Clock Tower
Developer(s)Human Entertainment[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Human Entertainment[lower-alpha 2]
Director(s)Hifumi Kono
Producer(s)Hiroyasu Ichizaki
Programmer(s)
  • Naoki Sonoda
  • Nobuhiro Fujii
Artist(s)Akiyoshi Iijima
Composer(s)Kōji Niikura
SeriesClock Tower
Platform(s)Super Famicom
PlayStation
Windows
WonderSwan
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 5
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
Xbox Series X/S
Release
September 14, 1995
  • Super Famicom
    • JP: September 14, 1995
    Windows
    • JP: March 28, 1997
    PlayStation
    • JP: July 17, 1997
    WonderSwan
    • JP: December 9, 1999
    Enhanced ports
    Windows, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
    • WW: 2024
Genre(s)Survival horror, point-and-click adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Clock Tower[lower-alpha 3] is a survival horror point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Human Entertainment for the Super Famicom in 1995. It is the first installment in the Clock Tower series. The story follows orphan Jennifer Simpson soon after she is adopted by the Barrows family along with other orphaned girls. Shortly after arriving at the Barrows family manor, one of the other children is killed by a stalker called Scissorman. Jennifer must then explore the Barrows Mansion to find a way to escape while evading Scissorman, leading to one of the game's multiple endings. Clock Tower utilizes a point and click interface with the player controlling a cursor to direct Jennifer's actions.

Much of Clock Tower's plot and artistic style are inspired by the works of Italian horror film director Dario Argento, most notably Phenomena (1985). Director Hifumi Kono loved horror films like this and wanted the game to feel like one. Many of the game's character graphics were digitized from photos of real people. Jennifer's movements were constructed from a woman in Human's planning division acting out the scenes. Her design was inspired by Jennifer Connelly's character in Phenomena.

The game sold well upon release. An updated version, titled Clock Tower: The First Fear, was ported to the PlayStation, WonderSwan, and Windows. Many years later, it was re-released again on the PlayStation Network, as well as the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console. The game has never been officially released outside Japan, although fan translations exist. In retrospective reviews, Clock Tower has been praised for its haunting atmosphere, but the puzzles and exploration have drawn criticism for being tedious. It is considered an influence on horror games and a pioneer of the survival horror genre.

An enhanced, international port of the game, targeting eighth and ninth-generation consoles, as well as the PC, is scheduled for an early 2024 release.[1][2]

Gameplay

Jennifer struggling with Bobby while in 'panic mode'

Clock Tower is a survival horror point-and-click adventure game with 2D graphics. The player controls a cursor to direct the main character, Jennifer Simpson, and give commands such as investigating objects or opening doors.[3] Jennifer can walk and run, although running will reduce her stamina. She may recover her stamina by sitting on the floor. Jennifer's character portrait in the corner of the screen will change depending on her stamina level. In addition to interacting with objects in the game, Jennifer can also store them in the inventory for later use.[4] The layout of items changes with each playthrough.[5]

Jennifer is under the constant threat of a stalker named Scissorman. When Scissorman is confronted, the game will enter "panic mode". Depending on Jennifer's health status, she may begin to trip, slow down and eventually be killed.[3] Jennifer cannot use weapons against Scissorman. Instead, the player must find hiding spots throughout the mansion, or use traps placed in the environment.[6][5] If caught, the player can rapidly press a button which allows them an attempt to escape.[3] If Jennifer dies, then it is game over, returning the player to the title screen with an option to continue the game.[6][7] The game features nine possible endings.[8]

Plot

The story follows Jennifer Simpson, an orphan from the fictional Granite Orphanage in Romsdalen, Norway.[9][10] She and other orphaned children named Laura, Anne, and Lotte are adopted in September 1995 by a wealthy recluse named Simon Barrows, who lives in a mansion known as the "Clock Tower", named after its predominant feature.[9][10][11] After arriving at the mansion, Mary, the woman who brought the children to the mansion, leaves to find Mr. Barrows.[12][13] When she takes an unusually long time, Jennifer offers to investigate.[13] Upon leaving the room, she hears a scream coming from the main foyer. Jennifer returns to find the lights off and the girls missing. After finding either Laura or Anne killed, she finds herself being stalked by a murderous little boy with deformed features, wielding a huge pair of scissors, named Bobby Barrows, also known as the Scissorman in the game.[11]

