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Revision as of 19:09, 21 August 2016 by TarkusAB (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the 1995 Super Famicom game. For for the 1996 PlayStation game, see Clock Tower (1996 video game). 1995 video game| Clock Tower | |
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.jpg) Super Famicom cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Human Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Human Entertainment Sunsoft |
| Director(s) | Hifumi Kono |
| Producer(s) | Hiroyasu Ichizaki |
| Programmer(s) | Naoki Sonoda Nobuhiro Fujii |
| Artist(s) | Akiyoshi Iijima |
| Composer(s) | Kōji Niikura |
| Series | Clock Tower |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom, PlayStation, Windows, WonderSwan |
| Release |
September 14, 1995
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| Genre(s) | Survival horror, point-and-click adventure, stealth |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Clock Tower 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 of the Clock Tower series. The story follows orphan Jennifer Simpson soon after she is adopted by the Barrows family along with other orphaned girls. The plot quickly takes a dark turn with the introduction of the game's antagonist, Scissorman, as he kills one of the other children. Jennifer then must explore the Barrows Mansion to find a way to escape while evading Scissorman, leading to one of the game's multiple endings. The game utlizes 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. The game was ported to the PlayStation, WonderSwan, and Windows as Clock Tower: The First Fear. Many years later, it was re-released again on the PlayStation Network, as well as Wii and Wii U Virtual Console. The game has never been officially released outside Japan, although fan translations exist. In retrospect, Clock Tower is considered instrumental in helping establish the survival horror genre.
Gameplay
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. Jennifer can walk and run, although running will reduce her stamina. She can 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. Jennifer can also investigate many objects in the game. Some objects can be stored as inventory for later use. The layout of items changes with each play-through.
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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 and slow down and possibly be killed. Jennifer cannot use weapons against Scissorman. Instead the player must find hiding spots throughout the mansion which are key to Jennifer's survival, or use traps placed in the environment. If caught, the player can rapidly press a button which may allow them to escape. If Jennifer dies, it is game over and the game returns to the title screen with an option to continue the game.
Plot
Jennifer Simpson is a child from the fictional Granite Orphanage in Romsdalen, Norway. She and other orphaned children (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.
The game immediately begins with these characters walking towards the Barrows mansion and settling in the main foyer. Mary, the woman who brought the children to the mansion, leaves to find Mr. Barrows, but she takes an unusually long time. Jennifer offers to investigate, but upon leaving the room, a scream is heard from the main foyer. Jennifer returns to find the lights are off and the girls are missing. After finding either Laura or Ann killed, she finds herself being stalked by a murderous little boy with deformed features, wielding a huge pair of scissors. The boy is Bobby Barrows, also known as the Scissorman, and will stalk and torment Jennifer for the rest of the game.
While exploring the mansion, Jennifer searched for Mary's true intentions - either by discovering Simon Barrows trapped in a jail cell, or by discovering her father's corpse. If the former happens, Jennifer will need to give him food. If the latter happens, Jennifer will find his death letter that tells of his account about Mary Barrows and her twins, Bobby and Dan. It says that he was trapped there for three days, until his death on November 10, 1986.
Jennifer visits a small, occult-looking church. If the player has collected all the necessary items and clues, then Jennifer is able to gain access to the underground catacombs of the mansion - using either the Devil Idol or the Scepter, 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. Otherwise, she rescues Jennifer from the jail cell, but is shot by a threatening Mary.
Jennifer enters a room, where she discovers the humongous Dan Barrows, hidden behind curtains. At that point, the awakened Dan chases down 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, and Jennifer rides an elevator in the catacombs. She ends up defeating Bobby in the clock tower, and Mary as well in by getting pecked by crows that Jennifer has helped escape from (or around, depending on prior actions) the clock tower, earlier. If Ann (or Laura) has not died yet, then this survivor reunites with Jennifer at the clock tower in the case of Ending "S". Alternative Ending A has that survivor being thrown down the tower by Mary; other actions lead to one of Endings B and C - any of which could be canonical according to the events of the next game). Because of the game's open-ended nature, the player can also discover a number of other endings.
Development and release
Clock Tower' was inspired by the films of Dario Argento, most notably Phenomena. The game has strong relations to the plot of Phenomena and shares other similarities with Argento's other 1980s films, such as occult themes, distressed young women, and bright colors atop a foggy setting.
The game was first released as Clock Tower on the Super Famicom on September 14, 1995. It was later re-released under the title Clock Tower: The First Fear on PlayStation, Windows, and WonderSwan. The game has been digitally re-released for the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console in Japan in 2010 and 2013 respecitvely. It has also reached multiple PlayStation devices via a release on the PlayStation Network in 2011, also exclusively in Japan. Clock Tower has not been officially released outside Japan; however, fan translations exist.
Reception
In a retrospective review, Allistair Pinsof of Destructoid noted that although Clock Tower aged poorly, it was still worth experiencing. He 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 difficulty navigation 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 navigating. Despite these flaws, he still found Clock Tower worth playing, calling it "atmospheric horror at its most raw, for better or worse."
Legacy
Clock Tower helped establish the survival horror genre. It also solidified Human Entertainment as a developer along with Twilight Syndrome and Laplace no Ma.
Notes
References
- ^ Pinsof, Allistair (October 20, 2011). "It Came from Japan! Clock Tower". Destructoid. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
- "VC クロックタワー ゲーム". www.nintendo.co.jp.
- ^ "VC クロックタワー アドバイス". www.nintendo.co.jp.
- ^ "VC クロックタワー [クロックタワー]とは". www.nintendo.co.jp.
- "VC クロックタワー ゲームの始めかた". www.nintendo.co.jp.
- ^ 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...
- ^ 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...
- ^ Human Entertainment (September 30, 1997). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Clock Tower Story.
In 1995, a young girl 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard Shed.
Jennifer: "W...who are you!?" / Simon: "Uhn...huh...F...food...
- Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard Shed.
Jennifer: "Um...Who are you?" / Simon: "Simon...B......Barrows..." / Jennifer's thoughts: "This man...is Barrows....?
- ^ 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...
- Human Entertainment (September 30, 1997). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Prologue - University.
Narration: "A statue, it is cold...one of the items found at the scene of the Clock Tower murders. It seems to be hiding some sort of secret." / Barton: "It would be a good idea to get an expert opinion on this...
- Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Underground Catacombs.
Narration: "You can no longer smell the perfume." Jennifer's thoughts: "The dog won't be tricked again...
- 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...
- 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.
- 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 ! She's the one who killed Dan!
- Human Entertainment (September 14, 1995). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Ending S - Clock Tower.
Mary: "You ...you...killed my sons!
- "VC クロックタワー". www.nintendo.co.jp. Retrieved 2016-08-21.
- "クロックタワー Wii U 任天堂" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2016-08-21.
- "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. Retrieved 2016-08-21.
External links
| Clock Tower | |
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| Games | |
| Related | |
- 1995 video games
- Clock Tower games
- Human Entertainment games
- Japan-exclusive video games
- PlayStation (console) games
- PlayStation Network games
- Point-and-click adventure games
- Psychological horror games
- Stealth video games
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
- Video games featuring female antagonists
- Video games set in 1995
- Video games set in Norway
- Virtual Console games
- Virtual Console games for Wii U
- Windows games
- WonderSwan games