PixlBit

(Due to the photo service I used for photo embed now charges for 3rd party photo sharing, I’ll be unable to share any screenshots of my playtime at the moment. Hope to fix soon)

It’s come down to the final days of the month and I try to save the best for last. I’ve been playing this game off and on over the course of the month as I was in the process of doing something to my Nintendo Wii when I learned that the Nintendo Wii Shop would soon be DOA. I hadn’t intended on it originally but with the posting of my Octoberween 2017 Video Weekend of JonTron’s Clock Tower review and the twitter postings of one @Operation Zer0 I decided on tracking down this title. With a little luck with both the technical and search parameters I was able to finally to see what I’ve been missing most of my Survival Horror fan life. My number 1 choice for this year is Clock Tower on the Nintendo Famicom.

 

Games so old it obviously doesn’t have a a game trailer release for it but enjoy this mock up for a fanmade movie trailer. Kinda fits what the game offers…

I had heard about Clock Tower given my tastes for the survival horror genre but for the life of me I never got around to playing the series on the PS1 or PS2. As the years passed I eventually learned that the series actually had its start on the Japanese Famicom. I don’t recall what video I saw that revealed this bit of fact to me. The Gaming Historian perhaps? I just knew of it more when I finally watched some reviews of the game online and decided that one day I’ll see in getting a copy. I even went as far as “softmodded” my SNES so it could accept import titles. In the end I was eventually turned off by it given that I didn’t know a lick of Japanese. I could hardly read it let alone speak the language. But thanks to the wonders of the internet, with fan translations (along with other means to play this game) I finally decided to give it a try this year. I didn’t what to expect personally despite what was said in most game reviews of this title. Would I enjoy it? Would I love it or hate it? Would I want to play it over and over like other survival horror titles or would it be a one and done ordeal?

You play as Jennifer, a orphan girl who’s on her way to the Barrows Estate to see on being adopted, along with some other girls. When their caretaker leaves them inside the spooky mansions sitting room to fetch Mr. Barrows himself you get to take control of Jennifer and begin exploring your surroundings. Eventually you get separated from the main group, hear a blood curdling scream which compels you to run (or walk back depending if you haven’t figured out to double tap the walk button) only to find the sitting room empty.

And your nightmare about to begin.

What’s mostly been spoken about this game is true when it comes to the gameplay style of this game. It does play out like a PC point-and-click adventure game of years passed. Though not as interactive like current adventure games you see on current consoles like on the PS3 and Xbox 360, you instead have to more your cursor over the item you want to interact with while Jennifer has to move toward it after the fact. Sometimes you can get her to interact with an item or area as she’s walking by it but you have to get your arrow cursor to be right on top of it before she passes it by or else she’ll end up walking (or running) passed it thus making her have to turn back to what you highlighted. For some this might come as annoying given what we’ve come to expect in current adventure games. You could call this control scheme as a bit of a hindrance a-la like the original tank controls in the original Resident Evil games on the PS1. For some they might find this way of control more of a handicap to the game but for me it helped to immerse myself into the gaming world, much like how a young girl might not have exact control over themselves in familiar surroundings. But I will admit having to walk on a specific plane to reach a certain item to interact with might seem a bit odd. A limitation to the hardware I guess but it helps with its 3D-ish look even if sprites are being scaled in real time.

As you venture into the mansion in trying to escape you’ll find odd items to collect that’ll hopefully come in handy to survive your ordeal in this mansion. Like adventure games for its time you won’t know exactly what will work wear until you perform the tried and true trial & error system with click said item on what interactive icon to see if it’ll work. Some make sense like using insecticide spray to kill a bunch of bugs covering an item while others seem a bit odd like using a rock to help dig a hole bigger for you to enter maybe?

But the real scares come in when you first come face to face with the “Scissor Man”. I myself ran into him when I found one of Jennifer’s friends hung inside a running shower. He popped right out of the water with intentions to use his hedge clippers (yes the do look like hedge clippers, not scissors) on me. Here’s when you might find the controls a bit odd to get use to when you’re trying to make your escape from this diminutive foe. I can best describe the tension and fear you feel when trying to escape from him akin to your random zombie encounters that you face in Resident Evil, when you’re low on heath and ammo. You might panic and accidently run toward your foe than way. You’re desperately trying to jam the controls to get your character to move the right way or attack the right area. It’s that kind of feeling as you plan Jennifer when Scissor Man appears. The only difference is you don’t have any means to attack Scissor Man. That’s right! No gun or knife or even defensive weapons. Not even a Silent Hill pipe! Your only offense is a best defense of you having to run away to either escape him or hide somewhere. This to unfortunately can be a form of trial and error as you might accidentally run into a room with no escape, a room where you can gain access or a room where you think you can get away from him only for him to get you when you least expect it. There are even hidden environmental dangers you might not be aware of. In my case the floor gave out from under me, causing Jennifer to hang on for dear life just before she fell to her doom.

