Interplay announces remastered ClayFighter, coming in 2016

Clayfighter Snesbox

ClayFighter was originally released in 1993 for the SNES, then ported to the Sega Genesis a year later. The characters, with names like Bad Mr. Frosty, Blue Suede Goo, and Ickybod Clay, were all rendered in claymation-style graphics, and there was a fairly strong element of humor to it. It was also pretty well-liked: According to Wikipedia, EGM named it "Best Street Fighter Wannabe" of 1993 and said the Genesis version was solid too. And now the original publisher, Interplay, is bringing it back.

Interplay announced that a remastered version of ClayFighter is being developed in partnership with Drip Drop Games and is expected to be ready for release in 2016. It will include more than 20 characters and 20 "familiar" environments, unique "Claytalities," and new mechanics like double-jumping, air-dashing, counters, and reversals.

It sounds good, though it's worth pointing out that Interplay hasn't had much success with new projects in recent years. The 2012 resurrection of Black Isle Studios hasn't gone anywhere, and a recent Kickstarter campaign for FreeSpace Tactics, a tabletop miniatures game, fell far short of its funding goal. I also haven't had any success finding references to Drip Drop Games, which I assume is the studio that's actually doing the remastering, so it's impossible to say what it brings to the party. Interplay isn't crowdfunding the updated ClayFighter, so there's no risk to anyone else, but if you're the easily disappointed sort you might want to wait awhile before getting your hopes up.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.