There's a certain kind of heartbreak only '90s gamers know — the kind that comes from getting hopelessly addicted to a brutally difficult game you downloaded from a random CD that came with a magazine, only to never beat it. For me, it was Claw. A 2D platformer about a pirate cat in search of the Amulet of Nine Lives. Claw wasn't your average platformer with a basic premise, no. It was soul-crushingly difficult, and gloriously punishing.

And yet, I never stopped playing it. Of course, that doesn't mean I finished it — I was a toddler when I played it, and the level 6 boss was impossible to beat. Little did I know there were eight more levels after that guy. Claw certainly left a deeper mark than the rest of the games I played as a kid — perhaps it was the voice-acted cutscenes, the beautiful art style that etched itself on my mind, or the downright epic level design.

All of that came together to make a game that still lives rent-free in my head, to this day. So, upon a revisit, I realized the game was just as hard, but this time, I didn't stop until I got that amulet back.

A pirate cat with a sword — and a personality

Captain Claw is one of the most memorable protagonists ever made

Captain Nathaniel Joseph Claw — that's who you played as in Claw. Captain of a pirate ship who also happens to be a gray cat with a British accent, Claw is a swashbuckler in a world of cats and dogs. Naturally, the establishment is, well, canine, and they are withholding the 'Nine Lives Amulet'. The journey then takes the pirate captain across the world in search of the amulet's gems. Claw came out at a time when fully-voiced 2D protagonists were still uncommon, if not rare.

Making him even more special was just how well the voice acting was done. It might surprise you to know that Captain Nate Claw was voiced by none other than Stephan Weyte, the voice behind Caleb from the Blood series on the Build engine that took the world by storm during the DOS and early Windows era. Captain Claw's agility and swordplay aside, it was his personality that made him so unforgettable.

Cocky taunts, dramatic one-liners, and sheer theatricality — this pirate cat had more personality than most other protagonists in gaming at the time, and it clearly showed through. This guy had flair that stayed with you after you shut the game down between sessions, and, in my case, long after you stopped playing the game.

Claw's gameplay holds up even by today's standards

This is a diverse, engaging, and beautiful platformer

You read that completely right — Claw has aged amazingly well, 28 years later. The gameplay remains remarkable — it requires precise platforming, but isn't unfair. Each level has a unique visual and gameplay design, with enemy types changing every second level as the game takes you on a globe-trotting adventure through coves, forests, prisons, castles, and islands. It's a joy when enemies recognize you, and you see wanted posters of yourself as you sprint down alleys and villages.

The combat doesn't become stale, either. As you progress through the game, enemies become tougher, tankier, and even parry your simple strikes, requiring you to figure out, on the fly, how you'd take them down. There are timed power-ups and special weapons to collect that will give you access to secret areas that would otherwise be out of reach, but only if you've been paying attention to everything on the screen — secret ledges, or hidden warp portals that lead you into secret areas full of treasure, which you need to run up your score for each level.

Often, however, there's no going back if you end up missing a chance to enter a secret room. That's what encourages replayability in Claw — you're not losing out on the core experience of the narrative and combat if you miss a hidden area with more treasure, but you sure as hell are going to want to replay the level to 100% it.

It is not an exaggeration when I say that Claw could've come out this year with just a fresh coat of paint, and it could very well have been in contention for indie game of the year.

The platforming was as brutal as it was engaging

The world of Claw is precise and punishing, but never unfair

For a platformer that is nearly 30 years old today, Claw looked absolutely stunning. Every level was drawn with so much richness and care, that it felt more like a handcrafted animated film than a game. The visual aesthetic was top-notch, and what became immediately clear in each level was just how enthusiastically they were designed. From pirate docks and prisons, to lush temples, icy caverns, and dark forests, and heck, even an Italian coastal town — Claw's journey took him through a world that felt like a storybook coming to life. Of course, that also meant that each environment, rich in visuals, also came packed with its own set of obstacles.