While exploring the mansion, Jennifer searches for Mary's true intentions. Depending on choices made by the player, Jennifer will either discover Simon Barrows trapped in a jail cell inside the courtyard, or her father's corpse in a hidden room. If the former happens, Jennifer will need to give him a piece of ham as food. If the latter happens, Jennifer will find his death letter that tells of his account concerning Mary Barrows and her twins, Bobby and Dan.[14] It says that he was trapped there for three days, until his death on November 10, 1986.[14] Jennifer then visits a small, occult-looking church. If the player has collected all the necessary items and clues, then she gains access to the catacombs of the mansion - using either the Devil Idol or the Sceptor, but the former is canonical as it appears in the sequel. Jennifer sees a cloaked figure walking ahead of her; this is Mary. She follows it, wearing a disguise to fool the guard dog using Mary's perfume, and a black cloak found in the mansion. If Lotte did not need to rescue Jennifer from the jail cell, she can be found dying at an altar, and tells Jennifer about the switches in the clock tower.[15] Otherwise, she rescues Jennifer from the jail cell, but is shot by a threatening Mary.[16]

Jennifer enters a room where she discovers Dan Barrows, a giant, gluttonous purple creature. Dan awakens from his slumber and chases Jennifer to a steep cliff. She successfully climbs over, knocking down a can of kerosene which splashes onto a nearby candle. This triggers an explosion that immolates Dan,[17] while Jennifer rides an elevator out of the catacombs. She ends up defeating Bobby in the clock tower, and Mary as well in (or around, depending on prior actions) the clock tower. If Anne (or Laura) has not died yet, then this survivor reunites with Jennifer at the clock tower but is soon thrown down the tower by Mary. These actions would lead to one of Endings A, B, or C - any of these could be canonical according to the events of the next game. Because of the game's open-ended nature, the player can also discover other endings.

Development

The design of protagonist Jennifer Simpson was inspired by that of Jennifer Corvino from Phenomena (played by Jennifer Connelly).[18]

Clock Tower was directed by Hifumi Kono, who wished to use the game to pay homage to one of his favorite film directors, Dario Argento.[19] Most notably, the game borrows many ideas and is inspired by his film Phenomena (1985).[8][19] Clock Tower has strong relations to its plot and shares other similarities with Argento's 1980s films, such as occult themes, distressed young women, and bright colors atop a foggy setting.[3] Kono had a passion for old horror films, and wanted Clock Tower to feel like one.[20]

Kono described Clock Tower as an experimental project with a small budget and staff. His peers believed that a game where the protagonist runs away from the enemy would not work, but he continued on despite these concerns. Due to lack of staffing resources, developer Human Entertainment could not include mouse support and also needed to shrink the map down significantly.[19] Although the graphics are two-dimensional, the mansion is designed within a 3D space.[3] The character graphics in Clock Tower were created by digitizing photographs of real people, a popular technique at the time. The actress for Jennifer was a woman in Human's planning division. Many of the motions in the game came from her acting, such as hanging from a roof and stumbling in the hallway.[19]

Release

Clock Tower was first released on the Super Famicom on September 14, 1995.[21] According to Kono, the game sold "fairly well".[19] It was later re-released under the title Clock Tower: The First Fear on PlayStation on July 17, 1997.[8][22] Upon release, the PlayStation version made it the 8th on the sales charts, selling 54,293 copies.[23] This release featured a new dagger weapon, a new room, and minor scenario additions. It was also released for Windows 95, and both the PlayStation and Windows versions featured full motion video scenes, and minor graphical improvements.[24][18] A monochrome version with no pause option and some HUD changes was later released for WonderSwan.[18][25]

