Steam Next Fest: Maiden Cops plays like a console port of a lost arcade brawler
The spirit of the ’90s is absolutely alive in all the faithful arcade-style beat ’em ups that have been coming out in recent years. Indie devs clearly infatuated with the genre have been doing it justice, and the latest attempt is Maiden Cops. Take one part anthropomorphic animal anime girl and add a few dashes of Final Fight and River City Girls and you get the idea. What has me most interested in this one, however, is how it manages to capture the essence of a slightly offbeat home port of an arcade brawler.
A demo made its way online as part of Steam Next Fest, giving us a chance to check out a few hard-hitting areas. It’s easy to see what Maiden Cops is going for from the first frame. You can choose from one of three Maiden Cops: Priscilla Salamander, Nina Usagi, and Meiga Holstaur. Each one offers your standard light, medium, and heavy style of combat. Meiga, for instance, comes from a family of fighters and is essentially your beefy Hagar. Nina is the oldest of the team but looks like a little bunny-eared girl. Priscilla has always dreamed of being a Maiden Cop, and specs-wise she’s the perfect middle ground.
Playing a single level — which consists of three different areas — isn’t quite enough to grasp all the nuances of each playable character. You’ll get a decent overview, though, and the 15 or so minutes it takes to complete the demo is plenty of time to introduce your typical enemy fodder and a boss. Strolling in from all sides are… more anime girls! There are tall women, small women, and even women in prison. Again, it’s tough to complain about enemy variety when you’re dealing with such a small slice.
Taking on these foes is pretty straightforward. Each character has their own melee moves and throws, as
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