Claymates

{{Infobox video game

|image = Claymates Coverart.png

|caption = North American cover art

|developer = Visual Concepts

|publisher = Interplay Productions

|producer = Michael Quarles

|designer = Gregory A. Thomas

|programmer= Brian Greenstone

|artist = Colin Silverman

|composer = Brian Luzietti
Charles Deenen

|released = {{vgrelease|PAL|November 20, 1993|NA|April 26, 1994}}

|genre = Platform game

|modes = Single-player

|platforms = Super Nintendo Entertainment System

}}

Claymates is a platform game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is one of Interplay's clay animation titles which also included the ClayFighter series.

Plot

The protagonist is named Clayton. His scientist father has developed a serum that can transform people into animals when it is combined with clay. Suddenly, Jobo the witch doctor appears and demands the formula for the serum. The father refuses, to which Jobo replies by changing Clayton into a ball of clay and stealing away both his father and the serum. Clayton vows to save his father despite his new form and embarks on a journey through his backyard, the Pacific, Japan, Africa, and finally outer space.

Gameplay

File:SNES Claymates.png

The player uses samples of serum lying around in these levels to transform into one of five different animals (Muckster the Cat, Doh-Doh the Duck, Oozy the Mouse, Goopy the Guppy, and Globmeister the Chipmunk) to best fit with the environment and make it to the end of the level. Special abilities that are in a clay ball transform Clayton into a helpful animals as he races the clock to collect as much as possible and still makes it to the end, jumping over obstacles and attacking with the animal in use. Clayton must also be careful not to be hit while a blob or he'll die.

Development and release

Claymates was developed by Visual Concepts and published by Interplay Productions. Interplay entered into a distribution contract with clay animation studio Cineplay Interactive, a subsidiary of Will Vinton Productions which also included the fighting game ClayFighter and the chess game Battle Chess 4000. Claymates was produced by Interplay veteran Michael Quarles, designed by Gregory A. Thomas of Visual Concepts, and animated by A-OK Animation, the last of which was responsible for mascots such as Gumby and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Thomas conceived Claymates under the working title "Animal Connection" for the Nintendo Entertainment System before production moved to the SNES. Quarles stated the game's clay characters were made in an attempt "to have the consistency of something like Flintstones in character and story" while Thomas claimed was designed to have "the speed of Sonic, the maps of Mario, and colors that have never been done before".{{cite magazine | author=Ceccola, Russ | date=March 1993 | title=A Hundred Pounds of Clay | publisher=Decker Publications, Inc. | magazine=Electronic Games |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic-Games-1993-03/page/n35/ | pages=36–7 | issue=6 | volume=1 | issn=0730-6687 | accessdate=March 27, 2022}} For the game's audio, Interplay employed the Advanced Real-time Dynamic Interplay (ARDI) Sound System. This proprietary MIDI tool allowed composers to play music and sound effects directly from SNES ROM files to save on memory by only occupying 18 kilobytes of space.{{cite magazine | author=Worley, Joyce and Chamberlain, Ross | date=January 1994 | title=EG Hotline: Sound System Improves SNES | publisher=Decker Publications, Inc. | magazine=Electronic Games | url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic-Games-1994-01/page/n13/ | page=13 | issue=4 | volume=2 | issn=0730-6687 | accessdate=March 27, 2022}}

Characters from Claymates would also appear in the pre-fight introductions of ClayFighter, which was released around the same time.{{cite web | author=Jasper, Gavin | date=July 11, 2016 | title=ClayFighter: The Muddy Fighting Game Series of the 90s | url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/clayfighter-the-muddy-fighting-game-series-of-the-90s/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514101504/https://www.denofgeek.com/games/clayfighter-the-muddy-fighting-game-series-of-the-90s/ | archive-date=May 14, 2021 | publisher=DoG Tech LLC | work=Den of Geek | accessdate=March 27, 2022}} The line "Blaze Processing" featured on the box art and in the manual{{cite book | author=Interplay staff | date=April 26, 1994 | title=Claymates Instruction Manual | page=5 | publisher=Interplay Productions | id=SNS-Y5-USA}} of Claymates is a reference to Sega's claims of "Blast Processing" in some its US Sega Genesis advertisements.{{cite web | author=Carter, Chris | date=July 21, 2021 | title=Claymates SNES is on Switch now and y'all need to try it | url=https://www.destructoid.com/claymates-snes-is-on-switch-now-and-yall-need-to-try-it/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011083255/https://www.destructoid.com/claymates-snes-is-on-switch-now-and-yall-need-to-try-it/ | archive-date=October 11, 2021 | publisher=Enthusiast Gaming | work=Destructoid | accessdate=March 27, 2022}} A Genesis version of Claymates was planned but never released.{{cite magazine|title=News: Interplay Announce New Sega Titles|magazine=Sega Power|issue=50|publisher=Future Publishing|date=January 1994|page=6}} In July 2021, Claymates was added to the Nintendo Classics service.{{Cite web|author=Hardawar, Devindra|date=July 21, 2021|title=Nintendo's next SNES Switch Online games include Claymates and Jelly Boy|url=https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-snes-switch-online-claymates-jelly-boy-bombuzal-150021227.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721150816/https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-snes-switch-online-claymates-jelly-boy-bombuzal-150021227.html|archive-date=July 21, 2021|access-date=September 11, 2021|work=Engadget|publisher=Yahoo}}

