Clock Tower (1995 video game)

Clock Tower
Japanese SNES cover art
Developer(s)	Human Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Human Entertainment
Director(s)	Hifumi Kono
Composer(s)	Kouji Niikura Kaori Takazoe
Series	Clock Tower
Platform(s)	SNES Windows PlayStation WonderSwan Wii (Virtual Console) Wii U (Virtual Console)
Release date(s)	September 14, 1995 SNES JP September 14, 1995 Windows JP March 28, 1997 PlayStation JP July 17, 1997 WonderSwan JP December 9, 1999 Virtual Console JP August 3, 2010 (Wii) JP November 6, 2013 (Wii U)
Genre(s)	Survival horror Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	ROM cartridge, optical disc

Clock Tower (クロックタワー, Kurokku Tawā) is the first installment of the Clock Tower survival horror point-and-click adventure game series created by Human Entertainment for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.^[1] It was later ported to PlayStation, Windows and the Wonderswan. The game was published by Human Entertainment and was released in Japan in 1995. Much of the plot and characters are inspired by Dario Argento's film, Phenomena.

Gameplay

Struggling with Bobby in 'panic mode'.

Clock Tower is a 2D psychological horror point-and-click style game, where the player controls a cursor to direct the main character, Jennifer Simpson, and give commands such as investigating objects or opening doors. The interface is akin to computer adventure games of the 1990s, but simplified to work better with a gamepad. Primarily, the player can only move Jennifer left and right through the environment, although there are some rooms in which an action requires Jennifer to step into the background.

Clock Tower is unique among adventure games of the era in that it features a stalker pursuing the main character; this delays puzzle solving and requires the player to run in order to find objects or hiding places to fend off or avoid the attacker. The stalker is a 9-year-old slasher named Bobby Barrows/Scissorman, who wields a large pair of scissors. If directly confronted by Bobby, the player engages in a "panic" phase and must repeatedly pound the "panic button" to attack the enemy. If Jennifer is low on health, or the player does not tap the panic button fast enough, Bobby will attack Jennifer and the player will be presented with a "Dead End" screen.

Although the game refers to it as Jennifer's health, the color of the background where her face is shown changes to represent her current fear level. Blue means she is in a calm state, while yellow means she is startled, orange meaning she is alarmed, and finally red, where she will begin to panic. In red, she is more likely to be attacked during a direct confrontation with Bobby. Additionally, while running away from Bobby, there is a chance Jennifer might trip over her feet, making her vulnerable if Bobby is close by.

Many of Bobby’s appearances are triggered by the player inspecting certain objects, but there are some cases in which he will come out of a hiding place and chase Jennifer as soon as she enters a room.

Plot

Jennifer Simpson is a child from the fictional Granite Orphanage^[2] in Romsdalen, Norway.^[3] She and her friends, who are also orphans (Laura, Ann and Lotte) are adopted in September 1995^[2][4] (the same month the game was released) by a wealthy recluse named Mr. Barrows, who lives in a mansion known as the "Clock Tower", named after its predominant feature.^[3]

The game immediately begins with these characters walking towards the Barrows mansion and settling in the main foyer.^[5] Mary, the woman who brought the children to the mansion, leaves to find Mr. Barrows,^[5] but she takes an unusually long time.^[6] Jennifer offers to investigate,^[6] 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.^[7] The boy is Bobby Barrows, A.K.A The Scissorman, who will be Jennifer's main stalker and tormentor for the rest of the game.^[4]

While exploring the mansion, Jennifer will need to find out Mary's true intentions - either by discovering Simon Barrows trapped in a jail cell inside the courtyard, or by discovering her father's corpse in a hidden room. If the former happens, Jennifer will need to give him a piece of ham as food.^[8][9] If the latter happens, Jennifer will find his death letter that tells of his account about Mary Barrows and her twins, Bobby and Dan.^[10] It says that he was trapped there for three days, until his death on November 10, 1986.^[10]

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 Sceptor, but the former is canonical as it appears in the sequel.^[11] 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.^[12] If she did not need to rescue Jennifer from the jail cell, Lotte can be found dying at an altar, and tells Jennifer about the switches in the clock tower.^[13] Otherwise, she rescues Jennifer from the jail cell, but is shot by a threatening Mary.^[14]

Jennifer enters a room, where she discovers the humongous Dan Barrows, hidden within 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,^[15] and Jennifer rides an elevator in the catacombs. She ends up defeating Bobby in the clock tower,^[16] and Mary as well in (or around, depending on prior actions) the clock tower. If Ann (or Laura) had not died yet, then this survivor would reunite with Jennifer at the clock tower in the case of an Ending "S". Alternative Ending A has that survivor being thrown down the tower by Mary; other actions would 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.

Endings

Clock Tower has a variety of endings depending on the choices the player makes throughout the game. The endings run from A to H, H being the worst and A being the best, with a special S ending above A. Endings A, B, and C seem to be canonical, as the sequel Clock Tower (Clock Tower 2) is compatible with any of these endings.

