The Behemoth, creaters of Alien Hominid, are back, delivering us more side-scrolling whup-ass on Xbox Live Arcade. If you are like me and still yearn for the old classics like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Game, Final Fight, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, etc., then you'll be happy to hear that the genre has another beautiful addition just waiting for you to come and sink your teeth into.
If you like the RPG-style advancement system, you'll be even happier, because it's packed in there, too; oh, yes, it is ... but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The guys at The Behemoth politely remembered to start the game the way any title in this genre should begin — the obligatory kidnapping-style event and your orders to go and right the wrongs! There's a King, and you're a big famous knight. The King's daughters are kidnapped, and you have to get them back! OK, story is out of the way, time to go crash some castles.
If you haven't played a game like the ones I mentioned above, here's the quick rundown. Castle Crashers scrolls from side to side, typically left to right, and you control a knight, able to move around on the viewable area. You can run, ride, jump and attack with physical weapon or magic. There are two physical attacks, a jump button, a use button and a few magic buttons. That's it. If it sounds simple, that's because it is — beautifully simple.
The problem these games have had in the past was the repetition. The same fighting, mission after mission got tiresome even IF you had new backgrounds and enemies. Castle Crashers doesn't seem to fall into that same tedium. Everything is constantly changing. Your character is leveling up, granting you new combinations to use and new spells to throw. The playstyle changes subtly depending on whether you're walking, riding or running! Then there are surprise power-ups thrown in allowing you to do more nifty stuff. Don't worry about boredom with this one.
Between the fun visuals, the frantic beat-everything-in-the-face gameplay, the leveling up, the secrets, the mounts, the orbs and the items, you will not find yourself wanting more in a game like this. And the experience only gets better in multiplay. And given all the unlockables and secrets stuffed into this game, you can expect to play for quite a while.
My only complain with this game, strangely enough, is the two alternate modes of play. One is an arena survival mode in which wave after wave of enemies throw themselves at you, and the other is a simple button-mashing game where you try to eat more food than the others. I'm fine with the alternate modes being my complaints personally, because I'm never forced to play them.
Overall, I'm pleased with Castle Crashers — very pleased. I miss my old side-scrolling beat-’em-ups, and I love my RPGs, and The Behemoth slammed them together in a big wad of yummy that I plan to be enjoying for quite a bit more time! It's worth way more than it will cost you to get it, trust me.
