Wikipedia

ClayFighter(video game)

ClayFighteris afighting gamereleased for theSuper NESin November 1993 and ported toSega Genesisin 1994. The game is a parody ofStreet FighterandMortal Kombat.In 2009, the Genesis version was re-released on theWiiVirtual Console.

ClayFighter
Developer(s)Visual Concepts(Super NES)
Ringler Studios (Genesis)
Publisher(s)Interplay Productions
Producer(s)Michael Quarles
Designer(s)Gregory A. Thomas
Matthew Crysdale
Jason G. Andersen
Jeffrey J. Thomas
Programmer(s)Jason G. Andersen
Artist(s)Matthew Crysdale
Composer(s)Mitchell Stein
Brian Luzietti
SeriesClayFighter
Platform(s)Super NES,Genesis
ReleaseSuper NES
Tournament Edition
Genesis
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single player,multiplayer

Most of the game features acircustheme focused more on humor. It featuresclaymation-style graphics that were created by photographing anddigitizedactual clay models.

The game was one of the two "clay" -themed game franchises made byInterplay Productions,the second being a platformer released for the SNES titledClaymates.

In July 2020, Megalopolis Toys made a partnership with Interplay to release a line of 6-inch action figures based on the games.[3]

Plot

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A meteor made entirely out of clay crash-lands on the grounds of a humble American circus. The goo from the interstellar object contaminates all of the circus's attractions, transforming them into bizarre caricatures of their former selves, with new superpowers.

Characters

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The game features eight playable characters and one boss character:

Bad Mr. Frosty– Asnowmanwith a bad attitude. His special attacks include throwing snowballs, spitting sharp balls of ice, sliding along the ground and kicking his opponent, and turning into a snow boulder and rolling into his opponent. His arena in 1-player mode is an icy lake in front of an ice block castle with penguin spectators. Histauntconsists of his standing with arms akimbo or gesturing while stating "I'm bad, I'm cool, I'm no-one's fool."

Blob– A blob of clay. A self-proclaimed master of "goojitsu",his specialty is"morphing"into objects to attack his opponent, with his specialty being transforming into a buzzsaw and cutting his opponent in half. He is said to be highly intelligent, despite being made up of the slimy dregs of the mutagenic meteor. His arena is a pool of green slime.

Blue Suede Goo– AnElvis impersonatorwith wildly exaggerated features, including a big gut and even bigger hair. He throws musical notes at his opponent and uses his hair as a blade. He fights on the keys of a flaming piano with the words "Big Hunk O' Burnin' Clay" (a parody of the Elvis song "Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love") on it. His name is a parody of the 1950s song"Blue Suede Shoes",a version of which Presley recorded on his debut album.

Bonker– A cheerfully manic clown whose arsenal includes deadly pies, killer cartwheels, a spraying flower, and the big hammer that gives him his name. He will fight in two funhouses, one resembling a clown head, the other resembling a bubble-spewingrubber duck(although their interiors are the same, save for a palette swap).

Helga– An obese and heavily breasted opera singer dressed inVikingattire. She is Blue Suede Goo's rival and attacks by hurling herself at her opponents, stabbing them with the horns on her helmet, and by belting a high vocal note for a sonic scream. The first opponent in single player mode, she fights at an open-air opera theatre.

Ickybod Clay– Ascarecrow-like ghost with a pumpkin head. He can teleport and throw balls ofectoplasmat foes. His name is a play onIchabod Cranefrom "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow",and his pumpkin-head is based on theHeadless Horsemanfrom the same tale. His arena is a haunted house.

Taffy– A fighting piece oftaffywhose attacks mainly involve stretching and twisting his thin but super-flexible body. As a result, Taffy uses some of the longest-reaching moves in the game. He can also twist himself tightly to cause himself to spin at his opponent while his arms flail. In 1-player mode, he will fight in two overflowing taffy factories.

Tiny– A buff, large-toothedwrestler-type character with a penchant for posing, who does not really rely on wrestling. Instead, he uses his big fists to charge across the screen and punch, as well as rolling himself into a ball and flinging himself at foes. Another opponent with two palette-swapped arenas, he will fight in a wrestling ring or at a coliseum.

