 2, and Final Fight may seem like the obvious thing. I would say that this game seems to take more from the modern resurgence of the beat-em-up genre. I am talking about games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Battletoads, and specifically, Streets of Rage 4! Hey, they are all great games to draw inspiration from and if you like those games, chances are pretty high that you are going to like this too.

These Are Some Mean Streets

I love and I mean love the story, setting, and characters of Maiden Cops. This game takes place in a city that is being overrun by crime and it is down to an organization known as the Maiden Cops to try and stop the city from falling to the criminals. We have three playable characters in two rookies, Priscilla Salamander, and Meiga Holstaur, and the veteran of the team, Nina Usagi. These three spunky chicks are tasked with keeping the streets safe. This is a game that may have the classic 80s action movie story, but it is told with the tongue very firmly placed in its cheek as it has a fantastic sense of humor. I would honestly love to see more of these characters.

A Monster Girl Beat Down

No one loves monster girls more than I do and that is why I absolutely adore the art in Maiden Cops. This is legit one of my favorite looking games of the year! Our three characters each have a unique monster/creature design in the form of a salamander, a cow, and a rabbit. The characters you fight are made up of various other cool looking monster/creature characters and there is always something happening on the screen. It is a real blast to the senses when you play this game and just like in games such as Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, there are tons of little details all over the very well designed stages. This is just a badass looking game in every sense of the word and it is all done to a very fitting and rocking soundtrack that is sure to pump you up to kick some monster girl ass!

Time To Knuckle Up

Now, the gameplay of Maiden Cops is not perfect and it does take a while to get used to. Do not get me wrong, the characters control well enough, there are plenty of moves and there is a decent amount of variety to the ass kicking that you will be doing. However, this is a very, very challenging game as the enemies are way too overpowered. The enemies have these very annoying invincible frames that when you first start playing the game are very frustrating to deal with and actually can put a stop to the fun you are having as you have to wait. The bosses are super tough, but bosses are supposed to be tough so I will give the game a pass for that. If they just got rid of the invincibility frames and the overpowered standing up attacks from falling down that the enemies had, this would be so much better for it and I would honestly probably score the game an entire point higher.

Pros:

• I liked our three playable monster girl heroines
• The story has a ton of charm and personality
• This is some of the best pixel art I have seen in a game this year
• There is a solid amount of variety in the gameplay

Cons:

• The enemies are way too overpowered
• This is a game that demands the player practice a lot to get good at it