King of the Crustaceans

Embracing its ridiculous nature, Fight Crab is a fighting game with chuckles galore on the Nintendo Switch!

In some ways, Fight Crab reminds me of the mid 90s fighters. Those games that attempted to stand out from the human casts in Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Samurai Shodown, and so forth by having dinosaurs, robots, globs of clay, etc. Fight Crab has giant crustaceans headlining the combat, to elevate the fighting action.

Now I have to level with you and say that this game can be a bit of a button masher. That’s not to say it doesn’t have some depth. It’s probably more reflective that I haven’t played it enough to be proficient. But all the same, it’s won me over, quirks notwithstanding. There’s just something about trying to flip a crab or lobster by beating it with a fan palm tree or vehicle where you can’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

There are lots of weapons you can ultimately buy, from relatively inexpensive ones like a knife or crowbar eventually up to Excalibur. It’s like something out of the mind of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, and that’s never a bad thing. Be sure to save to level up as well, in five different areas.

It’s not just the cast and the weapons either; it’s the areas you fight. From a city, to a medieval temple, to atop a Chinese restaurant table, and more, these are memorable locales. They offer room to move in all directions and plenty of things for you to grab to fend off the animated chaos.

It’s all atypical, including the controls, but seven tutorials ensure you’ll be familiarized at the very least. Controlling each claw individually, running up walls, and fighting both one-on-one and multi battles is, while not easy to master, is easy enough to learn. Keep in mind that these crustaceans move like the giants they are. Also, like Smash Bros., 100% damage does not mean you’ve won.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any online activity, even though the options were smart. You can create a room for friends, be a spectator to learn some tricks, or even play online, even with PC players. It could be the time of day I tried or the fact that the game is new. While I imagine local versus is best, the lack of online activity is a bit of a bummer. Solo players will enjoy playing through the campaign, but local play will give the game legs and laughs. Even though it’s a fighter, its E10+ rating should tell you even younger ones can enjoy it without much worry.

The eclectic soundtrack is worth a listen or two…or more! It’s like kitchen sink soup in musical form. A bit of feudal, techno-pop, ska fiesta, alternative hip hop, easy listening, and beyond – even some lyrics get tossed in for good measure. The fact that such a wide-ranging selection of tracks seems to fit the action so well speaks to this game’s flavor. First-rate music!

While Fight Crab is far from the best fighting game I’ve played, it is among the funniest fighters, which gives the title real value, despite its quirks. It will get repetitive playing solo, though, so make sure you have some in your household to play with to give the one-of-a-kind Fight Crab lasting power.