Reception

{{Video game reviews

|Allgame={{rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Brett Alan|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116143825/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12327&tab=review|archivedate=November 16, 2014|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12327&tab=review|title=Claymates|publisher=AllGame|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|CVG=77/100{{cite magazine|last=Rand|first=Paul|date=November 1993|url=https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File%3ACVG_UK_144.pdf&page=89|title=Claymates|magazine=Computer and Video Games|issue=144|page=89|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|EGM=7/10{{efn|In Electronic Gaming Monthly{{'}}s review, three critics scored Claymates 7/10, one 6/10, another 8/10.{{cite magazine|last1=Semrad|first1=Ed|last2=Carpenter|first2=Danyon|last3=Manuel|first3=Al|author4=Sushi-X|last5=Weigand|first5=Mike|date=March 1994|url=https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20056%20%28March%201994%29/page/n29/mode/2up|title=Review Crew|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|pages=30–42|volume=7|number=3|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}}}

|GamePro=4.125/5{{efn|GamePro scored Claymates 4/5 three times for sound, control, and fun factor, and 4.5/5 for graphics.{{cite magazine|last=Music|first=Boss|date=February 1994|url=https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_055_February_1994/page/n111/mode/2up|title=Claymates|issue=55|magazine=GamePro|pages=110–111|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}}}

|Hyper=87%{{cite magazine|last=Fish|first=Eliot|date=August 1994|url=https://archive.org/details/hyper-009/page/42/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Hyper|issue=9|pages=42–43|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|MF=69%{{cite magazine|author1=Philipp|author2=Markus|date=June 1994|url=https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File%3AMegaFun_DE_1994-06.pdf&page=36|title=Claymates|magazine=Mega Fun|page=36|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|NP=3.525/5{{efn|Nintendo Power scored Claymates 3.5/5 three times for play control, challenge, and theme/fun, and 3.6/5 for graphics/sound.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-127-december-1999/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20056%20January%201994/page/102/mode/2up|title=Now Playing|magazine=Nintendo Power|date=January 1994|volume=56|pages=102–107|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}}}

|ONM=80/100{{cite magazine|author1=Andy|author2=Steve|date=October 1993|url=https://archive.org/details/nintendo-magazine-system-uk-13-october-1993/page/n83/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Nintendo Magazine System|issue=13|pages=84–85|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|SP=79%{{cite magazine|last=Nicholson|first=Zy|date=October 1993|url=https://archive.org/details/Superplay_Issue_12_1993-10_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n49/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Super Play|issue=12|pages=50–51|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|VGS=71%{{cite magazine|url=https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=19371|title=Claymates|magazine=Video Games|page=105|date=June 1994|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|rev1=Electronic Games

|rev1Score=90%{{cite magazine|last=Ceccola|first=Russ|date=January 1994|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic-Games-1994-01/page/n75/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Electronic Games|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|rev2=Nintendo Acción

|rev2Score=83/100{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Nintendo_Accion_021/page/n41/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Nintendo Acción|issue=21|date=August 1994|pages=42–43|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|rev3=Super Control

|rev3Score=85%{{cite magazine|author1=Paul|author2=Allie|author3=Andy|date=April 1994|url=https://archive.org/details/super-control-11/page/n21/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Super Control|issue=11|pages=22–25|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|rev4=Super Gamer

|rev4Score=84/100{{cite magazine|author1=Keith|author2=Andy|author3=Ryan|date=May 1994|url=https://archive.org/details/super-gamer-02/page/62/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Super Gamer|issue=2|pages=62–63|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

|rev5=Super Pro

|rev5Score=90/100{{cite magazine|last=Butt|first=Ryan|date=October 1993|url=https://archive.org/details/super-pro-11/page/n91/mode/2up|title=Claymates|magazine=Super Pro|issue=11|pages=92–94|accessdate=March 26, 2021}}

}}

Claymates received mostly positive reviews.