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				Graphics: 9.0 Gameplay: 9.0 Sound: 9.0 Control: 9.0 Replay Value: 8.0 Live play: 6.5 Rating: 8.0 Publisher:  NinjaBee Developer:  NinjaBee Number Of Players:  1 (1-4) Online
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  “Quirky” doesn’t begin to describe Cloning Clyde, NinjaBee’s new Xbox Live Arcade offering. But in an Xbox 360 market saturated with killer mechs, ultra-realistic warfare and Nazgul, this offbeat $10 title is a welcome change of pace.

  It’s a game so strange it’s a little hard to describe, much less explain. You are Clyde, a none-too-bright Barney Rubble lookalike who gets caught in a genetic modification experiment. To escape, you move through 34 missions (not including training) that require you to solve puzzles, press buttons, pull levers and battle killer security robots.

  Cloning Clyde has been described as a side-scroller, but it’s really more of a 2-D platformer, because Clyde moves vertically as much as he moves from side to side.

  Because you usually can’t do all you need to do alone or as a mere human, there are machines throughout the levels that allow you to clone yourself and to combine your DNA with that of other critters such as sheep, chickens, frogs, exploding barrels of TNT and monkeys. As you might guess, each Clyde-critter hybrid has particular skills that are necessary for that level. For example, Chicken Clyde can fly through a level and reach areas of the map that regular Clyde could never get near. Frog Clyde can jump higher and farther than regular Clyde, and TNT Clyde can blast his way through obstacles and more effectively fight enemies.

  To complete a mission, you must kill all the security robots, and they are guarded by sinister exploding chickens. (You read that correctly.) To get full credit for a mission, however, you must also find a handful of action figured scattered through the level and rescue all the clones that were created as well. You are told before you enter a mission how many clones to rescue, and you can call up your stats and progress at any time by clicking the left thumbstick. Each level has a “par time” that seems a little unreasonable if one wants to grab all the action figures and rescue the clones, but the way around this is to first complete the level at your own pace and then do a speed run through the level to beat the par time. (Once you’ve collected all the action figures, they are not in the level the next time you go through it.)

  The game starts simply enough, but the difficulty level ramps up steadily as you make your way through the 34 levels. In the early going, enemies are entirely manageable, and the way through the level is obvious. Later, though, Clyde faces more dangerous perils (those mines planted in the floor get me every time) and more complicated mechanisms. At no time, however, is the game frustrating, partly because you never “die” and have to start the game over. If your active clone gets too beaten up by mines or Clyde-eating plants, he simply respawns nearby. The challenging but low-stakes nature of the game makes it ideal for kids.

  Comparisons to the PC classic Lemmings are not entirely misplaced. Like that game, Cloning Clyde requires you to switch control among your clones, moving them around to stand on buttons or scales or to pull levers that open up new parts of the map. And the clones you aren’t using put on a little show of their own, doing jumping jacks, stretching and vocalizing hilariously while they wait.

  The cel-shaded graphics aren’t what you’d call next-gen, but they set the perfect cartoony tone for the game. Everything looks asymmetrical and hand-drawn and reminds me a little of Terry Gilliam’s animation work with Monty Python in the 70s. Clyde’s main costume is a butt-baring hospital gown (you can see his crack problem when he climbs up and down ladders), but there are unlockable skins that allow you to dress Clyde as a cowboy, Frankenstein’s monster, a fetching princess, etc.

  Control is intuitive and easy to pick up. Clyde moves with the left thumbstick, which is also used to read the hints placed throughout the level and to drop objects. The “A” button makes him jump, and the “X” button is used to attack security bots and kick objects and other characters. The “Y” button switches control from one clone to another, and the “B” button is used to quickly switch control to the nearest clone and to throw objects. The “Y” button is also handy for “releasing” a clone and flying freely around the map to get an idea where the next objective is.

  The sound design of the game is straightforward. There’s no background music during the levels except for a bit immediately after the final robot is killed, unblocking the exits. The rest of the sounds are of machinery, barrels and chickens exploding and Clyde’s own hilarious and random grunts, giggles and what I can only describe as an electric guitar imitation. You’ll know it when you hear it.

  Beyond the very full single-player experience is a variety of multiplayer modes. Local multiplayer is available, and the implementation of the split-screen configuration is not as bad as with many games.

  Live play is also available. My opportunities to play this game over Live have been pretty limited. First, co-op is very difficult with people you don’t know. Jumping into a Live player match usually means having up to four people not speaking to each other and running around the map with no coordination at all. Even worse, there are always some players who think beating the crap out of the other players is more fun than actually trying to complete a mission. Such has been my experience every time I’ve tried to play co-op. And because everyone on my friends list is still obsessed with Chrome Hounds, I’ve had a hard time finding buddies to play with.

  Unless you’re playing with friends, the Live multiplayer experience doesn’t add much to the game and isn’t a worthwhile diversion from the single-player component. On the bright side, online play was every bit as smooth as single-player, without a hitch or a stutter in sight.

  It’s been a long time since a single-player game kept me giggling and engaged the way Cloning Clyde does, and for $10 it’s one of the best gaming values going. Take a break from conquering planets, throw on your sexiest backless hospital gown and get to work -- those clones are way too stupid to save themselves.

8/2/2006  Tracey 'Jerri Blank' McCartney