Game Review: ClayFighter 63⅓ (N64)

Stupid title, right?

Well, the 63⅓ in said title is pretty much a parody of the fact that many games on the N64 used the ‘64’ at the end of their title. Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, Bomberman 64, Bass Hunter 64, Donkey Kong 64, Doom 64 and so on.

It’s all part of the Clayfighter game series’ attempts to be humorous. Some of which works, some of which really doesn’t.

ClayFighter 63⅓ is the third game in the Clayfighter series. The previous two having been released on the SNES. Like those games it has its own unique look as it uses stop-motion animation and claymation instead of traditional computer animation. Does it look good? Well, no even if by today’s standards it could never hold up as well.

What does hold up though is the most important thing, the fighting mechanics. Combining Killer Instinct style combos (with silly names) with Street Fighter Alpha super combos and Mortal Kombat fatalities, there is a serious learning curve to gameplay. Mastering combos is no easy task and it can be very frustrating at times but once you begin to get to grips with it, it can be satisfying.

There are 12 characters to choose from. 9 initially and 3 that can be unlocked with cheat codes or finishing the game with each character. They all have their own unique look and fighting style. For example, Bad Mr. Frosty is a mean looking snowman that is slow but delivers heavy attacks. Ickybod Clay is a ghoulish wisp with a Jack ‘O Lantern for a head, is fast moving and can teleport. Taffy is an agile and quick creature made out of taffy!

Such a unique set of characters and that they all have their own fighting style is worthy of credit. Hell, if you’ve always wanted to get Earthworm Jim in a fighting arena, that is possible here as he is a playable character!

Talking of arenas, they are another great feature of ClayFighter 63⅓. Each one is themed around a particular character and in most you can knock opponents through doors into different rooms! This gives it variety and it’s fun to try and discover each arena’s extra rooms.

ClayFighter 63⅓ has some hard to ignore issues though and that is the absence of replayability and horrid sound. The speech, something that gets really repetitive, sounds fuzzy, as if it was recorded on a tape deck and the music is so uneventful there might as well be none. The development clearly had issues as the game was delayed for almost a year after its initial launch date. If they needed that much extra time to work on it and this was the end result then I dread to think what it was like before.

It has its flaws but has an interesting and varied roster. As well as some good fighting arenas and decent fighting mechanics. These certainly help ClayFighter 63⅓ standout from the fighting games pack.