Castle Crashers Review 

by Rob Suski - August 8th, 2009

Last year, Xbox 360 owners were in for action packed treat in the form of Castle Crashers. This delightfully simple side-scrolling action/RPG/arcade fighting game turned out to be one of the best arcade style games of 2008. Now Castle Crashers is heading to the PlayStation 3 to be available on the PlayStation Network. Those that have either been living under a rock or avoiding anything associated with an Xbox 360 like the plague probably are wondering "is it any good?" The simple answer is that Castle Crashers is awesome. The real answer? Castle Crashers is an awesome arcade style side scrolling fighting game with hints of RPG elements thrown in where up to four players can play as one of the four main knights in the game; each with their own special powers. Alternatively the player can play as different characters that are unlocked as you progress throughout the game. In the main game of Castle Crashers, players play as one of the four previously mentioned knights as they fight their way through various levels and hordes of enemies to rescue the four princess' that were captured by an evil wizard and to return a magical stone taken by the wizard back to the kingdom. Never mind the story though as there is no real dialogue; Castle Crashers instead excels at graphics, gameplay, and replay value. For the graphics, Castle Crashers goes the hand drawn route and it works rather well. The animation is fluid and smooth and it looks awesome. For gameplay; as previously mentioned, Castle Crashers takes players back to the time of arcade style side scrolling fighters. There's one button for fast light attacks, another for slower heavy attacks, another for items, etc. Along with the fighting game play, Castle Crashers also implements elements of RPG gaming by having a levelling system. Players can gain experience so their characters can create more damage, take more damage, and learn new spells along with powering up the ones they've already unlocked. What is truly important is the Co-op gameplay as players can either do the entire quest by themselves or have four buddies over and play as other characters or play in an online Co-op game. Where Castle Crashers truly shines in however is replay value. Along with the levelling system so players can make their character more powerful, there are also tons of extra unlockables throughout the game. Levels can be revisited to unlock various hidden items from weapons to animal orbs throughout the game and players can unlock extra characters in the multiple arenas that appear throughout the game map. So with all that said, simply put, Castle Crashers is an excellent game that will be a welcome addition onto the PlayStation Network and onto the PlayStation 3. Along with the main game there is also the Arena Mode so players can challenge other players with their favorite character and there is the button mashing "All You Can Quaff" mini-game to see who has the fastest fingers throughout the kingdom.