Clock Tower was digitally re-released for the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console in Japan in 2010 and 2013 respectively.[26][27][21] It has also reached multiple PlayStation devices via a release on the PlayStation Network in 2011, also exclusively in Japan.[28][22] Clock Tower has never been officially released outside Japan; however, fan translations exist.[3] In 2015, the soundtrack was released, titled CLOCK TOWER 20th Anniversary Sound Collection. This includes audio from the original, PlayStation, and Windows versions of the game, as well as music from the games Clock Tower 2, and Clock Tower: Ghost Head.[29][30] In 2020, a fan made patch for the Super Famicom version was released that added features from the PlayStation version like mouse support.[31]

International remaster

In July 2023, WayForward and Limited Run Games announced an enhanced version of the original game.[32] It is set for an early 2024 release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and will mark the game's first proper international localization.[32]

Reception

Famitsu gave the Super Famicom version a score of 31 out of 40,[21] and the PlayStation version a 27 out of 40 score,[22] and the WonderSwan version a 22 out of 40.[25]

In a retrospective review, Hernando Vallejo of Hardcore Gaming 101 described Clock Tower as "one of the most thrilling experiences the [horror] genre can offer". He praised the game's graphics and sound for building a strong atmosphere.[20] Allistair Pinsof of Destructoid praised the graphics, story, and the Dario Argento-inspired style for creating a haunting mood and atmosphere. He also praised the multiple endings and unique gameplay design. However, he found Clock Tower failed to create an interesting adventure experience due to the difficulty of navigating the mansion layout, excessive item hunting, and simple puzzles. He criticized the game's attempt to place a 3D space within a 2D game, which created confusion when exploring. Despite these flaws, he still found Clock Tower worth playing, calling it "atmospheric horror at its most raw, for better or worse".[3] Both The A.V. Club and Pinsof believed that although Clock Tower aged poorly, it was still worth experiencing.[33][3]

Clock Tower has been seen as influential on horror video games and is considered instrumental in establishing the survival horror genre alongside the 1992 video game Alone in the Dark.[34] It also solidified Human Entertainment as a developer along with Twilight Syndrome and Laplace no Ma.[3][20] The game has made it to many lists of best horror games. The 2016 mook Perfect Guide to Nostalgic Super Famicom ranked the game the second best horror game for the Super Famicom,[35] in 2018, The A.V. Club placed the game as number thirty on its list of top thirty-five horror games of all time.[33] In 2022, HobbyConsolas listed it on their top 20 horror games of all time.[34]

Notes

  1. ↑ 2024 Windows version and enhanced ports developed by WayForward
  2. ↑ 2024 Windows version and enhanced ports published by Limited Run Games
  3. ↑ Japanese: クロックタワー, Hepburn: Kurokku Tawā

