Knightmare Tower

Developer: Juicy Beast Studio | Publisher: Juicy Beast Studio | Release Date: 2014 | Genre: Action / Casual / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Ten princesses have been locked in a 25km high tower, and a brave knight has been tasked with saving them. Undeterred by the fact that the tower only has a floor every few kilometers, the knight launches himself up the tower with a rocket and lets momentum do the rest. The monsters infesting the tower aren’t just going to let him fly by, though. There is also the small matter of boiling lava bubbling up behind the intrepid hero.

The gameplay in Knightmare Tower is as straightforward as the storyline. You press a button to launch your hero up the tower, aiming for a money-awarding perfect blast-off if possible, and then slash enemies to generate speed and momentum on your upward journey. Getting hit by enemies costs you lives, but falling off the bottom of the screen only costs you momentum as the knight re-appears atop a new rocket. You’ll want to avoid slowing down, though, because if the lava that is hot on your heels catches up to your knight, it is game over. It is a very straightforward concept but addictive enough that it is tough to stop once you start playing.

Initially, your knight is woefully underequipped to make any real progress up the tower. Sooner or later, the lava catches up to him, or the enemies become too tough to dispose of quickly enough. That’s ok, though, as you earn cash from killing monsters and collecting the money bags that sometimes appear. The cash can then be used to upgrade your knight in crucial areas such as armor, accessories, and potions. Upgrading your armor will allow your knight to last a bit longer, while upgrading his sword means it becomes easier to dispose of enemies. Eventually, you will start to break through floors and rescue the princesses, each of which has further advantages to bestow on you. This all adds up to a game where you will continually want to have just one more go, no matter how many times you die.

To make each attempt more interesting, there are over 70 quests to complete. These quests range from killing a certain number of enemies or collecting a certain number of power-ups to challenges like reaching a certain height within a set time limit. If you beat a challenge, you are rewarded with gold, and a new one appears to take its place, which means you have at least three objectives to aim for on each attempt. Standing between you and the boss at the top of the tower are more than 50 different types of enemies. Some of them are pretty harmless and can be used as easy stepping stones, while others are fast-moving, shoot projectiles, or grow spikes at random intervals, which makes them trickier to deal with. There is never really a dull moment in Knightmare Tower as you frantically move your character around the screen while judging when and where to launch a downward attack on enemies.

Visually, the game has a nice polished cartoony look with excellent enemy designs. As you upgrade your knight, his new armor and sword are shown on the character, which is also a nice touch. While Knightmare Tower was originally a Flash title, the developers rebuilt everything in Unity for the version that is on Steam. This is a good thing, as Adobe began blocking its Flash player’s use everywhere back in 2021, rendering the games unplayable. The game also boasts a very cool soundtrack by Hyperduck Soundworks. Their repertoire includes work on Scrolls and Dust: An Elysian Tail, so they know what they are doing, and the awesome tunes add a lot to the game’s atmosphere. Players used to the mouse controls in the Flash version may find it puzzling that only the keyboard and controller are supported in the Steam version. Using a controller feels the most intuitive, but after some practice, we could also complete the game using the keyboard. The lack of mouse controls is puzzling, as it worked well in the Flash version of the game.

We had an absolute blast playing Knightmare Tower, and it only took a few tries before we were completely hooked. Blasting up the tower, slicing and dicing every monster in sight, is incredibly addictive, and after completing the campaign, you unlock a survival mode with even more challenges. Overall, there really isn’t much we can fault about Knightmare Tower apart from the lack of mouse controls. The game offers incredible value for money, and the price is an absolute bargain considering how much time you will spend playing it. Knightmare Tower has the look and feel of an early 90s arcade title, but thankfully, it wasn’t released back then because it would have bankrupted us if we had to cough up cash every time we had another go!