ClayFighter Returns, like it or not

Smashgoom202

Dry Bowser
Retired Wiki Staff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsTJh0fSh6Q

Right, so a long time ago, I saw the original ClayFighter and the Nintendo 64 installment, ClayFighter 63⅓, while roaming around Blockbuster Video for video games to rent. I never rented either of them in the end, but I was definitely intrigued by them, particularly because of the snowman on the cover, whom I now know is Bad Mr. Frosty, by new favorite video game character.

So yeah, fairly recently, I came across a video which is a collection of so-called "Claytalities", which are obvious nods to the "Fatalities" from Mortal Kombat. After seeing that video, I looked it up on Wikipedia and, well I instantly fell in love with the series...

Sort of. I've been wanting to take a crack at it for a while, but by the time the Sega Genesis ClayFighter came out on Virtual Console, I didn't really have the Nintendo Points to buy it, and my interest was preoccupied with other things. Eventually I did buy it, but it turned out to be not as good as I had hoped. It's REALLY frustrating to play, even on easy mode, and the final boss in particular is freaking impossible until you use the right characters. I read that the Super Nintendo version not only looks and plays better, but also includes that nifty opening song you saw at the beginning of this journal. But it didn't really matter, I dug the franchise. Why? For the same reason I loved Super Smash Bros.: the characters. Okay, so maybe I love Super Smash Bros. more because of all that concentrated fanservice, but I dig the idea behind ClayFighter; clay-animated variety characters in an overall parody of the fighting genre, which is a genre which I think is alright, but not one of my favorites. Beating up these characters is fun, especially when they get on your nerves (which can happen a lot). Not to mention, especially in ClayFighter 63⅓, the characters are REALLY funny to watch and listen to. I think this is one of those examples where the spectacle makes up for the gameplay.

But, in any case, my purchase of the game was fairly recent since I didn't have that much Nintendo Points and I didn't bother to get any more points since, well, I had lost some of my interest in the ClayFighter in favor of other things to grab my attention. That is, until, in October, I found out about this:

http://interplay.com/about/article.php?id=35

Yeah, that's right, ClayFighter is coming back! Which is odd since, while the series does have its fans, it's not one of those franchises with a HUGH legion of devoted fans making petitions and constantly asking developers questions of whether or nor there will be another installment in the franchise... Though maybe that's a good thing. Perhaps a near non-existent fanbase is just what this franchise needs since, given what I've read, the ClayFighter series hasn't been very well received. If people forget, don't remember, or don't even know what's bad about a franchise, then they're going to be more willing to give this new installment a chance! Of, that's how I see it.

Anyway, as a response to this, I've been doing all I could to find as many people as I can who are also fans of ClayFighter to talk to them about the series, to see what they think of or hope for in the new games, and to get more information about the series itself, since I pretty much know next to nothing about it, though I might know more than what the general public knows.

So, I did the only logical thing I could do. I started a bunch of FaceBook groups/pages, and created a ClayFighter Wiki!

Bad Mr. Frosty group:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=169406789490&ref=ts

Bad Mr. Frosty page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsTJh0fSh6Q

Ickybod Clay page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Ickybod-Clay/327141340787

ClayFighter Wiki:
http://clayfighter.wikia.com/

If ANYONE is a fan of these character, like I am, or if you're very informative about the franchise, please, join these groups, become fans of these pages, and join the ClayFighter Wiki! You're not alone, and neither am I!
 
I remember having the SNES version of one of the first two games and selling it. I actually liked it, but I was actually scared by the dark atmosphere (i was 5/6 years old at the time). The Kangaroo was my favorite character.

Though as far as Clay-based American fighting games go, I would like to see Primal Rage resurrected before Clayfighter, Tv Tropes explain its sheer awesomeness very well:

Primal Rage would just be another generic fighting game if wasn't so stupid-awesome. In it, the dinosaurs went extinct because a wizard from another dimension imprisoned one of their gods in the moon. An asteroid hits the Earth, releases the ancient dinosaur gods, rearranges the continents into a T. rex skull, and turns the Earth into the Grim Dark post-apocalyptic "Urth." Throw in some Gorn, an ape who uses various bodily functions as weapons, and the ability to eat your worshippers while playing, and it you've got the dumbest COOLEST game ever.
 
So, yeah, I doubt anyone will care, but I decided to bump this topic because, after almost a year after the ClayFighter games were announced to be in the works, the DSiWare game has now been officially announced, and will be called "ClayFighter: Call of Putty". It's been mentioned in the latest issue of Nintendo Power, but a general summary can be found here:

http://shoryuken.com/content/clay-fighter-call-putty-2395/

Basically, it's a reworked and updated version of ClayFighter 63⅓... Or rather ClayFighter: Sculptor's Cut, since the game will include Lady Liberty, High Five, and Lockjaw Pooch, who only appeared in Sculptor's Cut.

And it also goes without saying that Earthworm Jim and Boogerman will also be in it.

So, yeah, I'm excited... Somewhat. Anyone else? ...No?
 
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