Castle Crashers: an XBLA original from The Behemoth
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jul 20th 2006 at 4:25PM }
After seeing this video it was clear that The Behemoth's new XBLA offering Castle Crashers needed more than just a one line nod at the bottom of an Alien Hominid post. We've been doing the retro arcade thing long enough; now it's time to bring the multiplayer fun of arcade side-scrollers to Xbox Live Arcade. Forget about porting Golden Axe (though we'd take that too), Castle Crashers promises high-def resolutions with their old-school, beat 'em up action. Let's review, from 1UP:
"What [an XBLA release] means for players is a much cheaper price, as well as overhauled visuals that -- when combined with the game's widescreen capability -- allow a lot more to take place on the screen at once. With any four-player game where all the characters are on the screen at the same time, there's a risk of too much going on and players getting confused, so the visual overhaul makes the game much easier to follow than it was in the version we saw last year."
This is the sort of mindless arcade fun we need! Now if these guys would go ahead and secure the rights to Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 we'd die happy. Very happy, indeed.
[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jc @ Jul 20th 2006 4:29PM
Right on Chris, I was thinking the same thing when I saw this video earlier... XBLA Pirate Baby would rock.
Mind you, this looks pretty fun also.
Nelson @ Jul 20th 2006 4:39PM
This. Looks. Awesome.
georgedakota @ Jul 20th 2006 4:43PM
it looks like microsoft is going to pick up the xbox live arcade big time like i thought they would. i would rather have these new original titles than older nintendo titles on wii as long as some are good. retro games and previous releases will be welcome also
Blink @ Jul 20th 2006 4:48PM
Whoa! For the eating contest at the end, they even used ParagonX9's hit song on Newgrounds! I can't wait for this! Definately need more of these.
GamerG @ Jul 20th 2006 4:49PM
4 of my mates can play this online at the same time????
SWEEEEEEEETTTT!!!!
hjungle @ Jul 20th 2006 4:55PM
Looks remarkably like Guardian Heroes except without the crazy undead soldier that frequently goes completely nuts and levels the playing field. Man, what a great game.
I hope this is just as fun, if not even more so. Now that we're in the, ahem, HD era I hope more and more companies will go back and reinvent 2D games.
funkonaut @ Jul 20th 2006 5:15PM
Haven't we all played this before? Like, several hundred times before?
And what cute graphics! I thought Nintendo was for kids, and now we have the 360 with all these cutesy little games? Amazing how things change in the span of a few years...
The Wii can't get here soon enough. I'm really looking forward to new experiences in video games. Bring it on!
bounchfx @ Jul 20th 2006 5:43PM
this looks great, if anyone thinks this game looks stupid you must not like games(or at least arcade games), this is what its all about!
I'm excited
funkyflea @ Jul 20th 2006 5:52PM
Funkonaut, you sad loser.
THIS GAME LOOKS LIKE RAWK.
saboola @ Jul 20th 2006 5:55PM
Maybe this just looks FUN funkonaut? WTF is wrong with some people. Go troll somewhere else.
hannark @ Jul 20th 2006 6:01PM
It looks abit like Dad 'n me, only alot more awesome.
Bill Gates @ Jul 20th 2006 6:58PM
Nice, an original game. Looks like fun, but I wonder for how long? Just watching more than a minute of this was repetitive. It'd be cool if it were like Gaurdian Heroes or even Armada where you level up your character...Actually it reminds me of a Cartoon Network GBA game like Super Duper Sumos or something. Maybe it's the art style.
Amos @ Jul 20th 2006 7:03PM
Again, that looks cool as hell. Thes XBLA games you've been pumping are really sounding like some fun stuff...
Azurite @ Jul 20th 2006 8:27PM
This has to be the coolest Xbox360 exclusive game ever.
Faar @ Jul 20th 2006 8:29PM
Looks mighty crazy fun! When's this thing supposed to be released?
John @ Jul 20th 2006 10:05PM
Ahh Tom Fulp, you always know how incredibly important Local co-operative play is.
If only every developer had that attitude, perhaps we would have more great co-operative games like Halo.
*Sigh*
Id take couch Co-Op over anything.
