iMore Verdict
Bottom line: Select which decapod you want to play as and then arm them with up to two weapons. You can take on other players either locally or online in this hilarious fighting game.
Pros
- +
Plenty of fighters and weapons
- +
Physics-based action
- +
Campgaign Mode
- +
Online and local multiplayer
- +
Interact with things in the environment
Cons
- -
Controls are not intuitive
- -
Horrible menus
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Calappa Games recently released a port for Fight Crab on Nintendo Switch. This game had previously been released on PC to modest success — it allowed players to battle online in either solo or co-op modes while controlling crustaceans. Yes, you read that right.
The crabs wield weapons like revolvers, knives, shuriken, and maces while running around a physics simulated arena. This gives the game a hilarious tone but as you can probably imagine, it also requires a bit of skill to play. Whoever can manage to keep their opponent on their back for three seconds wins the match.
While the premise is definitely interesting and the battles themselves entertaining, the Nintendo Switch version's controls aren't intuitive. The menus are also incredibly clunky, which adds a measure of frustration to the whole experience.
Fight Crab What I like
| Category | Game |
|---|---|
| Title | Fight Crab |
| Developer | Calappa Games |
| Publisher | Mastiff |
| Genre | Simulations, Action, Fighting, Multiplayer |
| Players | Up to 2 |
| Launch Price | $20 |
Fight Crab is meant to be an over-the-top fighting game, which is made obvious by the wide range of weapons that spans everything from steak knives to lightsabers. Heck, you can even ride a seal into battle and have it attack your enemies. You, of course, also play as a crustacean, which only adds to the cartoonish fun.
There are aspects of it that line up with traditional fighting games, but some extras make it stand out. When in a fight, your crab can make weapons out of things in your environment. For example, at the Crustacean City arena, crabs can knock down palm trees and then brandish them like swords or they can even hurl one of the city's cars at their opponents, which results in a fiery explosion.
Some of the other levels even allow you to take a ride from swimming fish or mount toy tanks and shoot them at your enemies. This changes things up quite a bit and makes certain arenas much more interesting to fight in. The game allows you to fight other players either online or locally, so there's plenty of options for finding someone else to play with.
Campaign mode Goals to reach
In Campaign Mode, crabs must face one opponent after another in the same arena. When you begin, you will only have your claws as weapons, though some of your opponents will come out wielding fiery jet engines or long swords. This is where grabbing items in the arena is especially helpful.
When you come out victorious from these matches, you're rewarded with points that can be used to either purchase new weapons for your crab or to level up your crab's stats. Additionally, new purchasable items and crabs become available as you make your way through the campaign.
Fight Crab What I don't like
The controls are a bit convoluted and require explaination before you can dive in.
Since you're playing with non-human, non-bipedal creatures, there's a learning curve to gameplay. Unfortunately, the controls are a bit convoluted and require explaination before you can dive in and pit crabs against each other. As such, this is not a game you can pick up and start playing with a friend until you've completed the tutorial.
To my frustration, I discovered the tutorial is only accessible at the start of the single-player campaign. So, I had to put off playing a local multiplayer session with my husband and run through the first level of the campaign by myself to even learn how to efficiently control these decapods before we could even play together.
Once you understand how to command your crab, things get a little better. However, I often still felt like I wasn't in full control of the crustaceans. They seemed to be a little slow to my commands and yet at the same time, a bit overreactive to the in-game physics.
For example, the crustaceans' arms felt more like those of rag doll's — completely at the mercy of the crab's movements. You can get them to go where you want, but it definitely feels delayed. This is probably due to the fact that the arenas are underwater and so your crab is fighting the weight of the ocean to make its attacks. But even so, it still just doesn't feel quite right.
Clunky menus Frustrating and difficult
I could get past this game's strange controls or even the crabs' sluggish responses and get into the fighting if it wasn't for how the menus are absolutely frustrating and clunky. This is especially true when playing in local multiplayer.
For example, if you're starting up a local two-player battle with a friend on your Nintendo Switch and one of you pulls up the stats menu for specific crabs or the weapons you want to choose, it freezes the other player and won't allow them to continue making their own selections until the first person has closed the stats menu. This is a problem since players need to view those stats in order to make a powerful set of decisions. This being the case, getting the two of you set up for a match takes way longer than it should and just comes off as tedious.
Fight Crab Should you buy it?
I was really hoping that I'd enjoy Fight Crab more than I ended up liking it. The battles themselves are entertaining and I love all of the ridiculous weapons you can unlock as you make your way through the single-player campaign. Additionally, the visuals look really nice considering how simple of a game it is.
However, the controls are not intuitive, so you must run through the single-player campaign in order to experience the turorial before you can efficiently play online or local multiplayers. On top of that, the menus are rather clunky — and in the case of setting up local multiplayer, downright annoying.
That being said, if you're willing to be patient and don't mind the untraditional controls, this can be a really funny game to play whether on your own or with a friend.
Grab your weapons and fight
Select which decapod you want to play as and then arm him with up to two weapons. You can take on other players either locally or online in this hilarious fighting game.
