Get excited, Castle Crashers releases to the XBLA!

by Dustin Burg { Aug 27th 2008 at 7:30AM }

After years and years of patient waiting, the day we've all been eagerly anticipating has finally arrived! Earlier this morning, The Behemoth officially released Castle Crashers and its four player, beat-em-up online co-op to the Xbox Live Arcade. GET EXCITED!

For 1200 Microsoft points ($15), you can download your own copy off the XBLA and, for those points, you'll be treated to an XBLA experience like no other. With 40 different weapons, over 22 unlockable characters, a leveling system, helpful animal orbs and even an Arena Mode, Castle Crashers should be worth every last dime. Heck, we're holding a week long Castle Crashers Baby Give-away for the game's monumental release. We're that excited! Okay, enough blab, get online and get downloading, because it's Castle Crashers and we need not say anymore.

Gallery: E308: Castle Crashers (XBLA)

Tags: castle-crashers, the-behemoth, xbla

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Ample Salty @ Aug 27th 2008 7:37AM

Got the trial and despite having a few gripes with it I will be buying this shortly. Should be fun.

For the sake of conversation those gripes were not knowing the bonus of weapons without heading to the blacksmith, not being able to spend stat points whilst in a level and the absurd length of the frog/ark.

Project Ekim @ Aug 27th 2008 7:38AM

already have been having a blast with it!

Hoffer @ Aug 27th 2008 7:43AM

I tried the demo and immediately bought it.

Hellvector @ Aug 27th 2008 7:43AM

Woke up at 4am just to download and play this game a bit before morning classes. It's AMAZING!

nomadic0ne @ Aug 27th 2008 10:35AM

Lol, I woke up around 3am to download it, played GeoWars2 while waiting, and downloaded it as soon as it showed up in the Market!
:D
I tried to play as much as I could, but my damn eyes rebelled and forced me to sleep!
(...stupid sleep)
Now I'm stuck here at work reading about it and waiting to go home and play it more!
(...stupid work)

Well worth my monies IMO.
I definitely want to support games such as this.
(I bought Braid without even trying it and have not regretted it. This as well.)

MonkeyChewer @ Aug 27th 2008 8:10AM

Had a quick go of the demo and I'm a bit "meh" with this one.

Please educate me. What is so good about this game?

Big Bird @ Aug 27th 2008 10:38AM

I'm just glad this game is out (and glad for you guys), so maybe the lovefest on this site can stop about it, and we can move on to stories on other games. Instead of this one every third story.

Chester @ Aug 27th 2008 11:00AM

I think i am going to have to agree here. I'm more excited that the hype is over, rathe then the actual game coming out!

Mr. Nosuch @ Aug 27th 2008 4:43PM

From the endless flogging this game has gotten here, it would be nice to know if Behemoth is a paying advertiser. Because it sure feels like it.

How about a little editorial disclosure?

ice~ @ Aug 27th 2008 8:14AM

I bought it...it's a big let down for me =( but it's still worth every penny

Mazrael @ Aug 27th 2008 8:26AM

Now this is more like it! As soon as the trial timed out I had to buy the full game
Far better than the last two weeks efforts :P
the guard animation could be a little quicker, or enemies ranged attacks less frequent - I hate archers is any game, but I'm still lovin it - just as I do Ninja Gaiden 2.. Castle Crashers should sell 4 times as much as gadget arm/swingerman.. you know the one... CC is easily my favourite XBLA game, first one I've found worth buying for ages.

emirabal @ Aug 27th 2008 8:36AM

Might leave work early to get this, i know know, it sucks

Normandie @ Aug 27th 2008 11:00AM

get a life man. do your job and dont worry about videogames. im sure you can wait 8 hours to play an fn xbla game. get a girlfriend while youre at it. freakin LOSER

Aero @ Aug 27th 2008 8:37AM

I remember them saying there would be a free theme and gamerpics when it came out.
Only the theme is free :(

Bennyishere @ Aug 27th 2008 8:46AM

Don't you get it? A free theme...... and then gamerpics (of unspecified price). Those bastards.
Gonna check the trial out now.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 27th 2008 9:43AM

You can unlock gamer pics by just play I have a theif and Blue knight gamer pic and all I did was buy the game.

ice~ @ Aug 27th 2008 9:50AM

there r free gamer pics, they are automatically there when u dl the game; an ice knight and barbarian :)

Mazrael @ Aug 27th 2008 10:32AM

I don't see the free pic's.. I've rescued two princesses so far & there's no pics.. just the 2 sets on live (cyclops & knights packs)..

