FIGHTCRAB is a game about CRABS that FIGHT, okay?
FIGHT. CRAB. FIGHT. CRAB.
FIGHTCRAB! You really can't beat that title, both for accuracy and sheer satisfaction value in shouting it aloud, hence why I insist it be capitalized. The latest from oceanically obsessed Japanese indie outfit Nussoft (they of the quite bonkers Neo Aquarium: The King Of Crustaceans and its sequel, Ace of Seafood), FIGHTCRAB has been in the works for a while now, but yesterday they released their best chunk of gameplay footage yet.
Within, CRABS. And they FIGHT. Really, what more could you ask for?
FIGHTCRAB!
Possibly a little less daft than their earlier games, but still charming in its aquatic oddness, FIGHTCRAB looks to be primarily a game of physics-driven underwater wrestling. Two crustaceans enter, one leaves, their foe embarrassingly up-ended and wobbling around on their back. Oh, and sometimes the crabs have bloody great medieval swords, making for a spectacular display of armored violence.
It appears that as with Smash Bros and its many imitators, damage to the enemy causes them to become lighter and easier to flip, with crabs at full health staying stubbornly attached to the sand below. Stabbing or bashing with weapons definitely causes damage, but you can also gradually wear your rival down by grabbing onto them with your big scary pincers. There are a variety of shelled warriors to play as, and it seems that there's multiple weapons too, though I do question the viability of a spiked ball on a chain at the bottom of the ocean.
FIGHTCRAB will apparently be making its debut at independent trade-show Comiket this summer, August 11th, but my inability to read Japanese means that most of the juicy, meaty details remain trapped behind a shell of linguistic incompatibility. If any of you fine sea-faring folk are able to decipher the text in the video above, by all means share your wisdom in the comments below.
You can keep up with development on this and other such silliness on Nussoft's official site here, and their Twitter feed here.