Clay @ Jul 20th 2006 10:08PM
This looks rather awesome. I'll definitely pick it up.
Modano @ Jul 20th 2006 10:30PM
Is it just me or are these gamevideos.com clips completely unreliable? They seem to work about 10% of the time in Safari and Firefox. I'm trying a couple of different computers here and I can rarely see them. What's wrong with good ol youtube?
freakish beast @ Jul 21st 2006 2:06AM
This game is going to a big hit in my books! I loved Alien Hominid and its art style and this game looks the same except more of dungeons and dragons arcade style (anyone remmebr that game?) I love the characters and the mini boss in the video. i had higg hopes for alien hominid and i have high hopes for this game. i know i will not be dissapointed XD i can't wait to buy this game. anyone notice the last song was ParagonX9's? wow, i would feel so proud if my music went on a video game.
I loved playing Alien Hominid with my buddies so i will definately enjoy playing this online on Co-op mode XD
Psaakyrn @ Jul 21st 2006 2:24AM
It looks awsome... but probably plays horribly.
Notice that it suffers from the old "enemies stuck outside screen" syndrome, such that it becomes a pure button-mash.
Notice that the action is so filled with special effects that you can't see what is happening, as opposed to Little Fighter, in which though frantic, you can see the effect of each and every hit you deal out.
Notice that because of that, the players can't attack the boss properly, such that in the end they had to resort to ranged attacks.
Now, if they somehow get Little Fighters 2, touch up the graphics, and add in more varieties of enemies, that would play FAR better than this.
Raynre @ Jul 21st 2006 4:34AM
This had better come to the Wii virtual console, or so help me, Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin are going to be recieving some -very- "special" gifts in the mail...
Killer Instinct @ Jul 21st 2006 6:37PM
You can do this for free with MAME (arcade emulator) and kaillera.
http://www.kaillera.com/
Check it out :)
Plus you'll have better variety. The most popular is that D&D arcade from the 90s, its another beat em up, but with leveling up, weapon upgrades and more you'd expect from a RPG.
Psaakyrn @ Jul 21st 2006 10:54PM
to # 22 Killer Instinct
Btw, I don't think it is advisable to discuss about non-homebrew emulation here. At least Little Fighter 2 ( http://lf2.net/ ) is legal, and also provides networking support. It may not have RPG elements, but it does provide more game modes, and 8 player simultaneous combat.
rockintom99 @ Jul 21st 2006 11:09PM
I have *never* wanted a 360 so bad. Funny, a 2d beat-em-up is making me want a next-gen console.
If they release this on Wii's virtual console, i could die a happy man.
Injulen @ Aug 3rd 2006 12:05AM
Wow, totally reminds me of Golden Axe.. which is great :D I used to play Golden Axe so much, I had it memorized all the way through. Now I'll have something new!
josh @ Sep 10th 2006 7:35PM
yea i definately am picking this game up. it looks incredible. the game is fast paste and looks challenging without buddies to play with and using XBL will be something that i definately something im going to use. it has an rpg style that reminds me a little of golden axe, and that was a game that i could not put down. as good as the beat 'em up looks i may even compare it to the original final fight. thats really saying something. i am looking forward to this game, it looks awesome. ^ ^
Solidus9 @ Sep 10th 2006 8:32PM
I'm anticipating this game is going to be good. It's about time we had some new development going into the XBLA environment and available games that doesn't involve porting old games over from older consoles.
David @ Sep 10th 2006 9:06PM
It's looking great, the graphics are very unique which is a great plus. The attraction of this game (for me at least) is the nostalga of old beat em up games we all used to play as kids. Nowadays you can't find games like this. I don't know why; they appealed to a wide range of ages. Small children always try to button mash through them, they rarely suceed in higher levels, but they have fun doing it. and older teens always have fun playing it. One of my happier memories is of my older brother and I playing I still remember playing games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the SNES, I was pretty bad at it but I had fun.
This seems a lot like one of the games that would sell well on the Wii. Nintendo has a pretty firm grip on the younger market, and if the Wii suceeds in pulling in older gamers then this could be a big hit on the virtual console.
By biggest fear, however, is that the spells and magic could get too big and obscure gameplay, that's about it.