Xoviet chiK @ Aug 27th 2008 10:48AM

They are already on your HDD. Like most arcade games, Castle Crashers comes with a gamer picture (two in this case). Just go to your profile and change your gamer picture and they will be there.

Mighty Healthy @ Aug 27th 2008 11:22AM

You folks DO know that some games give you gamerpics for owning/playing them?

Change your gamer picture, you'll find Castle Crasher ones, I promise.

Nick @ Aug 27th 2008 12:51PM

O_o

Well.... I have the OTHER knights now. And it was only a buck, even Canadian.

*sigh* I only wanted the blue knight, too

What a freaking awesome fun game. I want to find every archer and hit them with a bat, then hit them again, and again, and again >:o(

And I'd also prefer less "scared sh**ting"... that was a little much, but everything else so far is awesome. It cam out earlier than I expected, so I got about an hour before sleep. Fun times, West coast FTW!

ottoman673 @ Aug 27th 2008 8:44AM

Someone please explain this game to me; i don't see the appeal at all. Maybe it's just because there's a massive hypetrain since it's been in development for 2 years? Maybe it's because ZOMG the Behemoth made it? Either way i don't see it... pass.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 27th 2008 10:41AM

I grew up with beat'em ups like Streets or Rage and the Simpsons game. The fun of those games were teaming up with friends and just fighting wave after wave of enemies.

The appeal comes from how much fun it is to play with friends. CC seems to take everything that was great about those games and amp it up. 4 player online, 20 playable characters, 20 stages, upgradable characters. Its all taking me back to standing in an arcade and pumping 10 bucks into an X-men arcade machine.

Though that game was 6 players.

Jcarpio @ Aug 27th 2008 1:41PM

For me it harkens back to the yesteryear with the fun beatemups. TMNT arcade, X-Men, Bad Dudes and Battletoads (wouldn't that game be fun if redone).

Simple, great fun. That's why some of us are digging on the game.

rookie.of.the.year @ Aug 27th 2008 8:54AM

Awesome, awesome game, especially with a bunch of pals in. Shame about the crashing and disconnects, hopefully that's just a first day issue due to the amount of people palying, rather than a bug or other serious issue.

doug @ Aug 27th 2008 8:52AM

Played the demo this morning. While somewhat fun, not original enough (yet) to buy at this moment. And honestly, I was kind of bored of the button mashing. Anyways, i'm still working on braid and bionic commando.

joeybeast @ Aug 27th 2008 9:40AM

cuz you know, Bionic Commando is so original

doug @ Aug 27th 2008 3:20PM

I think it's pretty original. It's an awesome remake of a game that's 15+ years old, not too many of those around. You've got a totally sweet bionic arm that lets you swing around the level, grab items and use as weapons and grab enemies to use as shields. It's got a sense of humor, and you CAN'T JUMP! I can't think of any other game that combines all of that!

doug @ Aug 27th 2008 8:53AM

Wait, how is this award-winning already?

Intangible 360 @ Aug 27th 2008 10:28AM

I'm assuming they are referring to E3 Awards or the like.

Patton @ Aug 27th 2008 9:07AM

Downloaded it this morning before work, but didn't have time to play. Can't wait to give it a go when I get home.

Also, how can something be a let down, but still be worth every penny? (Assuming it isn't free.)

offday @ Aug 27th 2008 9:33AM

Let's be honest here. It was doomed to be a let down with all the hype it received. No game could ever live up to that amount of hype. The second coming of Jesus Christ wouldn't have been hyped up as much as this game.

Personally, I haven't tried it out yet. I have class in like half an hour, but I am excited to give it a go. Not sure if I'll buy it, though. And I'm not bashing it. I'm excited for it, but it is just a game, and not exactly a unique, original game either.

