Castle Crashers: Mini-Review

DEVELOPER: The Behemoth
PUBLISHER: The Behemoth
Played On: PS3 & PC

This is what the box art would look like if it came in a box. As far as I've seen, it's a digital download on both the PSN and Steam.

I've purchased it on both systems (Steam sale made it $5 for 4 copies, 3 of which I gave to friends) as well as the Pink Knight and the Blacksmith character (purple knight with stag horns). I play it far more often on the PS3 just because the controls are easier to handle. I have an XBOX360 controller to hook up to the PC but haven't picked up the adapter yet.

On to the mini-review:Castle Crashers is a ridiculously fun, 2D sidescrolling action game, akin to the days of old (Double Dragon, River City Ransom, et al.). I've been playing it off and on for about a year now and it's definitely worth getting into. I have had a lot of fun playing solo, and can see how multiplayer would be even more fun.The premise is simple: an evil mage steals a large jewel, and kidnaps 4 princesses. It's up to you to fight through the lands to get them all back! As expected, the princesses are divided up and made end prizes for various locations. One of them you rescue almost immediately (within 3 levels from the start).

Yes, that is a CATFISH.

The graphic style looks incredible. The hand drawn feel is amazing, and the animation is just plain great. Boss fights are often imaginative but don't require tons of strategy. The humor is mostly absurd, but it's all very entertaining.

You can level up your character with experience points, raising attributes and become more powerful, but you still reach a point where the enemies are too tough and you need to re-play levels just to get enough XP to level up and be strong enough to take them out. I've reached that point. I honestly can't progress without other people playing along side, mostly because the creatures are harder than I can take on by myself. That said, I think I've conquered about 1/2 the game.