And so, once again, I’ve encountered a game that has made me a bit uncomfortable to play, but in the interests of objective fairness and getting the word out there about titles that are too often overlooked, here we are. Maiden Cops is a pretty classic beat-em-up in the style of Final Fight and others, but as you may quickly discover simply seeing the game’s title art… it has chosen to have an additional focus, namely on the various voluptuous bodies, and often heaving bosoms, of its generally female characters. Of course, as a periodic glance at some of the games that are available on Steam will continue to indicate, there’s absolutely an audience for this sort of thing, so I’ll try not to be one to judge.

First, let’s take a look at how well everything works when it comes to the overall experience. Considering that there are a fair number of games in the genre on the Switch that simply don’t work very well, I’d call Maiden Cops’ gameplay at least somewhere in the middle. The controls are generally responsive, you have enough moves to feel like you have some options in your combat, and each character does feel pretty distinct. While there are some titles with greater enemy variety, or that at least do a better job of shuffling them up so that you don’t feel the repetition so much, it also does a reasonably-good job of throwing foes at you that will require slightly different tactics, helping to hold off the feeling that it’s all a grind.

That takes us to the breakdown concerning the punched up objectification of women throughout the game, from its play to even its cutscenes. For me, it gets to be pretty cringeworthy, especially since it simply never lets up. Whether it’s characters talking between missions, the ability to purchase even more ridiculous outfits (though thankfully never going even further into being gross), or even just the characters’ idle animations, it’s just non-stop awkward poses and an abundance of jiggling. In the name of there being something out there for everyone, this game does its part to ensure that’s true. However, if the rule of thumb is whether or not you’d want anyone to catch you playing it, it may be a bit too extra for its own good.