Clock Tower manages to be chilling from the very get-go, with this beautifully done title screen. |
Clock Tower for the Super Nintendo is a survival horror video game( games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil belong in this category) that was created in 1995 by Human Entertainment. Clock Tower, unlike most games at the time( and games now for that matter), has a complex mature storyline that continues to fascinate me. A lot of Clock Tower's story ad character mechanics can be attributed to the game's main inspirational source: Italian Giallo horror movies of the 70's and 80's, particularly the films of Dario Argento(Suspiria, Deep Red, Phenomena...etc).
The reason for this post is this. How does a 16-bit video game for the Super Nintendo made in 1995 manage to be scarier, more frightening, more chilling, and more eerie than anything made before or after it? Well maybe before is a dumb question, but after?
There are a lot of aspects that contribute to this game's scare factor, so I'll start with the gameplay and graphics. First off, the graphics are among the best on the console, as well as anything produced during the whole decade. They're moody, atmospheric, dark and foreboding. And above all, they're subtle.
Library |
Children's Room |
Storage Room |
The Mannekin Room...Why would anyone have a room like this? |
The story and characters though, is where this game really shines. First, let's meet our main cast:
From Left to Right: Jennifer, Lotte, Ms. Mary, Anne, Laura |
The mansion. |
How every horror movie starts. |
You play as Jennifer, very obviously named and modeled after Jennifer Connelly, who appeared in Argento's Phenomena. Depending on the way you progress through the mansion and its many rooms, you are treated to various outcomes. Like if you visit one of the bathrooms first:
Your friend Laura. |
Good Grief Laura. |
"Pleased to make your acquaintance!" |
Once you evade the little creep, you have a chance to explore the place where the game's story is told by all the rooms inside. In one room you can find a broken picture of two baby twins, who both look disfigured. Somewhere else you find odd ceremonial robes. Then you find rooms like these:
This mural looks bizarre. |
Who the hell is this guy? |
I think I'll be leaving now. |
One of your friends comes to your rescue and frees you from your cage just before meeting her untimely demise at the hands of Miss Mary and her double barreled shotgun. You proceed to knock out the wench and make your escape.
By running around the mansions network of rooms and labyrinthine corridors, you eventually can come across this room. Upon noticing a painted over wall, you break the wall open to find a hidden room. A hidden room containing a long dead man.
This man is actually Jennifer's real father, Dr. Walter Simpson, who happened to have a journal with him:
11. 10. 1986.
This is the 3rd 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 child... 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...
Jennifer...
Jennifer...
Jennifer...
This is the 3rd 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 child... 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...
Jennifer...
Jennifer...
Jennifer...
This tells the fact that Miss Mary used poor Simon to give birth to twin demons, and then imprisoned Jennifer's father in a sealed room. Hmm, if Bobby is one of the twins, where's the other one? Maybe you've been running into twin scissorman all night!
Upon exploring the mansion even more, and having various inevitable run ins with that scissor-wielding brat, you come across a room that looks vaguely familiar.
Remember that Mural? |
You climb down the newly uncovered ladder to discover a complex system of caves and caverns which lead you to discover the meaning behind Simon's words. But what's in the cradle?
Meet Dan. Bobby's morbidly obese fetal zombie monster of a twin brother. Mary's been bringing innocent children into her deranged mansion to be murdered by Bobby, sacrificed at the altar, and used to be absorbed into this demonic corpse laden shell of a body. A shell containing another being. Getting on with it, the fat baby chases you, and you inevitably trip at least twice(another cardinal rule in horror films). You, being the clumsy oaf you are, knock a can of kerosene down a hill while trying to escape. The kerosene is lit by of the many candles lighting the cave, and sets the monster ablaze.
Long story made, well a little less long, Jennifer escapes the caves, and is pursued by Scissorman up into the Clock Tower of the mansion. The girl turns on the mechanism, turning the gears, and making way too much noise for the scissor brat to handle. Bobby holds his ears in pain, and takes a dive, falling into the Clock Tower's gears and getting crushed to death. Mary sure is pissed now as she rushes for you with a knife, but if you hold your own in a fight, you knock her back and she gets electrocuted by the mechanism. Everyone but you is dead, and you live happily ever after.
I know this was a needless long post, but whatever, I'm a nerd. But moreso, I wish newer games would take cues from what made these retro game so brilliant. But, I'm not an optimistic man, so I won't hold my hopes up.