Clock Tower is a game you see often rear it’s head on many a scariest game list. The PlayStation release is still touted as one of the best survival horror titles of all time. Little did we all know that the franchise actually began on the Super Nintendo (or, Super Famicom if we’re getting technical here). It’s easy to see why this one was never released outside of Japan. Nintendo had a very ‘family friendly’ image worldwide, and there’s no chance they would have approved an English localized version. The original sold well enough to garner a few sequels and these all are more widely known. With the Halloween season upon us it’s time to take a look at Clock Tower on the Super Famicom. Here’s our review; strap in because this game is a doozy!
Upon booting up the game we’re given a story interlude. Clock Tower takes place in modern day (or I suppose the 90s). Our protagonist is an orphan named Jennifer; she and a few friends caught a lucky break (or so it would seem) when they were wanted for adoption by the Barrows family. The group makes their way to what will be their new home situated deep in the woods. Upon arrival they just walk in (bad manners if you ask me) and no one is around. The headmaster of the orphanage wanders off, and Jennifer ventures forth to find her. A scream rings through the house and Jennifer returns to the main hall to find that everyone is gone and the lights are off. She soon discovers that her forever home might be just that, but ‘forever’ isn’t as long as she expected.
Straight away you’ll notice that Clock Tower isn’t like any other 16-bit game. It’s played via point and click methodology. You don’t directly control Jennifer. No, that would be too easy. Instead you guide an on-screen reticule and press the action button to make her move to where you clicked or to interact with the object you’ve selected. Jennifer moves almost entirely left or right, but the game does have a sense for 3D space in that she’ll move into the background in certain instances. The foreground is fair play too sometimes. By default she walks towards what you’ve selected, but two taps and she’ll run instead. That last fact is very important to remember because her walking speed is like that of a snail.
Early into your adventure Jennifer encounters the dreaded Scissorman. This is the main antagonist of the game. His first appearance is scripted. Because Jennifer is just a child (or teen, or whatever) she isn’t adept at fighting. Your only answer most of the time is to run and hide. Jennifer can hide under beds and in various furniture in this game. It’s like Haunting Ground or Outlast, but decades before either of these. Clock Tower was a real trailblazer for this gameplay ideology.
Alright so we’ve established how you get around, who the enemy is, but what exactly do you do in this game? In true survival horror fashion your goal isn’t readily apparent. As Jennifer you’re trying to find everyone who went missing in the house, and eventually find your way out. You explore the large mansion finding items that allow you to reach new areas and progressing the story. After your first encounter with Scissorman he starts to show up at random. That’s the perfect word to describe his prescence, because he’ll appear almost anywhere if you play long enough. Our papercutter antagonist loves to drop in unannounced, and via some extremely dramatic means. He might fall from the ceiling, pop out of a box, or more. At this point the game becomes a simple play of ‘cat and mouse’ wherein you must hide until he leaves.
The annoying (and rather frightening) part of this is that sometimes he’ll find you no matter what you do. He searches you out, and that means you’re never totally safe. If you make enough space between he and Jennifer you’re fine. Sometimes you’ll have to hide and this is pretty frightening. You have to play the waiting game here. You will die. A lot. There’s no way around it. Clock Tower is largely a game of trial and error. For some that’s going to be an immediate turn off. I don’t blame you. It’s kind of fun however to explore the nuances of the mansion, and to discover the horrors that lie within. There’s a whole lot of backstory and it sets some amazing atmosphere.
I do have a few complaints however. In typical survival horror fashion your goals can be a bit vague, and some of the puzzles are more guesswork than anything. There’s also a fair bit of backtracking, but that’s commonplace for this genre I suppose. The point and click interface is a little taxing because you never have complete control over the character. I’d take tank controls any day. Also, if Jennifer becomes too scared she’ll trip while trying to escape. What’s worse is you’re stuck using the controller to guide the on-screen reticule. Why the heck did they release a mouse for the system if games like this aren’t going to use it?
Clock Tower is a very, very beautiful game. The backgrounds are absolutely full of detail. Even drab areas like simple hallways generally tend to have unique elements every few tiles. The artists put a lot of work into the game in this regard. Areas look different enough from one another that you’ll be able to recognize where you’re at, and the exits it leads to. This is also one of the few games for the platform that uses real life pictures in it for some of the story sequences. It looks really nice to be honest. The only weak point here is the animation as Jennifer, Scissorman, and all other characters have just a few different frames. Despite this Clock Tower is one of the best looking games for the Super Famicom.
The soundtrack is a little sparse, but every single composition is amazing. Seriously, this music is great. A lot of high pitched fake piano work that harkens to horror cinema (specifically the slasher genre) and it’s a very welcome change of pace from your typical Super Nintendo fare. What I particularly like is the fact that the music changes instantly when Scissorman enters the scene. It definitely sets the mood.
Clock Tower is very scary, but it’s not as fun as I had hoped. The ambiance and scare factor actually manage to bypass that in such a way that I didn’t care that much about how tedious it can be to play. I wanted to see everything this house had to offer, and I instantly went back to try and get different endings upon my first completion. This is a legitimately good choice to pick up for the Halloween season, and is the best survival horror game on the Super Famicom.
