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Writer's pictureRoberto Nieves

Review: Fight Crab

By: Roberto Nieves


The first rule of Fight Crab is to bring a gun, and a crowbar. Additionally, you should talk about it because Fight Crab is a great game. Coming off of the incredibly eclectic action game Ace of Seafood, Japanese indie developer Nuusoft, Calappa Games, and publisher Playism, have come together to bring players a successor to Ace of Seafood, Fight Crab. Focusing exclusively on crustaceans, this area fighter is absurd, crazy, and downright entertaining. While the controls do take some getting used to, Fight Cab is a deliciously entertaining game!


Fight Crab has no story. You are a crab, and the goal is to become the champion crab of the world. To do so, you will fight, but not just on the ocean floor. From cities to the dinner table, the goal is to fight crabs, survive, and ultimately, become the reigning champion. There is nothing else that matters in the world of Fight Crab, only to be victorious and win. Your opponents will undoubtedly be sacrificed and placed on the dinner table of the local seafood restaurant, but it is an honor to fight in the arena that is Fight Crab.



Fight Crab is an arena fighting game, where the goal is to fight and defeat rival crabs. To win, the opposing crab must be flipped onto their backs, or knocked out of the arena. To flip onto their back, Fight Crab adopts a damage system very similar to Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate. Every blow and attack increasing the percentage of damage received. The higher the damage, the more vulnerable a crab is to being flipped over. Fights Crab rewards players who use their agility, as well as their claws, in order to avoid incoming damage, and fish out punishment. Earlier battles feature fights without weapons, encouraging the player to learn how to fight and Larry with their claws. The claws of the crab can party, lunch, and pinch. Parrying can sway and deflect an attack, while punching does as you would expect Pinching is a more difficult attack to execute, but if done so, can be very effective. Pinching can cause immense damage to a crab. As the campaign mode progresses, players can wield weapons, both from other crabs and from the environment. These weapons include crowbars, katana swords, hammers, and even revolvers.


The biggest hurdle for Fight Crab are the controls. For PC players, a controller is essentially mandatory to play Fight Crab. The analog sticks control not the movement or the camera but the claws of the crab. Crabs have a wide range of dexterity with their claws, and so, players have access to this wide range. Crabs come in various shapes and sizes, therefore, this range of motion for the arms is essential for victory. The directional pad is used for moving forwards, backward, and parallel to a targeted crab.



Fight Crab is the enjoyably absurd fighting game that I didn't know I needed to play. In a year wrought with turmoil and misery, Fight Crab is a genuinely enjoyable and silly game that reminds us that video games can be fun, joyous escapes. The grand scheme constantly tickles the humor of players, from the core gameplay to the level design. You indeed come to the hilarious realization that yes, you are a snow crab fighting a coconut crab at a Chinese restaurant table. The lunacy continues when various species of crabs attack, each with their own traits. Some crabs are larger, with stronger claws but slower speed. Others a smaller, lighter, and faster, but more prone to damage. Several species are more mid-range, striking a fair balance of speed and maneuverability.


Between matches, players use earning to upgrade their crab, as well as purchase additional weapons. This will be essential, as Fight Crab doesn't shy away from challenge. If a fight becomes too intense and you lose a round, players may hire an assistant crab to fight alongside you. I found this incredibly useful and effective, as well as appreciated. The levels feature waves of crabs, and Fight Crab can become incredibly intense. If I died at the last wave, all I had to do was restart the wave and not the entire level. Fight Crab also allows the entire campaign, all 41 battles, to be played co-operatively with another live player, further




Additional delightful features of Fight Crab are the levels, which vary in design and scope. it is immeasurably entertaining to see where Fight Crab goes. Some levels take place on the ocean floor, but others turn Fight Crab into a kaiju fighting game, akin to a Godzilla video game. Levels like these are a blast, allowing players to toss explosive cars or dismember battle tanks to use as weapons. AS you fight, Japanese rock and roll that would be perfectly normal in an anime roar through the battle. Japanese Pop music also plays and becomes so incredibly enjoyable to listen to, it greatly enhances the overall experience. Fight Crab doesn't take itself too seriously, making it all the better to play.


It must be remarked again where Fight Crab finds itself in this unfamiliar year. Most video games handle serious topics of the real world, such as mental health, discrimination, and governments. Other video games are focused on shooters and military tactics, or remakes of older games. Fight Crab is a strong reminder that the zaniest and craziest of video game ideas can oftentimes be the best ones. Video games are a blank canvas onto which an entire universe can be created and explored. A game doesn't necessarily have to be a reflection of the real world, but can instead be a reflection of a vivid imagination. In Fight Crab, the imagination is to take the familiarity of an arena fighting game and have crabs fight instead of humans. The result is something infinitely enjoyable, but also profound. More developers should leap into such wild ideas, detached from the safety of conformity and normalcy.


If there's anywhere for Fight Crab to improve upon, it would have to be the variations of levels and the inclusion of more weapons. I can certainly see blaster rifles from Star Wars being a weapon in the game, along with fighting crabs on the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere. Other than that, Fight Crab is a fully realized game with no missing features or performance issues.


With Fight Crab arriving for the Nintendo Switch in September, I cannot praise Fight Crab enough. On PC, Fight Crab is a laugh-out-loud fighting game with a sublime vision and an infinitely enjoyable gameplay experience. I am sure that will be the same for the Nintendo Switch audience as well. Embrace your inner crustacean and fight. There can only be one Crab to control the World's oceans.


Fight Crab was reviewed on Steam on an ASUS TUF Gaming 1660Ti, thanks to a key generously supplied to Stack Up from Stride PR.

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