Wayforward has announced that the first entry in the dormant Clock Tower point-and-click horror franchise is heading west in 2024.
Originally released in 1995, Clock Tower is the first entry in the series, but stayed Japan-only for over 25 years. The Super Famicom title has a great fan translation available and is a hidden gem on the SNES library. In Clock Tower, players control Jennifer as she and her friends visit the Barrows family mansion. Not long after arriving, things go horribly wrong and Jennifer finds herself at the center of a nightmare.
Newly added to this remake are an animated opening, cutscenes, and a new song by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. For those not familiar, she is the singer behind Silent Hill’s most classic tunes.
Clock Tower is one of only two survival horror games on the Super Famicom/SNES. The other is the 1995 port of the Japan-exclusive Laplace no Ma, made by the same developers. In Clock Tower, players control Jennifer with a simple point-and-click system as she solves puzzles, escapes a stalking killer, and finds out the mystery of the Barrows family. I’ve played Clock Tower several times via emulation, and it’s scary for a 16-bit game. That said, it’s definitely not for everyone. You do not directly control Jennifer and gameplay is very slow. There’s a somewhat random nature to the game too, as I’ve had the killer chase me from completely different spots in different playthroughs. Those quirks aside, I enjoyed this game thoroughly and hope it sees some success.
The Horrors of Limited Release
That said, there’s one blight on the otherwise nice news: Limited Run Games is handling the physical release of Clock Tower. This means there is going to be a single limited pre-order window. With that in mind, if you miss out or go looking for it afterward, prepare to pay a lot more. I have a whole list of issues with LRG both as a customer and a general consumer of games media, but that’s for another time. Above all, I recommend doing some digging into them before you pay the money for a physical release.
Clock Tower will begin stalking the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC in early 2024.
Speaking of Silent Hill, have you seen the new Red Pyramid Thing figure we have up for preorder? It’s a Pop Up Parade, the perfect blend of budget and quality!
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