Simple fun

Games like Cloning Clyde for a while where the life blood of Xbox Live Marketplace. Simple games that were just not complex enough to warrant a full disc release but thanks to digital delivery were now available to a receptive audience looking for quick fix gaming. The market has changed since then with games like Portal and Shadow Complex making the marketplace a microcosm of the main gaming market and games like Cloning Clyde are beginning to lose their place once more. A recent drop in price to 400 points brought me back to this Ninja Bee title and in turn reminded me why I love Xbox Live Marketplace. 
 

Clyde is offered $20 to be part of a cloning experiment which goes wrong leaving Clyde and his favourite action figure cloned numerous times and the $20 missing. You guide Clyde through 2d levels collecting the figures and saving his clones which he can make more of as he encounters cloning machines. The game can be best described as a simpler 'Splosion Man with the levels comprising of a few puzzles which you will get past by utilising the numerous Clyde's available on screen. Starting off simply enough (two clones to get on two buttons) they increase in complexity nicely whilst never getting quite as frustrating as some puzzle games. The game keeps a nice variety throughout with hybrid Clyde's created by cloning with an animal or inanimate object to give Clyde unique powers. Frog Clyde can swim and sheep Clyde bounds about with gay abandon, breaking the monotony of the game. Levels comprise of different backdrops but are purely cosmetic, the games simplicity is key and as such nothing outside of the puzzle mechanics affect the puzzles. Guiding you through the levels are notes left by your other clones which are probably the highlight of the game. The writing can't help but bring a smile to your face as you read about the Clyde wanting to break away from the group, the woes of seeing your clones blow up on a minefield and being told by yourself that you are a special person. It's a little touch which puts Clyde into the category of "charming game". 
 
As stated earlier it's not an overly difficult title nor is it particularly long. A couple of afternoons should kill the game along with the majority of the achievements. The multiplayer doesn't hold much replay value with battling friends feeling forced and not part of the mechanics. This matters not though as for 400 points Cloning Clyde is a quick fix time waster. A solidly built title that brings a smile to your face and 200 gamerscore to your profile. It's the kind of title that is needed on platforms like Marketplace to give diversity amidst the rising numbers of deep serious titles on show and even though it's simple it's this simplicity which is it's strength. In not attempting to do anything daring it does a standard puzzle game extremely well and with it's new price point it's one of the bargains of the service.