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The Original Clock Tower Is Getting Its First Western Release
The Clock Tower series is a favorite among horror game aficionados, but the first game has never been released outside of Japan. That finally changes as the 1995 classic is getting spruced up for a modern, international re-release.
For any Americans thinking, “But we got the first Clock Tower on PlayStation,” we actually didn’t. The 1997 game known as “Clock Tower,” which did release in the West, was really Clock Tower 2 and was titled as such in Japan (watch us play it in this classic episode of Replay).
The actual first game arrived on Super Famicom (SNES) and stars Jennifer Simpson, an orphan adopted by the Barrows family only to find that a murderous stalker called the Scissorman is terrorizing their mansion. As a point-and-click adventure, you use a mouse cursor to guide Jennifer and interact with your surroundings to solve puzzles and find clues while evading the Scissorman. The game also features multiple endings. Clock Tower is considered one of the forefathers of survival horror and has been ported to different platforms, such as PC and the Wii/Wii U eShops, several times in Japan.
Wayforward is handling this port, which is being made using Limited Run Games’ Carbon Engine. As discussed in the developer diary video above, improvements include the game's first official English localization (along with multiple language options), a new animated intro, motion-comic cutscenes, and a new vocalized theme song by famed anime and Silent Hill singer Mary McGlynn. It also includes an art gallery, save states, and other modern tweaks.
Clock Tower is coming early next year for PlayStation and Xbox consoles, Switch, and PC. Limited Run Games is also releasing premium physical versions of the game.
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