Claymates is a captivating platform game released in 1993. It was developed by Visual Concepts and published by Interplay Productions. It was designed for the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom, offering a unique gaming experience within Interplay's clay animation series, which also includes the popular ClayFighter titles.
This game was surprisingly enjoyable, and I find it an improvement over ClayFighter! After all, we had Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat released around the same time as ClayFighter, and they make ClayFighter look like a damn joke!
The Story
Professor Potty got captured by the bad witch doctor Jobo. Now, Professor Putty's son, Clayton, is on a mission to fix things. Clayton can use his dad's invention to turn into five different animals. To rescue his dad, he needs to find hidden clay pieces. When he grabs them, he can change into an animal just in time. There are lots of levels and power-ups, taking you on a worldwide adventure. As a bonus, there are extra games between levels. You get to do cool things like climbing trees, digging through caves, flying in the sky, speeding up really fast, and exploring the ocean. It's an exciting journey, and nobody is going to stop this little guppy!
The Graphics and Sound
The graphics in this game are truly amazing. It's 3D, and that's something special, especially for the Super Nintendo. The levels look awesome, even underwater, it's all in 3D. The enemies and your character are shaded well, making them look good. What's even better is that there are no slowdowns, making the graphics terrific. This game could easily be in the top 10 or even the top 5 for SNES games with the best graphics.
The music in this game fits perfectly with the levels. For example, if you're playing in Japan level, you'll hear Japanese music. While some music can be irritating, like in the second world, you'll get over it. Even though the music sets the themes for the levels, it doesn't fully immerse you in the game.
On the other hand, the sounds are great! When you punch, you hear a punching noise. You can hear the mouse running, the cat scratching, and even the underwater sounds. There's nothing to complain about regarding the sounds since they get the job done.
The Gameplay
This game offers a lot of worlds to explore, and you have to find your level, which makes it much more interesting. The challenges in the game tend to be easy, but of course, every level gets harder, and the bosses become more challenging as well. Each world has around 5-9 levels and features a boss. The levels can take anywhere from a few minutes to 20 minutes. Some levels are easy, and finding your way around is straightforward. Additionally, you can warp to different worlds, which adds an extra layer of excitement, but you have to figure out how to do that.
The difficulty of this game is easy to medium-hard. It's easy because you have unlimited continues, but it becomes harder due to some annoying and challenging puzzles. You might die a lot, but the extra continues help you out for a long time.
However, the replayability of the game is a bit lacking. Once you beat the game, there are no secrets, extra modes, or additional features. You might play it occasionally to revisit your favorite levels or just to fool around. If you're really desperate, you can use the warp feature to go to different worlds. Despite its drawbacks, the game does take a long time to complete, and you can save your progress.
My Verdict
Claymates is a highly enjoyable game with a good level of challenge. If only there were a sequel, it could have brought even more excitement to the gaming community.
Play it on the coveted Super Nintendo/Super Famicom or play it on a cool emulator.
Let's keep on gaming in the free world!
