Posted by Jeremy M. Zoss at 1:38 PM Mar 16, 2010
After I mentioned yesterday that I intended to review the iPhone version of Crush the Castle, a friend of mine gave me crap for reviewing a game that was so old. I suppose that's a valid point, but I still think there's good reason to review the game. First of all, the game received a significant upgrade in the last couple months that adds a lot of content. Secondly, there are so many new games on the iPhone all the time that reviews of old titles are still valuable. After all, I haven't had my iPod Touch for too long, and I appreciate some guidance as to what the best titles on the App Store are. With that in mind, I present to you my review of Crush the Castle. Read on!
Crush the Castle, both the original flash game and the iPod/iTouch versions, are simple games. You control a trebuchet that you use to knock down various castles. The basic structures collapse with realistic physics and crush the castle dwellers within. Crush everyone in a set number of shots, and you win a medal. That's about it. It's pretty simple and it's incredibly addictive. As the game progresses, the castles become more complex and trickier to knock down. Fortunately, you're granted upgraded weapons every time you clear a set of castles. Simple rocks give way to rock clusters, then bigger rocks, then bombs, and so on. Later in the game you'll have to choose your ammo wisely in order to knock down a castle - you might need to burn away some wood with a fire bomb before launching boulders at the metal structure within.
The Crush the Castle update added 40 additional castles and a level editor, bringing the total stages to 90. I've already earned a gold medal on every single level - that's not to say the game is short, rather that I just couldn't put it down. The level editor is a little finicky for me, often confusing my request to move a piece with a request to add a new one. Even so, I've spent a lot of time playing with the editor, if only so I can destroy more castles. Unfortunately, you can't share your custom castles. Even so, at a meager $1.99, Crush the Castle is completely worth buying and would make my personal top five of best games on the App Store. It may be a little old, but it's definitely still worth playing.
