A fighting game that falls short in just about every category.
ClayFighter 63 1/3 is an unforgettable experience but sadly for all the wrong reasons. The unoriginality of this game reaches whole new levels, they didn’t just steal traits from one rival title but a multitude of fighters; Street Fighter, Killer Instinct and a plethora of others all falling victim to Interplays lack-luster effort at a spoof release. Amazingly even with all this potential they still manage to screw up the gameplay, right down to the annoying and involuntary attacks your character will attempt to inflict on your opponent with little or no warning. The AI isn’t much better; at times your opponent will stand before you docile and begging to be smacked across the chops. Other times the will unleash a mega-combo that beats the living daylights out of you, then normal service is resumed as they return to the state of a retarded zombie.
The characters are well conceived and vary from a sadistic snow man to a crazy pumpkin-headed freak known as Icky Bad Clay who throws chickens at you. There are a total of 9 characters from the off with a further 3 vile monstrosities available upon completing the poor single-player campaign. Unfortunately you can’t make full use of these intriguing creations because the move sets for each are abysmal.
Graphically, ClayFighter is an utter disaster. The characters look flat and lifeless and possess some horrible animations. The camera goes crazy at will, trapping objects in focus and keeping them there for the duration of a fight, making it almost impossible to see what you’re actually doing. Backgrounds tend to fog in and out even when the camera pans out slightly which is a shame because the only saving grace are the well-crafted 3D arenas.
The sound isn’t all bad, while it does harbor an atrocious soundtrack it also offers up some pretty humorous sound effects. The speech is also pretty fun and will have you smiling as the characters trade blows verbally. Unfortunately this game isn’t intended for the blind so it isn’t enough to save it from a lifetime of humiliation.
This is a fighting game that falls short in just about every category, failing to live up to the potential of previous titles in the series. From its ridiculous name to its ludicrously bad gameplay, ClayFighter 63 1/3 is a competitors dream simply because it makes them look good in comparison.
