Castle Crashers Remastered

 The Xbox Live Arcade was full to the brim with high quality independent titles that were made on a miniscule budget. Some of my personal favourites were State of Decay, Far Cry: Blood Dragon and Plants vs Zombies, games that perhaps lacked polish but had a satisfying core gameplay loop and some originality. One of the more famous XBLA games though was Castle Crashers, a hack and slash made by The Behemoth developers previously known for their work on Newgrounds. Now I played the demo of Castle Crashers a lot back in the day but never actually got round to purchasing the game myself, only briefly playing a few chapters whilst round at a cousin’s house. So when notified that a remastered version was available on the PlayStation store, I decided to pick the game up along with two friends and finally complete a game I last played over a decade ago.

Castle Crashers is a game best experienced with at least one buddy. Playing through the game in singleplayer is fine but the game thrives most when there are more enemies and the ability to be revived is helpful given the length of some stages. While the combat is certainly simple, it gets the job done. You have light and heavy attacks which you can mix for combos as well as different tiers of magic depending on how you level your character. I found the magic to be immensely useful during boss fights so I tended to focus on levelling that above all else. You also have a choice of 6 characters at the beginning of the game who all have different abilities (I chose the Pink Knight because their magic was rainbows). There are also loads of different weapons that alter your characters stats, along with a bow and a boomerang to give you some ranged options. Many stages conclude with the players battling each other in order to win the princess and this creates a nice change of pace and allows for some competition between the players. Enemy variety in the campaign is good although some enemies do feel a bit tanky at times and others tend to span arrows at a distance which can be frustrating. The biggest disappointment for me though were the boss fights with most feeling too long due to the bosses being able to move around the stage too quickly. These little issues will likely not be enough to put you off finishing the story though and the unlockable Insane mode offers a slightly challenging experience for those looking to dive back in a second time.  

The defining aspect of Castle Crashers undoubtedly is its style and presentation. The quest to save the princesses and defeat the Evil Wizard is projected beautifully, with gorgeous character designs that mesh surprisingly well with the violent battles taking place. The designs of the knights in particular are so cutesy and make me think the game should have had a kids TV series at some point. Level designs are also varied with grasslands and industrial castles in the early game, contrasting with a desert and an ice castle in the late game. Music in the game is great, being able to  harken back to the 8-bit era while also feeling appropriate to each stage with the track Mudholes being my personal favourite. Sound design for the most part is also good with the melee combat sounding visceral and the magic abilities all having their own identifiable noises. 

The remastered release of Castle Crashers has a few additions with the most important being an uncapped framerate of 60 FPS. This allows the gameplay to more seamlessly and I had few stutters during my time with the game. All available DLC has been packed into this version allowing players to try out the Blacksmith or Pink Knight from the start of the game. New animal orbs (a collectible offering various abilities) are available too even though I didn’t actually use any of them. A new game mode titled Back Off Barbarian is the largest addition in this updated release and I enjoyed my time with it on the whole. It presents the player with a sort of chess board that must be navigated whilst avoiding incoming enemies who increase in number as the round continues. To move, the player must input a series of directional buttons that don’t necessarily correspond to the direction you intend to go. The mode can also be played in multiplayer and can be quite the challenge if done so.  

Conclusion

Castle Crashers Remastered is a fast, frantic and enjoyable little Hack and Slash with enough originality and charm to pull you through its fairly short campaign. Collecting all the animal orbs, weapons and getting your character to max level though will add a couple more hours for those wanting more. After completing the game and earning its platinum trophy, I now see why it’s one of the most beloved XBLA games of all time and am honestly hunting for anything similar that me and my friends can play for a few hours a night and just have a good time. There are a few small issues that hold it back from being truly great but given the asking price and the content on offer, I still think that Castle Crashers Remastered is worth picking up if you've got a couple of friends and just wanna have a fun time and enjoy a sugary aesthetic.

Rating: Castle Definitely Crashed

8/10