ClayFighter was one of the many fightin' games to show up in the early 90's era. For whatever reason, fightin' games became very popular at the time, and even moreso the idea to have them on yer own home consoles; so instead of spendin' a lot of money in an arcade, ya pay once for a game of the same genre then play to yer content. No credits, no quarters, no nothin'.

Back then, that was a huge, HUGE deal. Thus, fightin' games came out of the wazoo to cater to the craze, and this was one of them. Not to mention that Claymates was in production around the same time, with Claymates eventually bein' released first, but that's another story.

Anyway, the thing 'bout ClayFighter was that it wasn't really bringin' anythin' new to the table in terms of mechanics or game play. Though, as inspired by havin' photographic sprites for a game, the gimmick was to make everyone made of clay, and build a story behind it. However, this wasn't just a mere spritin' style, oh no; everyone literally had clay models created that were later digitized. Ya can see proof of this from the cartridge/manual artwork (where I'm gettin' my clay kicked by Tiny while Frosty just gee tee eff ohs). Other than that, we're just knock-offs of other fightin' characters, and don't even get me started on the ad campaign that literally tells ya that people from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc don't stand a chance against us.

Really now, even if one of the reasons to play ClayFighter states that we're immortal (which, due to introduction of Claytalities in 63 1/3, is now null and void), I'm pretty sure we'd get our clay handed to us on a silver platter by those other fighters. Give them some slack; in MUGEN we're really pathetic!

So, the game itself. The first thing yer gonna notice is the fact the story isn't so thoroughly explained. If ya happen to have the manual, however, the full story is written in there, as well as more in depth descriptions of the characters aside from likes, dislikes, mottos, etc.

The second thing is that there's an actual theme song in the title screen, complete with lyrics. Today that's more somethin' to be expected at times, but back then in the early 90's, this was considered HIGH TECH VIDEO GAMIN'; WHOA. As for the lyrics, it's simple and easy to remember, but also very cheesy and dated. Yet, it doesn't fail to be catchy.

For what it is and for its time, ClayFighter wasn't bad so much as it was rushed (In fact I think almost, if not all the ClayFighter games were), with various bugs sprinkled in throughout, mostly in terms of balance. The most famous is The Blob's Buzzsaw move, that allowed ya to chain it forever and ever, causin' the opponent to either block forever and gradually lose all health, or to take the full damage and hope they're not in a corner. It's especially evident when used against Tiny, 'cause his hit box is way too big. Another example can be from Frosty's Arm Swipe move, and that one can really do a number on ya if yer not careful, but that in itself is hard to do 'cause to its range (Hey, I'm the one who supposed to abuse range, buddy!)

Speakin' of abuse, the CPU of the opponents seem to be able to do special moves near instantaneously, especially at low health. In one run of the game right here on Vizzed, I witnessed Pink Taffy use the Two Fisted Charge move three times in a row, with absolutely no break. The problem with that? That move requires a two second charge MINIMUM. This sugar high doppelganger was somehow usin' it like a simple punch button. The other kind of abuse I can think of is when Green Icky decides to spam his Teleport move; again, it's very quick and with no breaks. I doubt a Human (or a ClayFighter) could input the combinations that quickly.

Abuse and chainin' aside, another thing I noticed was that the ones ya fight are always in their alternate palettes, and ya can't change yers. But that's okay; who'd wanna be Pink Taffy anyway? (Oh, right; to abuse the Two Fisted Charge) I'd rather just defeat him and move on. Oh, wait...

As ya go through the game, yer bound to have a mirror match, a staple of 90's fightin' games. Moreover, there're times where ya fight the same character more than once. Dependin' on who ya play, yer gonna have two mirror matches instead of one. Kinda sucks; but it was filler, I think.

Now, for the final fight, I won't go into much detail due to spoilers (and I certainly hope everythin' else wasn't! Honestly, if anythin' is considered a spoiler, I'll revise those parts!), but I'll warn ya of one thing: Do NOT, under any circumstances, be grabbed. There's a very, VERY lil' chance of ya makin' it out of the grab alive, and even if ya do, you'll have maybe just a sliver of health left over.

Even if ya tough out all of the fights and beat the boss, yer not gonna get an endin' unless ya play on Hard mode. The game is already unbalanced and glitched up, so imagine tryin' to beat everyone on Hard mode, without any cheats. All for what? The endin' that yer character achieves and deserves; the endin' that ya wanna know 'bout and fought all this way to see. I mean, ya don't just pick somebody, win the game and not get any closure for them and yerself. Interplay can be mean like that...

Hey, if ya can beat Hard mode without cheats, yer really hardcore.

So with all that out of the way, the next (and last) thing I'm gonna mention is the ratings I gave and why. Overall will come last to close out this review.

Graphics: 7. The game was called ClayFighter for a reason, but unfortunately the style isn't really noticeable, not in the characters or backgrounds. Otherwise however, the graphics themselves aren't bad; just a lil' misleadin'.

Sound: 8. Havin' a lyrical song was astonishin' for the time, but is now pretty dated. As for the rest of the music, it's pleasant to listen to. Finally, as for voices... Well, that's more a matter of personal taste. Personally, I like them 'cause of the cliches bein' presented in a silly fashion.

Addictiveness: 4. The game is simply a story mode with a versus mode thrown in (the VS screen looks really incomplete), so unless yer friends love to play this game with ya, it might get borin' fast.

Story: 3. Even though it's only explained in the manual, it's still relatively simple by fightin' standards; oh, a tournament. Not too original, but it does have a small twist.

Depth: 2. Same content as Addictiveness; there's really not much to do other than the story and versus; but now that I think 'bout it, that too was probably what was common at the time. (Though there's somethin' else worth mentionin' 'bout the two player thing; ya can play against yer friend from story mode's character select, but VS mode allows counters for wins, losses, draws, etc as well as a stage selection. That's a bit strange.)

Difficulty: 6. Those comin' into fightin' games for the first time or don't play them often are bound to have issues even from Easy mode (and as a result, Helga will become the bane of yer existence). Also those who aren't used to less common button combinations are likely to need time to adjust. However, once ya get the hang of the game and the way it likes to play, ya should be relatively fine. Hard mode however... That's why this is a 6.

Overall: 7.5. I tried my best to be as fair as possible and not spam 10s on every ratin' just 'cause I come from these games; that would be very biased (though I'll admit I can be, but for humorous, non-serious purposes). So, aside from the glitches, unbalance and general lack of completeness (I feel like it was), ClayFighter is still a fun game for casual gamin' and for pure... Well, entertainment. See, that's the charm of ClayFighter that was tryin' to be invoked; it's not meant to be taken seriously, but to be silly, zany and wacky (ad campaign aside...), with an idea of clay beings fightin' for a position above all others (when really it could've been settled on a vote or discussion; but no, fight for the prize 'cause reasons). At the end of the day, ClayFighter is there to serve entertainment and fun...

... Just like in a circus!