Two years have passed since we saw the curious pixilated knights hit the Xbox 360 via the arcade, and now PS3 fans have their shot via the PSN. Has the quartet of knights lost anything or gained a little something-something in the last couple of years? The answer is simple - they have lost nothing and gained a bit more.

Back are the ever popular Green, Blue, Yellow and Red knight slashing away with their comedic style and cartoonish visuals. All the combos are still there along with the ability to level up your character in strength, defense, agility and magic. Each knight has specific powers such as the Red knight controlling lightning and the Blue Knight controlling ice, which leads to an interesting blend of styles both online and offline. This title shines not only as a great 4-player offline co-op title, but you can also take your respective knight online and carry out hectic battles online if you can’t invite friends over.

Aside from being able to level up your character by hacking or using spells you can also collect Animal Orbs, which will provide you certain abilities. Some Animal Orbs will knock down enemies while others will help you find treasure. Lets also not forget that there is a bevy of different weapons for you to collect and use throughout the game ranging from axes and swords to light sabers and bones.

The level design is straight forward, as it is a standard 2D side-scroller, but that does not mean that there is a lack of innovation. Far from it really, the levels are some of the coolest ones I have played in a while and you will find yourself battling in castles, in rivers, on top of frogs, on stage coaches running from monsters and even on a deer pooping in fear. The comedy in Castle Crashers is not very complicated - in fact I saw quite a lot of poop jokes but to me they were all in good fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Castle Crashers brings the hack and slash back in a fun an innovative way that players will pick up and enjoy instantly. The core game itself has not changed from its first iteration on the XBLA, but that is a good thing - if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Castle Crashers was great on XBLA and continues to be great on the PSN. There is a new volleyball mode, which is exclusive to the PS3 but unfortunately it is not something you will spend a ton of time playing. The volleyball game is a sort of 4-on-4 game where the goal is to strike the ball back and forth across the net, but it just is not as fun as it sounds.

The game looks great, plays great and has a good sense of humor as well. Castle Crashers is a phenomenal downloadable title. Heck, it could rival some full blown titles I have played, so yes it is a good pick up. Castle Crashers brings a lot of different things in its small package – strategy, hack and slash, RPG and comedy.

  • Title: Castle Crashers
  • Platform Reviewed: PS3
  • Developer: The Behemoth
  • Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
  • Release Date: August 31, 2010
  • MSRP: $14.99
  • Review Copy Info: A download code for this title was provided to DualShockers Inc, by the publisher for purposes of this review.
Castle Crashers
8 / 10