A Castle For A King (Castle Crashers Review)

Newgrounds has always been a great source of fun and quirky indie games and animations. This large site has continuously been putting out great content since 1995. Other then all the user generated media, occasionally the founders of this site release some great work – one these instances being the game Castle Crashers. Developed by The Behemoth and release in 2008, Castle Crashers is a 2D beat 'em up style game with a whole lot of charm, epic moments and some great laughs.

The story is simplistic and doesn't need to be anything more. The unnamed kingdom that our colorful knights belong to are having a party when they are attacked. We quickly learn that the four princesses were kidnapped and the magical crystal has been stolen. It is the duty of our knights to travel the land and retrieve all that was taken. As you progress through the game you are introduced to numerous enemy factions, such as barbarians, knights, wizards and much more. You also face off against several monsters and odd creatures. While you won't find complex lore and in depth character development, this game certainly doesn't need it. It's the standard knight saving the princess story and I think that anything further would've been out of place. A game of this style shouldn't have the in depth story lines and mysteries of an Elder Scrolls game or a Dark Souls game. That's not to say, however, that there aren't numerous epic moments that make you feel like a great hero.

Those amazing moments are thanks to the incredible visuals and music. Everything is nice and colorful and pleasing to look at. Enemies and characters are well designed. Each faction has a different look and feel, wearing different armor and wielding unique weapons. The environments are well varied and each is bursting with detail. You are treated to easily 10+ widely different areas though out this game and none of them feel the same. You will certainly never get bored looking at this game. The smooth animations make the game feel alive, though there are a limited number of ways for your character to move. There several awesome moments that take full use of the beautiful colors, showing off the cool magic and scale of some of the towering foes you face. However, it is easy to lose your character in the madness. There is so much happening on screen, with no slow down – I should add, that there were numerous times that I lost sight of my character and had to take a moment to refocus on what I was doing.

The music wonderfully fits every moment. It is epic and intense when it needs to be. It knows how to be foreboding and dark when the mood requires it. Each scene would not be as enjoyable if the music wasn't adding both awesome and funny moods. All the sounds are also wonderful. The attack hitting are satisfying and the magic sounds fit the overall mood the game was going for.

The game also controls extremely well. The inputs are responsive and the combos are easy to learn and perform. I found myself using a lot of aerial attacks, finding it easy to stun lock the massive crowds of opponents you will face. You won't find anything as complex as fighting games or other games in the genre, such as Devil May Cry, but the combos are still satisfying and fun to perform. The main game play has you using these skills during long levels where you will face off against hordes of enemies before reaching a boss. You never really feel horribly overwhelmed during these sections, though that could be the nature of the co-op mode. This game can be played both in single player and with up to four friends sharing a screen, hence the four different color knights you can choose from at the start. Each knight controls the same with minor variations in their magic. Each one adopts a different school of magic, from poisonous gas to chilling ice. No character feels lacking in the spell department.

The hordes of enemies are all dealt with in the same fashion. You can find one of a few enemy classes among the multiple hordes you'll be running into. You will find simple melee fighters, magic uses, archers and beefy strong boys. Some require different strategies, especially the beefy boys, but you don't really need to adopt a different way of playing too often. The bosses are were you will find the major variations. Each boss behaves and attacks in different ways. Some will use brute force to pummel you into the ground while others will have you dodging for long sequences before you can find an opening. No boss is too complicated to figure out the strategy against and you will certainly not get bored progressing through the world.

You advance through each level seamlessly during the main game. Unless your character dies or you find an impassable pathway, you will move onto the next level the moment you complete the section. There is a level select screen that doubles as a map of the world. It really shows you the scale of this world you are adventuring in when you see how far away certain areas are from your little castle. During your time playing, you will also be treated to a wide variety of weapons. Anything from swords to spear to staffs to a literal slab of meat, you have a ton of choices. Each weapon either requires a certain stat to wield or grants you a boost in certain areas. The game, unfortunately, doesn't make it easy to tell what the information is showing you. When you stand by the weapon, a little menu will pop up showing you, what can be assumed to be, strength, defense, and speed but nothing more. It's unfortunate that the game doesn't make it easy to figure it out. However, this fault does not take away from the overall enjoyment of this game.

This game is certainly enjoyable. It's hard to find many complaints for this game. It's epic, it's charming, it's funny and it's a blast to play. I certainly recommend that anyone try it – though you should probably play with at least one other player. I have never done a single play through of it, but I feel that some level grinding would probably be involved should you choose to play it on your own. And I do believe you should choose to play it. My overall score for Castle Crashers is a 7/10. It has a ton of replay value and is a great party game. The game is available on pretty much every home console and PC. The game is currently going for 14.99 on Steam, so you can expect to also pay that amount elsewhere.

Thank you for reading this short review of Castle Crashers. Have you played this game? Did you enjoy it? Feel free to let me know in the comment sections and make sure to subscribe to the blog to read more reviews and fictional stories that I am working on. If you wanna watch my Let's Play, click the Youtube link at the top of the page to be taken to my channel. You can also find the link to the entire playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP7I5Zz9Ehs&list=PLVgjHDCKtEx0XPxs9XU6smpJN3ma44B_p

Thanks again and as always, Good Night and Joy be with you all.