N. Boss– The final boss is an anthropomorphic string of pearls with two eyes (one wide open, one half closed). N. Boss only attacks with projectiles copied from other characters and a grab attack. Unlike the other characters, he does not appear to be made of clay and the announcer does not announce his name at the start of the match or when he wins. N. Boss uses the purple meteor itself as his arena, although it is actually a palette swap of The Blob's stage. InClayFighter: Tournament Edition,he has his own arena. His name is a play onM. BisonfromStreet Fighter IIand the phrase "end boss".

Development

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ClayFighterwas developed by the studioVisual Conceptsand published byInterplay Productions.Visual Concepts president Greg Thomas stated that the game, consisting of silly, clay characters battling one another, was conceived as a "new" and "funny" alternative to the violent yet popular fighting franchisesStreet FighterandMortal Kombat.[4]The developer took the idea to animation expertsKen Pontacand David Bleiman of Danger Productions, based inBrisbane, California.The two companies worked for nearly one year developingClayFighter.[4]Once the game's eight fighters were finalized, artists at Danger spent several months molding the characters into various positions with different types of clay.[5]For instance, the thinner character Taffy was constructed with a stronger type of clay than the simpler Blob. Also, some characters required more models than others in order to capture all their movements; artists formed about 70 models just for Blob.[5]The characters were thenanimatedusingstop-motionphotography.[4]A video camera linked to anAmigacomputer running agraphicseditordigitizedthe figures.[5]Designer Jeremy Airey described this portion of development, processing usable andscripting languagecharacter animations, as very long and tedious.[6]Interplay also aided in theClayFighterproject by creating new character movements with spliced animation sequences; the publisher was also responsible for recording the musical score, voices, and sound effects.[4]ClayFighter's design was originally made to compete with fighting games such asMortal Kombat,but without the heavy violence and gore that was becoming controversial. Interplay pushed the game saying that the "parents who object to blood-and-guts games now have an alternative title that gives kids the kind of intense action they want to see in fighting games" to draw sales.[7]

In May 1994, Interplay releasedClayFighter: Tournament Editionfor the SNES.[1]This version of the game was initially presented as an exclusive rental-only deal withBlockbuster Videoin North America.[8]Tournament Editionimproved on the originalClayFighterby fixing many glitches, adding a number of stage backgrounds, and offering new difficulty settings, speed options, and versus modes.[9]The Genesis version ofClayFighterwas released on theWiiVirtual Consolein Europe on February 6 and in North America on May 25, 2009.[10][11]

A port ofClayFighterfor theAtari Jaguarwas reportedly in the works by Interplay but it was never released.[12][13]

Sequels

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ClayFighterwas followed by theTournament Editionupdate in 1994. Two sequels were also produced:ClayFighter 2: Judgment Clayfor the SNES in 1995 andClayFighter 63⅓for theNintendo 64in 1997, the latter of which had its own special edition withClayFighter: Sculptor's Cutin 1998, which was only available as a rental game atBlockbuster Videostores in North America. TheSculptor's Cutedition included four additional characters (High Five, Lady Liberty, Lockjaw Pooch, and Zappa Yow Yow Boyz) who were cut out of the original release for63⅓.Many special attacks that the characters used were removed and the combo system was also altered.Sculptor's Cutis widely considered to be the rarest game released for the Nintendo 64, with only 20,000 copies ever produced.[14]

In March 2015, Interplay revealed that a remasteredClayFighterwas to be released sometime in 2016 and developed in partnership with Drip Drop Games. The game was to include more than 20 characters and 20 "familiar" environments, unique "Claytalities" and new mechanics like double-jumping, air-dashing, counters, and reversals.[15]The game has since been cancelled, as in 2016 Interplay sold the intellectual rights toClayFighterand many other titles as well.

Reception

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ClayFighterwas awarded BestStreet FighterWannabee of 1993 byElectronic Gaming Monthly.They also awarded it Best Sound Effects, as well as awarding it for having the Best Ad.[30]

ClayFightersold 200,000 copies by the end of 1994.[31]

GameProgave the Genesis port a generally positive review, praising it as nearly identical to the Super NES original. They remarked of the game itself that "fighting fans with a funny bone will enjoyClayFighterwith its laughable characters, cool combos, and great game play. "[32]Electronic Gaming Monthlyalso praised the Genesis port for carrying over all the content of the Super NES version, though they remarked that a six-button Genesis controller is needed to fully enjoy the game.[20]