It wasn't the visuals alone that demanded your full attention in Claw, though. The platforming was — and still is — absolutely ruthless. Spikes, pits, enemy placements right on the edges of all platforms, gun-toting, dynamite-throwing foes, swinging vines that seemed dead-set on annoying you, all came together to make platforming sequences that made you question your reflexes or their very existence thereof. This was a "tough love" kind of game, and yet, I kept returning. I would spend hours stuck in a forest, on the same section, eyes red, fingers sore, constantly running out of lives and restarting, just because the world of Claw itself was so inviting and alive. For all of its difficulty — and there was plenty — Claw never, for even a moment, stopped being mesmerizing.

The animation, music, and polish were generations ahead

This could very well be a 2025 platformer of the year

I'm willing to bet that anyone who played Captain Claw, even if they stopped before the turn of the century, could hum the main menu theme from memory. That rousing orchestral score that made you feel like you were stepping onto a pirate ship about to set sail, mixed with the sounds of swords clashing. In fact, the whole soundtrack of the game was remarkable. Each of the game's fourteen different levels came with its own soundtrack, which lent a distinction to the identity of each level. The music was tense and suspenseful in the prison levels where we had to escape, and it became exotic and mystical in dark forests. When it came to boss fights or the open seas, the music, mimicking the level, became bombastic and heroic — every aspect of the game had love poured into it, and it showed in droves.

Then came the animations — I remember being amazed by how Claw wobbled on the edge of platforms with his arms flailing about. This is a near-fall animation we take for granted today, but back then, it was rare and never failed to put a smile on my face. Claw's face turned into a grimace when he fought, his eyes narrowed when he began running, and his chest heaved as he struggled to lift and throw heavy explosive barrels at enemies — these animations were genuinely ahead of their time.

It wasn't just the music or animation, either. Claw's sharp one-liners, the clanging of cutlasses, the yells of enemies as they fell, cannons going off in the distance as you scaled the mast of a ship, or even gasps from invisible residents or cries from seagulls as you cut through hordes of guards in a cozy Italian village — these tiny additions made the game a shining example of how good sound design can make a game truly ageless.

There's a surprisingly active online community for the game

Even today, Captain Claw is kept alive with mods, guides, and multiple versions

Imagine my surprise when I found out that in 2025, not only would I be playing Claw again, but also have over 500 custom levels at my disposal, all intricately designed by an active online community that has been going strong for 21 years now. Today, 28 years after its release, Claw continues to have a solid following, and its online community could easily put many others to shame. This website has everything — different versions of the game, customized as per OS versions, two different kinds of level editors, a pack of community-created custom levels, and optional plugins.

There's even a speedrunning community where records are broken regularly, exploits are found and celebrated, and the crazy guys over there have even figured out how to make this game multiplayer. This just goes to show just how fantastic the game was and continues to be, so much that its last update was less than a week ago, and contained ten whole new levels that match the original game in quality and content.

I returned two decades later to beat the game, and I'm still struggling

Replaying the game wasn't the easy affair I assumed

As a five-year-old playing Claw and enjoying the game, not fully adept at the platforming mechanics, I could never finish the game. Out of fourteen levels and nine gems, I could only go up to level 6 before the boss truly showed me the meaning of rage-quitting for the first time in my life. Roughly twenty years later, a beautiful coincidence of finding out my best friend from college also played the game decades ago led me to reinstall the game and revisit it. Eager to face the challenge head on and easily cheese through the game with two decades' worth of gaming experience now, I was in for a rude awakening when I found out that Claw was just as difficult, even now.

At the time of writing this, I'm twelve levels deep, and for the life of me, I can't beat the boss. I've played through every Soulsborne game ever made (except, of course, Nightreign), but Aquatis, the boss in this stage, just won't die. Still, I'm going to keep at it, but no matter what happens, I'm not going to be looking up walkthroughs, guides, or tips. I'm going to play (and finish) the tale of Captain Claw the way my child-self did — no assistance.

If you haven't played Captain Claw, do it today

If you've ever loved platformers, pirate tales, or games with real personality, you owe it to yourself to try Claw. It's tough, it's old-school, and yes, it will beat you down. But it will also charm you, challenge you, and stay with you long after the credits roll (provided you get there).

In an era where retro gems are finding second winds, Claw deserves yours. Download it, fire it up, and see how far you can get without rage-quitting. If you end up beating the boss I couldn't, rub it in my face. Trust me, this game still rules.