References

  1. ↑ "Original Clock Tower game is getting an enhanced remaster". 12 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "Clock Tower remaster announced for Switch". 12 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pinsof, Allistair (October 20, 2011). "It Came from Japan! Clock Tower". Destructoid. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  4. ↑ "VC クロックタワー ゲーム". www.nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "VC クロックタワー アドバイス". www.nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "VC クロックタワー [クロックタワー]とは". www.nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ "VC クロックタワー ゲームの始めかた". www.nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 Elf, The (October 1997). "Super Nuevo: Clock Tower". Superjuegos (in Spanish). No. 66. Grupo Zeta. p. 37.
  9. 1 2 Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Intro. Raised in the Granite Orphanage, Jennifer and her friends were wanted as adopted daughters. It happened in September...
  10. 1 2 Human Entertainment (September 30, 1997). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Clock Tower Story. In the mountains of Romsdaaren [sic], Norway, stands the Barrows Mansion. This mansion had a large clock tower, by which the locals tended their flocks in the surrounding fields. The local people called the mansion the Clock Tower...
  11. 1 2 Human Entertainment (September 30, 1997). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Clock Tower Story. In 1995, a young girl [Jennifer] from the Granite Orphanage, whose parents died when she was quite small, was lured into the Barrows Mansion where she was attacked by a monster wielding a giant pair of scissors. That monster was the grown-up Bobby.
  12. ↑ Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Main Foyer. Laura: "What a huge place..." / Ann: "Yeah! The main hall's gigantic!" / Mary: "I gotta go get Mr. Barrows. Everyone wait here.
  13. 1 2 Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Main Foyer. Lotte: "Mary...she's taking a long time. Should I go find Ms. Mary?" / Jennifer: "No, I'll go look for her.
  14. 1 2 Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Secret Room. 11.10.1986 - This is the third day I, Dr. Walter Simpson, have been in here. I'll not last long. Before I die, I will record this...There are twin children who are a blemish on this world. When the lady was to give birth, I was called to this house. She gave birth to two chil...no, demons. When they were born, they ate my right hand. They were ill, their bodies deformed...they should have died. But they lived...I should have tried to...Breathing is painful. The air in this room is already gone...They are in a cradle under the star...
  15. ↑ Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Underground Catacombs. Jennifer: "Lotte. Lotte!" / Lotte: "Uhh..." / Jennifer: "Lotte, you're still alive!? / Lotte: "Mmm...Jennifer...The switches in...the clock tower........" / Jennifer: "Lotte? Don't...leave me alone...
  16. ↑ Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard Shed. Lotte: "Jennifer, you're okay!" / Jennifer: "Lotte!!" / Lotte: "Half a sec, I'll get you out. There we go! Now, get out of here before Mary comes!" / Jennifer: "Huh...?" / Lotte: "Quickly, Jennifer!" / Narration: "A voice is heard outside the shed..." / Mary: "Now isn't that a pity...Jennifer, don't move a muscle. I will punish you.
  17. ↑ Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Ending C - Clock Tower. Mary: "Bobby! Bobby! Get this girl [Jennifer]! She's the one who killed Dan!
  18. 1 2 3 Elsam, Sarah (March 2021). "The Making of Clock Tower". Retro Gamer. No. 121. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. pp. 66–71.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Szczepaniak, John (November 2015). The Untold History of Japanese Video Game Developers Vol. 2. SMG Szczepaniak. p. 277,293,305.
  20. 1 2 3 Vallejo, Hernando (September 4, 2015). "Hardcore Gaming 101: Clock Tower". www.hardcoregaming101.net. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 "クロックタワー [スーパーファミコン]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2015-06-11. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  22. 1 2 3 "クロックタワー 〜ザ・ファースト・フィアー〜 [PS]". Famitsu. Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  23. ↑ "Monitor: Top Ten Sellers in Japan". PSM. No. 2. United States of America: Imagine Publishings. October 1997. p. 21.
  24. ↑ Fernandez, Jose Manuel (2018). "Clock Tower: Con la muerte en los talones" (in Spanish). No. 22. Spain: Future Publishing.
  25. 1 2 "クロックタワー for ワンダースワン [ワンダースワン]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  26. ↑ "VC クロックタワー". www.nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  27. ↑ "クロックタワー Wii U 任天堂" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  28. ↑ "CLOCK TOWER ～The First Fear～ | ソフトウェアカタログ | プレイステーション® オフィシャルサイト". www.jp.playstation.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  29. ↑ "『クロックタワー』初のサントラCDが発売決定！ 12月20日には河野一二三氏が出演するインストアイベントも". Famitsu (in Japanese). November 5, 2015. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  30. ↑ 『クロックタワー』河野一二三氏も出演するサントラ発売記念イベントの詳細を発表＆チケットの前売り券も発売開始. Famitsu (in Japanese). November 30, 2015. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  31. ↑ Yarwood, Jack (10 January 2023). "Clock Tower Deluxe Fan Patch Introduces New Chase System And Events". Time Extension. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  32. 1 2 Romano, Sal (July 12, 2023). "Clock Tower 'Port+' announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  33. 1 2 A.V. Club staff (October 31, 2018). "The 35 greatest horror games of all time". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  34. 1 2 Santiago, Ángel Morán (July 16, 2022). "Los 20 juegos de terror imprescindibles que debes jugar sí o sí". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  35. ↑ Perfect Guide of Nostalgic Super Famicom. Japan: Magazine Box (M. B. Mook). 2016. p. 47. ISBN 9784866400082. OCLC 960434261.

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