Along with Soul Caliber IV, Castle Crashers also held some special meaning over the weekend.
On Saturday, Jess bought Castle Crashers at the Newsgrounds booth for Ace. We were kinda tired throughout the day, so we got back to their place around 10:30pm and decided to play it! Unfortunately, we could only find 2 controllers and a quick drive around the neighbor revealed that all the stores that carried 360 controllers were closed for the night. drat.
That first night, Ace and I defended our castle and began our journey to rescue the princesses. Every new environment, new enemy and new pet we came across was followed laughter and constant giggling and chuckling. The comedy and art style of Castle Crashers is infectious. Half the time we literally died from laughing too hard and not paying attention.
Castle Crashers is a very High Definition flash game released for the Xbox Live Arcade. It is a 4 player arcade style beat 'em up game much like TMNT, Simpsons... all those old 4 player Konami arcade games. Castle Crashers has a leveling system though. You're always building up your character to get further, rather than putting in quarter after quarter. You also find new weapons and pets with varying stats and effects to help you kill everything.
After an hour or two, I was just too tired to continue. Ace and Five didn't play a whole lot further. The next day at PAX, I made sure to stop by the Newsgrounds booth and purchase a copy direct from the creators. ^_^. After PAX and after a delicious dinner, we got back in their neighborhood around 9pm. Well enough time to buy a Pink controller, and wage war 3 player style.
Ace, Five and I laid waste to everyone that came in our path and finally rescued the fourth princess around 1am. Victory!
Though, our victory was short lived as our flights the next morning were at 5:45 and 6:01. I needed sleep though, so I crashed and was woken up around 4:30. We finally left the house and got to the airport around 5:15. I was presented with a very long line at the United check-in, which resulted in missing my intended flight. Fortunately, I was able to catch the next flight 2 hours later and still get back to Madison around 4pm today. Victory!
Anywho, I was somewhat surprised we beat Castle Crashers. But the journey to that goal was what made the entire experience worth while. Teamwork! Slashing enemies, dodging attacks, reviving teammates. Helping out each other when needed.
Man, I need to do some more social gaming. This weekend has really reminded me of this entire aspect of gaming that is obviously there, but have just completely ignored over the past year or so. The extent of my socializing with games is just talking about single player experiences.
Thinking back on it, I guess Castle Crashers is rather short, but there are plenty of unlockable characters to replay through the game and various hidden weapons and pets that are tough to find. I'll definitely play through the game with whoever has it out there. ^_^
Go Blue Knight!