Castle Crashers Remastered

What do you get when you cross a Saturday morning cartoon, an old-school arcade quarter muncher, and the demented sense of humor that would do Monty Python proud? Whatever you got would likely come pretty close to what you get with Castle Crashers Remastered. This insane beat-'em-up game is quick to pick up but nearly impossible to put down. The action is nonstop and only gets more frantic when you call on support from up to three fellow knights in local or online play. The button mashing can get a little repetitive after a while, requiring some breaks not only to let your fingers recover but also to keep feelings of monotony at bay. Be forewarned, though: If you set down the controller, you might want to make sure to keep nearby children from picking it up. After all, the game is surprisingly violent, despite its cutesy animated appearance. Plus, there's a lot of (literal) potty humor that might not be suitable for young kids.

If you've never played Castle Crashers before, then Castle Crashers Remastered is a fun place to start. Bringing the game over to the Xbox One means a faster framerate and sharper textures, but to be perfectly frank, you'd be hard pressed to tell much of a difference between this and the original release. That being said, Remastered does include all the downloadable content and characters previously released, including the Alien Hominid cameo and the Pink Knight released to help raise awareness in breast cancer research. There's also an exclusive new mini-game, "Back Off Barbarian!", in which players try to avoid running into enemies, moving along one square at a time by pressing a corresponding colored button on the Xbox controller. Getting the total package is worth it for newcomers, but if you still have the original version, it might not be enough to convince you to make the jump to the Xbox One version.