• Ending S

This ending is considered the "best" non-canonical ending and the most difficult to obtain. In the initial list of endings, if it has not been unlocked, it is not shown at all. Laura is seen lying unconscious on the floor. Jennifer activates the clock tower, with the sound of the bells disorienting Bobby enough that he falls off the top of the tower to his death. Mary, hysterical at the deaths of her two children, tries to kill Jennifer, but is pushed back and then off the tower by an enraged flock of crows, (who want to repay Jennifer for freeing them from a cage earlier in the game). Jennifer is then joined by her one surviving friend, Laura for the credits. (If Jennifer saw Laura die, then Ann will join her, and vice versa. Lotte can't be saved.) Two of the requirements are freeing the crows, and discovering Walter's secret room.

• Ending A

If Jennifer encounters Simon Barrows in the shed, and one of her friends survives, this ending is unlocked. After Bobby falls to his death, the surviving friend runs to Jennifer. Their reunion is cut short when Mary steps out from the shadows and tries to grab Jennifer but instead throws Jennifer's friend into the Clock Tower's gears. Mary is defeated when Jennifer/the crows pulls her off of the side as Mary attempts to stab her. Jennifer is the only survivor.

• Ending B

Having seen all her friends die (and/or failing to free the crows), Jennifer goes to the third floor using the elevator. Just before the elevator stops, Bobby attempts to break into it through an overhead vent. Jennifer escapes to the top of the clock tower using a ladder, and activates the clock tower bells with the switches, disorienting Bobby enough that he falls off the top of the tower. Mary attempts to throttle Jennifer. Jennifer throws Mary into a generator box, electrocuting her. Jennifer is the only survivor.

• Ending C

This Ending has the same requirements as Ending B. Inside the elevator, Jennifer presses the button for the second floor, and finds Mary in the hall. Having seen her father's corpse or having been confronted by Mary in the shed, Jennifer talks to Mary before she attacks her with a knife. Mary then calls for Bobby to help her. Jennifer avoids Mary and climbs up a ladder to reach the clock tower. However, Mary grabs Jennifer's leg while she is climbing. Jennifer breaks free of Mary's grip and she is flung off the ladder to her death. At the top of the clock tower, Jennifer faces Bobby again who is out to avenge his mother and brother, but she activates the clock's bells. The bell's chimes disorient Bobby enough that he falls off the top of the tower. Jennifer is the only survivor.

• Ending D

If Jennifer does not get captured and does not discover her Father's corpse in the hidden room, the player will get this Ending. Inside the elevator, Jennifer presses the button for the second floor, and finds Mary in the hall. Jennifer talks to Mary and Mary consoles her, telling her that "You're safe now". Jennifer who does not know how evil she is, runs towards Mary, but is stabbed in the chest with a knife before Jennifer can tell her everything that has been happening in the mansion. With her dying breath, Jennifer asks "Why" as Mary stands before her with an evil grin.

• Ending E

This Ending has the same requirements as Ending D. Inside the elevator, Jennifer presses the button for the third floor, and the elevator suddenly halts. Bobby breaks into the elevator through an overhead vent. Jennifer screams and the screen fades to black.

• Ending F

If Jennifer does not get captured, and doesn't see Lotte die in the cave, she will continue the game normally until the elevator sequence. Upon entering the elevator, the doors close. Bobby breaks into the elevator through an overhead vent, and kills Jennifer off-screen, and blood seeps from under the elevator doors. After the credits end, Bobby can be heard laughing inside the elevator.

• Ending G

If Jennifer escapes in the car after seeing all of her friends die, she will escape the mansion and return to the orphanage. A text after the credits tells that Jennifer was found dead three days later in her room. The cause of her death is unclear; the most common theories that she is killed by one or more of the Barrows, or that Jennifer committed suicide over the loss of her friends.

• Ending H

This ending is considered the "worst". Jennifer stumbles across a car in the garage, and finds the key in a crate. She is unable to leave her friends in the mansion, but after three attempts to enter the car, she eventually gives in and escapes, driving through the wall of the shed. In a post-credits scene, Jennifer is seen driving and she sees through her overview mirror a pair of giant scissors popping out in the back seat, Jennifer appears shocked, and screams. The screen then fades to black.

• Alternate Endings

There are two endings that can be obtained through a glitch in the game in which Jennifer does not see Ann or Laura die. The first is identical to endings H and G, but only displays the credits after Jennifer leaves; this results in a Ranking of D. The second is obtained if the player meets the prerequisites for Ending S, but it is identical to Ending F.

Development

It has been stated by the producers of the game that the game design was inspired by Dario Argento's Phenomena (known as Creepers in the US). This is likely because the film and the game share similarities, including the name and basic appearance of the leading character (Jennifer), a deformed killer child and a deranged mother.

Release

Ports

In 1997, Human Entertainment released an enhanced port of the original Clock Tower for PC and PlayStation. Titled Clock Tower: The First Fear, this version took the advantage of the newer 32-bit hardware of the Sony PlayStation, and added new sounds, scenes, and FMVs to enhance the experience.

In 1999, the PlayStation version of The First Fear was ported to the WonderSwan. Due to the system's small black-and-white screen, the games graphics were less detailed. Other aestetic changes were also made to the game.

Translations

The game has not been officially released outside of Japan. The Super Famicom version has had several fan translations. It has been translated into English, Turkish, Russian and Korean.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Notes

External links

• Clock Tower Instruction manual at Giant Bomb
• Clock Tower at GameFAQs
• Clock Tower ~The First Fear~ at GameFAQs
• Clock Tower English screen captures