Castle Crashers

"A good idea that ultimately comes up a bit short in execution."

Much like their last outing with Alien Hominid, The Behemoth has put out another moderately successful XBLA game in Castle Crashers. However, the game has some major flaws that keep me from giving this any higher of a score.

Story: 4/10
The story begins with you (and up to three partners) dancing merrily in a hall when a body is thrown down the stairs. You go up, and an unnamed wizard makes a crystal turn red, hops onto it, and flies away. No names are given, no real story is present. You move through several different worlds (such as Forest (which features one of the funniest moments of the game the first time through - after that, it can get a little tiring to see an owl crap itself to death), Lava, Desert and Ice-themed levels.), fighting bosses, and then amongst yourselves to see who gets to kiss one of four princesses for that area.

Audio: 5/10
With the exception of voice-overs, which aren't really required for an XBLA game, the game has good music, but some of it can get very grating after a while. Sound overall is good, which is a high-point.

Graphics: 8/10
For a 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up, you can't really go wrong in terms of graphics. Characters move very well, as do enemies. It shows creativity on the graphic designer's part for most of the enemies, and even the characters.

Gameplay: 3/10
This is where I feel the game is weakest. Much like other side-scrollers, you need to be on the exact area of your opponent onscreen if you wish to attack them - but that rule seems a tad more relaxed with your opponents. There are several times in the lava levels where you fight enemies that shoot fireballs. Fireballs that take away a good chunk of your health if you're in the lower levels. Fireballs they shoot constantly, and fireballs that knock you down. The projectile combat in this game is one of the biggest flaws, as enemies continually use it, and can usually do it again before your character gets back up from the last attack. It's better-hidden in multiplayer outings, but it's damn near in-your-face in single-player.

Replay Value: 8/10
I won't say you shouldn't get this game, because it's not so terrible that it's unplayable. In fact, in multiplayer, it can be fun - and the game has a metric assload of unlockable content (in the form of characters you see in the game (even the Alien Hominid is unlockable), weapons (ranging from katanas to broadswords to laser swords to clubs to fish), and pets (like Sherbert, a cat who increases agility; Cardinal, a bird who increases your chance of finding rare items; or Owlet, who occasionally finds food for you to restore your health with)).

Overall: 6/10
I would recommend downloading the trial game first to see if you won't be wasting the 1200 MSP asking price, but overall, Castle Crashers is a fun game if played in a multiplayer setting, but falls short when played alone.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/02/08

Game Release: Castle Crashers (US, 08/27/08)