References

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  1. ^abcNintendo staff."Super NES Games"(PDF).Nintendo.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on June 14, 2011.RetrievedJuly 7,2013.
  2. ^Steve; Gus (December 1994)."ClayFighter".Mean Machines Sega.No. 26. pp.88–90.RetrievedDecember 22,2021.
  3. ^"Megalopolis Announces Battletoads, Clay Fighter, and Earthworm Jim, and More Retro Action Figures".The Toyark - News.2020-07-23.Retrieved2020-07-26.
  4. ^abcdHutsko, Joe (February 1994)."Electric Word: Gobs and Glory".Wired.Vol. 2, no. 2.Condé Nast.ISSN1059-1028.OCLC24479723.Archivedfrom the original on 2012-05-02.Retrieved2017-03-06.
  5. ^abc"ClayFighter".Nintendo Power.No. 55. Redmond, Washington:Nintendo of America.December 1993. pp.22–9.ISSN1041-9551.
  6. ^IGN staff (October 25, 1996)."ClayFighter 3Interview ".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on 2014-02-22.RetrievedJuly 5,2013.
  7. ^"Interplay Slings Clay, Not Blood into the Video Game Fighting Arena".December 7, 1993. Archived fromthe originalon 16 November 2014.Retrieved24 November2014.
  8. ^Johnston, Chris."Get Some Clay...Again".GameSpot.CBS Interactive.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-09-27.RetrievedJuly 15,2013.
  9. ^Nintendo Powerstaff (June 1994). "Game Reviews:ClayFighter: Tournament Edition".Nintendo Power.No. 61.Nintendo of America.pp.26–29.ISSN1041-9551.
  10. ^Purchese, Robert (February 6, 2009)."Clay Fighterheads Virtual Console update ".Eurogamer.Gamer Network.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-09-24.RetrievedJuly 5,2013.
  11. ^IGN staff (May 25, 2009)."Nintendo Download: 05/25/09".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-02-09.RetrievedJuly 5,2013.
  12. ^"Jaguar's Domain".GameFan.Vol. 2, no. 6. Shinno Media. May 1994. pp.90–92.
  13. ^"Scene - Erste CD-ROM-Titel für Jaguar".Mega Fun(in German). No. 21.CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG.June 1994. p. 24.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-07-22.Retrieved2018-09-30.
  14. ^Clayfighter Sculptor's Cut - The History And The Rarity | SicCooper.YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-11.
  15. ^"Interplay announces remastered ClayFighter, coming in 2016".PC Gamer.2 March 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-03-04.Retrieved2015-03-04.
  16. ^"Clayfighter review score".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-26.
  17. ^Knight, Kyle."Clay Fighter – Review".AllGame.Archived fromthe originalon November 15, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  18. ^"Clayfighter".Consoles +(in German). No. 42. April 1995. p. 156.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  19. ^Ahmet, Denis; Skews, Rik (April 1994)."Clayfighter".Computer and Video Games.No. 149. pp.72–73.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  20. ^abWeigend, Mike (September 1994)."Major Mike's Review Round-up: Clay Fighter".Electronic Gaming Monthly.Vol. 7, no. 9. p. 32.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  21. ^Semrad, Ed; Carpenter, Danyon; Alessi, Martin; Sushi-X (November 1993)."Clay Fighter".Electronic Gaming Monthly.Vol. 6, no. 11. p. 42.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  22. ^Whitehead, Dan (April 15, 2009)."Virtual Console Roundup".Eurogamer.Archived fromthe originalon April 15, 2009.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  23. ^Gotz (December 1994)."Clayfighter".Mega Fun(in German). p. 118.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  24. ^Martin (February 1994)."Clayfighter".Mega Fun(in German). p. 34.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  25. ^Thomas, Lucas M. (June 22, 2009)."ClayFighter Review".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on October 25, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  26. ^Dillard, Corbie (February 6, 2009)."ClayFighter (MD) Review".Nintendo Life.Archivedfrom the original on September 5, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  27. ^"Clayfighters".Mega Fun(in German). January 1995. p. 97.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  28. ^"Clayfighter".Mega Fun(in German). February 1994. pp.90–91.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  29. ^"Clay Fighter".Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine.No. 71. December 1994. p. 128.RetrievedSeptember 12,2021.
  30. ^"Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide". 1994.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  31. ^Kunkel, Bill (December 1, 1994).Clay Fighter II Official Game Secrets.Prima Publishing.ISBN978-1-559587-93-8.
  32. ^Drumhead (December 1994). "ProReview: ClayFighter".GamePro.No. 75.IDG.p. 94.
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