ClayFighter: История пластилиновых бойцов

1993 video game

ClayFighter is a fighting game released for the Super NES in November 1993 and ported to Sega Genesis in June 1994. The game is a parody of Street Fighter. In 2009, the Genesis version was re released on the Wii Virtual Console. Most of the game features a circus theme focused more on humor. It features claymation style graphics that were created by photographing and digitized actual clay models. The game was one of the two "clay" themed game franchises made by Interplay Productions, the second being a platformer released for the SNES titled Claymates. In July 2020, Megalopolis Toys made a partnership with Interplay to release a line of 6 inch action figures based on the games.

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.

ClayFighter was developed by the studio Visual Concepts and published by Interplay Entertainment. 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 franchises Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. The developer took the idea to animation experts Ken Pontac and David Bleiman of Danger Productions, based in Brisbane, California. The two companies worked for nearly one year developing ClayFighter. 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. Interplay also aided in the ClayFighter project by creating new character movements with spliced animation sequences; the publisher was also responsible for recording the musical score, voices, and sound effects. In May 1994, Interplay released ClayFighter: Tournament Edition for the SNES. Tournament Edition improved on the original ClayFighter by fixing many glitches, adding a number of stage backgrounds, and offering new difficulty settings, speed options, and versus modes. The Genesis version of ClayFighter was released on the Wii Virtual Console in Europe on February 6 and in North America on May 25, 2009.

ClayFighter was followed by the Tournament Edition update in 1994. Two sequels were also produced: ClayFighter 2: Judgment Clay for the SNES in 1995 and ClayFighter 63⅓ for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, the latter of which had its own special edition with ClayFighter: Sculptor's Cut in 1998, which was only available as a rental game at Blockbuster Video stores in North America. The Sculptor's Cut edition included four additional characters (High Five, Lady Liberty, Lockjaw Pooch, and Zappa Yow Yow Boyz) who were cut out of the original release for 63⅓. Many special attacks that the characters used were removed and the combo system was also altered. Sculptor's Cut is widely considered to be the rarest game released for the Nintendo 64, with only 20,000 copies ever produced. In March 2015, Interplay revealed that a remastered ClayFighter was 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. The game has since been cancelled, as in 2016 Interplay sold the intellectual rights to ClayFighter and many other titles as well.

ClayFighter was awarded Best Street Fighter Wannabee of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. They also awarded it Best Sound Effects, as well as awarding it for having the Best Ad. ClayFighter sold 200,000 copies by the end of 1994. GamePro gave 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 enjoy ClayFighter with its laughable characters, cool combos, and great game play." Electronic Gaming Monthly also 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.