Steal Princess Review (DS)

If you’re a fan of ’platform puzzle’ games like The Lost Vikings, where the action is a mix of running about while fighting enemies and using your character’s abilities to solve various puzzles, then you’ll understand Steal Princess. It uses an isometric overhead view, and many puzzles take advantage of the third dimension this offers compared to older games in the genre. There is quite a bit of fun to be had here, though you’ll have to get past an unfortunately annoying intro.

The title “Steal Princess” seems to refer to Anise, a whip-wielding treasure hunter thief who lives mostly to loot places and take advantage of wealthy nobles. The plot, revealed in a half-hour long introduction and smaller snippets after every few stages, is easily the worst part of the game; Anise and most of the characters she speaks with tend to be bumbling ’comedy anime’ stereotypes that sling insults back and forth, and do precious little character building until later on. Seeing as the first thirty minutes of the game are taken up by this nonsense, I can honestly say Steal Princess would be a better game if the entire plot were removed.

Once you get through that however, an excellent game is revealed. Anise uses a mix of running and jumping to see her through most problems, but also has to retrieve gems and fight monsters along the way. Your default weapon is a whip, which you can use Indiana Jones style to swing around the stage or stun enemies. You’ll also come across weapons like swords and bombs, some of which have to be used in a certain order to defeat your foes. Good timing is also necessary, since some stages must be completed quickly, while others require you to set things up at the right time in order to work.