Double Jump Gaming News

Castle Crashers Remastered

Do you ever wish you had more games to play with your friends when they come over? Well look no further! Grab a friend, grab an Xbox One or PC, and get ready to play Castle Crashers!

A little unorthodox for my column, Castle Crashers is a 4-player adventure game all about having fun and battling your way through levels and waves of enemies. With multiple characters to choose from, a plethora of weapons, powers, and items to use, there is so much variety and fun to be had in this enjoyable and loveable adventure. The best parts of this game are arguable, since there are so many. I plan to cover a few of these parts.

Mechanics are important in any game, and this game exemplifies the amount of fun that can be gained from game mechanics. The controls are easy: move around, jump, attack, use powers, and use consumables. It is a very simple, levelling-based game, and the learning curve for the controls is very simple and intuitive. The game helps you along the way at the beginning to make sure you get the hang of things, then gives you a little push into the rest of the game. There are multiple ways to level up your character. You can find new items and collectibles to equip and help bolster your character. After finding and equipping all of the goodies you’ll need for the harder parts of your adventure, the skills and levelling up will bring up the rear. You can choose to make yourself more powerful in a multitude of ways, like getting new powers or making yourself faster. There are so many options to keep the game different just in terms of mechanics.

Where the game really shines is in its story. While narrative is not usually the exemplary part of the game, the silliness and goofiness are what really make the experience sound. The surprising aspect is the unconventional style in which the story is told. There is no spoken narrative, yet the game progresses like any other story. The funny one-liners and punchlines still exist, but come in the form of visual comedy. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire adventure, almost solely due to the quirky cutscenes. This game’s narrative and gameplay make the foundation for what this game is all about, but they aren’t the entirety of the reasons it is in this column.

While the meat of the game comes from its adventure, there are other, much shorter game modes to play. There is the original game mode Arena, which is just one on one with two players. Simple and easy: best fighter wins. This is fun, but doesn’t encourage a lot of replayability. The next game mode, is a new game type from the remastered version called ‘Back off Barbarian’. This new game mode involves the player using the pawn they are given and moving it directionally. You do this so that you avoid the barbarians trying to get to you. This game mode is lighter in tone, which aligns with the rest of the game.

The remaster as a whole doesn’t change a lot, as with most remasters. It makes the game a little prettier, makes the UI a little nicer, and makes the game run a little smoother on the new Xbox, bringing old fun to a new generation. It does add the new game type and take away a new one, but the biggest chunk of the game is still there for anyone to enjoy.

Castle Crashers is one of the most fun and enjoyable games I remember from my time on my Xbox 360, so for nostalgia alone I picked up the remastered version to play through the journey again with my friends, and I highly recommend that you all grab a friend and do the same!