Interplay announces remastered ClayFighter, coming in 2016

ClayFighter was originally released in 1993 for the SNES, then ported to the Sega Genesis a year later.

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 resurrectionof Black Isle Studios hasn't gone anywhere, and a recent Kickstarter campaign for FreeSpace Tactics, a tabletop miniatures game, fell far shortof 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.