soundtracks,  video games

Castle Crashers

Year: 2008
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Matthew Harwood
Number of tracks: 45


Positively bonkers

This game is insane. Not in the sense of insanely good, but insanely crazy. The story is simple: four knights work together to free a princess. But anyone expecting stories of brave warriors and noble battles will be disappointed by the comedic fireworks. In Castle Crashers fights with giant cats and deer with diarrhea are among the normal things. Entertaining brawling fun, accompanied by an even more entertaining soundtrack.

This was contributed by the community of the website Newgrounds , which was involved in the development of the side-scroll hack-and-slash. That is why there is not one composer, but 20 with different styles and genres. Trying to categorize this construct in any way is therefore relatively pointless - but I tried anyway. For this reason, I would like to take this opportunity to briefly list my notes up to the point where I gave up:

2 Flutey (World Map) tootling
3 Barracks Song quirky, kazoo droning, squeaky, stupid, funny
4 Creepy Frog gloomy, dangerous
5 Mudholes driving mood
6 Spanish Waltz guitars, nice melody
7 War Machine "War Machine" call at the beginning, dramatic
8 Factory powerful beats, cyber synths, techno party
9 Gold Grab Gabba party
10 Race Around the World [Edit] shortened version of Race Around the World
11 Jumper good mood, upbeat
12 Space Pirates spacy, good mood
13 The Show rousing, little piano melody
18 Landfall massive
19 Revenge of the Cyclops okay, a little too pompous
20 Vain Star [Edit] dramatic quakes, then beat
21 Totally an Active Volcano (Drumlift V2) drums, military
22 Chaoz Japan lots of wah-wah
23 (Please) Don’t a bit of Zen
24 The Abduction (Alien Hominid Theme) carefree, serious
25 Sand Castle Crashing oriental, fast

As you can see, things go haywire. The only thing inherent in all the compositions is a certain light-footedness and lack of seriousness. The music makers know the game principle of Castle Crashers and don't try to push it in a serious direction, but go 'with the flow', as they say. If you are looking for parallels to other scores, you will find in Vain Star [Edit] , for example, a little of the essence of the Need for Speed-titles, Jumper sounds like the later Sims-games and War Machine sounds like action films à la Rambo. A wild mixture of varying quality, but perfectly suited to this crazy couch co-op.

If you want to make up your own mind, you should definitely give it a listen - after all, this crazy soundtrack has made it into my Top 10 best indie scores . By the way, you can download a few of the tracks for free on the Newground homepage. Have fun!


Nostalgia warning

The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.

No.TitleArtist(s)Ratings
01Four Brave ChampionsDavidOrr55/5
02Flutey (World Map)The Behemoth33/5
03Barracks SongDan Paladin44/5
04Creepy FrogThe Behemoth33/5
05MudholesThe Behemoth33/5
06Spanish WaltzUrbanus33/5
07War MachineThe Behemoth44/5
08FactoryCornandBeans44/5
09Gold GrabThe Behemoth33/5
10Race Around the World [Edit]Waterflame44/5
11JumperWaterflame44/5
12Space PiratesWaterflame44/5
13The ShowWaterflame44/5
14TechockWaterflame55/5
15Dark SkiesSelcuk and Mandi55/5
16Till Death Do You PartThe Behemoth55/5
17Rage of the ChampionsSelcuk and Mandi55/5
18LandfallMathias Rudsengen44/5
19Revenge of the CyclopsThe Behemoth33/5
20Vain Star [Edit]Mathias Rudsengen44/5
21Totally an Active Volcano (Drumlift V2)The Behemoth33/5
22Chaoz JapanParagonX955/5
23(Please) Don'tSnayk33/5
24The Abduction (Alien Hominid Theme)The Behemoth44/5
25Sand Castle CrashingThe Behemoth33/5
26Volleyball MatchThe Behemoth44/5
27SwamplandWaterflame44/5
28Child of the CornThe Behemoth44/5
29Flooded CastleThe Behemoth33/5
30The RuinsThe Behemoth33/5
31Evil Snake LadyThe Behemoth44/5
32Winter BlissMathias Rudsengen44/5
33Castle in the Sky (Drumlift)The Behemoth33/5
34Second ThoughtsDavidOrr44/5
35Simple Sight [Instrumental]John Guy44/5
36The Final ConfrontationDavid Orr44/5
37Orange's KissDan Paladin44/5
38Menu LoopIan Slider33/5
39ArchetypeHelix655/5
40Vain Star [Bonus]Cycerin44/5
41Don't [Bonus]Snyak33/5
42Simple Sight [Bonus]RealFaction44/5
43Race Around the World [Bonus]Waterflame55/5
44Color-Coded Killers [Bonus]SteveGuzzi33/5
45Simple Sight [2010 Remix][Bonus]RealityVictim44/5

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