Review #4: Castle Crashers

 Hello! I’m back today and writing up another review, this time of Castle Crashers! I’ve specifically played the remastered version, but most of this info applies to the original as well.

So Castle Crashers: it’s a beat-em-up made by The Behemoth starring four knights (plus like a million bonus characters) as they rescue four princesses (the fourth of which turns out to be Tricky the Clown from the Madness Combat series). It was originally called Ye Olde Side-Scroller, and I’m very glad that changed because dear god that name is terrible.

So the gameplay is pretty much just a normal beat-em-up (such as River City Ransom or Streets of Rage), but still somehow very fun! The best strategy in this game is to pick up the enemies and just kinda carry ‘em around until they die. Apparently you can also “juggle,” which involves picking enemies up, smacking them down, and picking them up again ad infinitum, but I suck at video games, so I’m bad at that technique.

The game’s pacing is quite strange, with some levels like Lava World that go on for 2 years, and then some like Cyclops’ Gate, which has no enemies and like 3 minor obstacles. But it does succeed in making nearly every area visually distinct and immediately recognizable.

Combat in the game is pretty great. It’s hyper-satisfying with all the sound effects, and the bosses are cool too. They’re all pretty different as well, so you never feel like you’re doing the same thing twice.

In terms of replay value, the game is okay. Each character has different magic skills they can use to damage enemies. Some character’s magic is amazing, like the Industrialist or Fencer, while some are godawful, like the Barbarian or Green Knight. Replaying the game is fun the first (somehow) 5 or so times, but it gets boring after.

So overall, would I recommend Castle Crashers? Frick yes! It is amazing and I think everyone should play it sometime in their life! And come on, it’s only $15. Just buy it.