John @ Aug 27th 2008 10:20AM

I think the game is great. The art-style is friggin' amazing. I bought 4 XBLA titles this month, and this is the best yet.
Bionic Commando is a bit disappointing in that the arm just doesn't do what you tell it to do. Being that you can't jump, that's a HUGE problem.
Castle Crashers is old-school fun, with co-op and excellent HD graphics.
For $15, this is a phenomenal deal.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 27th 2008 9:38AM

Soooo damn good!

realgmr @ Aug 27th 2008 9:41AM

The game is fun, but it is not worth the $15 pricetag. The game has it's laughs and is entertaining, but for me it held it's appeal best when played in short spurts. Things like leveling up and weapon charateristics could have been done a little better than waiting for the end of a level or having to go back to the frog. The combos are a little weak and at times it feels to much like button mashing for the price.

MC Double Def DP @ Aug 27th 2008 9:42AM

If you are 'let-down' because it's a side scrolling 4-player beat'em up like old school arcade games, then you need to not even bother commenting. Just like I don't go to WoW message boards and complain that it's a mmorpg or join a chess club and bitch about rooks.

ice~ @ Aug 27th 2008 9:53AM

nononooo don't get me wrong I love the game, but I've waited so long that in my mind the game is like greater than god, it happens win all games I anticipate :(. I just have some few minor complaints but the game is great, I haven't even tried mtiplayer yet 0_o

MC Double Def DP @ Aug 27th 2008 11:21AM

Small gripes with the game is fine, my rant was directed at those who scream "over hyped!" when they're not fans of the genre.

I've calmed down now though, sorry about that :)

Premo @ Aug 27th 2008 9:51AM

Just bought it. Tried to sleep last night but ended up waking up at 4 am anyway. Been playing since.

Also, what do the animal orbs do?

I found this little flying owl ball thing and it follows me around lolol.

joeybeast @ Aug 27th 2008 11:15AM

I think the owl will get fruit for you.

craig64 @ Aug 27th 2008 10:08AM

I downloaded it first thing this morning... too bad I'm at work now and didn't have time to play it. It's getting a lot of play time tonight though!

vidGuy @ Aug 27th 2008 10:08AM

I bought it after only a few minutes of the demo. It looks like my kind of game and big enough to warrant $15.

krone @ Aug 27th 2008 10:10AM

i really like it, i immediately purchased at the end of the demo.

Terror @ Aug 27th 2008 10:09AM

Can't wait to get home and try this one out. Galala legions from last week was fun as well.

Vcize @ Aug 27th 2008 10:28AM

I like it a lot, and am definitely buying. I did have a few minor gripes though.

I don't like how the enemies are invulnerable (you can't hit them, it just goes right through them) when knocked back/on the ground. As an example, if you're fighting the last guy on the screen and he's at full health, you have to hit him until you knock him down, wait for him to get up, hit again until he's down, wait for him to get up, etc. You can't just keep stringing the hits on him when he goes down or nail him with a magic attack while he's flying backwards.

Also, it would be nice if guarding was a little faster and a little more obvious when you block something. It gets hectic with all the guys on the screen and it would be nice to have some obvious animation for when you block something like in Viking.

All in all though, very fun.

ZEBRA NINER @ Aug 27th 2008 11:46AM

Just a quick comment on what you were saying about a downed enemy. If walk over them, and hit the attack button your knight will actually stomp him. :)

PineTar @ Sep 3rd 2008 12:57AM

Super fun game !

iHomer @ Aug 27th 2008 11:44AM

Online is completely broken all I keep getting is game no longer available messages...

Nick @ Aug 27th 2008 1:54PM

I'm not surprised. It's the first day of release for probably one of the most hyped XBL games...well, EVER.

Give it time, they don't have the ability to be as bad as Mr. Driller was - they'd be lambasted until hell freezes over if they did.

Hopefully it'll be fixed tonight, I'm interested in trying it out.

If it doesn't, I'll just whine and moan about FREAKING ARCHERS >_