Mini Bosses | Castle Crashers (Review)

I think it's safe to say that one of the best things about Newgrounds is it's ability to make stylish, vibrant remixes of older games that have come before, and going off of that metric, Castle Crashers absolutely delivers. It's one of the fastest and freshest Beat Em ups you'll play, it may not have the combo depth of River City Underground or the more sophisticated mechanics of something like Dragons Crown, but like a well made hamburger with no extra toppings, it's hard not to love despite it's simplicity.

Each individual part of Castle Crashers is crafted with enough care that it ends up being bigger than the sum of it's parts. Sound design is solid, the OST is basically a Newgrounds greatest Hit album, and the art is so unrelentingly styled and colorful that what's on screen is always beautiful regardless of content, yes, even this. I am amazed at how many times I can juggle an enemy in this game and not tired of it. There's a fine art to knowing when to slam your enemies against the ground with your heavy attack before continuing your combo.
Though there's definitely tons of cool stuff you can only do on the ground.
The RPG mechanics are serviceable and do a good job of providing progression without bogging down the central gameplay loop. You can upgrade your health, attack, walking speed, and magic.
Upgrading your attack is a double-edged sword, since exp you gain is on a per hit basis, being powerful enough to beat a boss in only a couple of hits will yield a lot less points than if you had been wailing on it because of your lower strength.