You’ll be seeing the Dead End screen a lot in this game. Sometimes by sheer accident while others from just plan dying. The key to surviving this game is to have an eagle eye and near perfect memory in what rooms lead where and what could be used to help you escape certain death. Even the “piece of ham” item in your inventory serves a purpose aside from it being a funny gag in a JonTron video.

For some there might not be much to this game and I’m sure many would pass this game up, aside from some survival horror fans out there. It’s not really a game that’ll win over the masses nor will it keep you entertained long if you’re expecting lots of action and scares like in current survival horror titles out now. What it does give you though is the environment and atmosphere that very few can come to appreciate. While the music is minimalistic at best what music is offered comes in at the right times to give you a sense of fear and foreboding when a certain circumstance comes into play. When Scissor Man’s theme comes on you can’t help but your heart beat to quicken just a little as you try to outrun/hide this nemesis till you know it’s safe when the music fades off. When the music abruptly changes from dull quietness to its spooky sounding theme, you’ll know something could be coming up soon and best prepare. While the visuals may not win over many nowadays, it is quite a sight to behold when you realize this game was on a 16 bit system. Character animations may look jerky and slow but they give you a fare sense of personality on who’s who and what’s what. Even Jennifer’s outfit sticks out to me for it reminds me of an old Asian female friend I knew long ago who wore a similar purple outfit just like that, the only exception being hers reaching up to her chest thus giving her a more defined feature but I digress.

 I’m not sure if other versions had this feature but after getting some Dead Ends, I was given an option to continue right where I died. I only mention such because I’ve heard from some players/reviews that when you die you usually had to start back at the very beginning. Thankfully though the game does give you a “quick start” option where the game will begin right after all your friends vanish. This game itself kind of reminds me of the gameplay type that you’d find in my number 3 pick this year, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. It has the similar trial and error method of gameplay and multiple means of getting a bad ending. My game even has a Dead End counter to see how many of them did you find in case you were the sadistic type to see how many times you failed than succeeded.

But what I liked most about this game was the attention to detail in most of the surroundings in the game. There were times I swore I saw a pair of eyes looking through a darken window from the outside. Or how the one phone inside the house rings despite the fact that Jennifer notices that the phone line has been cut. When the bird that you let out of its cage that keeps saying “I’ll kill you” in this shrill voice you’re not sure if you should see it as a cute gesture, like your 2 year old threatening with bodily harm, or if you should heed Jennifer’s promptings when she trying to shield herself from the offending bird. The shower room where you first find your hung friend even has a cool steam clouded effects being seen in the room. I personally liked how you’d find a box in a room you entered move, as if to suggest that Scissor Man might be hiding in it, only to find it housed a black cat instead. I will admit it didn’t totally freak me out but it did give me pause and force Jennifer to linger by the exit door. Even the room with the dressed mannequins was a bit eerie when one on the far left of the screen would keep moving and the ones in the center would fall over with either its body or head. And don’t get me started on the taxidermy room……

In truth this game may not be for everyone. Indeed some may say it sucks or it’s too primitive to be worthy as to be a decent entry in the survival horror genre. But if you give it a chance, get use to the gameplay controls, and treat it like it expects to be treated, you’ll come away being pleasantly surprised in what you come away with. You won’t get any gruesome death’s yourself, either with Jennifer feeble attempts to fend off Scissor man, followed by her blood curdling scream, but the intention is made known enough where your imagination can fill in the blanks. Still though seeing a friend of yours being impaled by Scissor Man, or getting eaten by one of the Barrow’s Family or getting shot with a shotgun while hiding inside a wooden crate does make up for it.

If you’re lucky enough to find a means to play this game I’d highly recommend it. Depending on where you look you can find this game either in its original Japanese or translated to English in any degree. I myself can’t exactly say how I was able to play this title but you can find an English translation SNES cart for around $25 to $35 depending where you look/shop. This game might not be for many but for me it’s quite the title to enjoy on an Octoberween night. It doesn’t take up too much of your time to make it an all-night play but it can be if you let it. I myself like to play it off and on depending how many Dead Ends I get in my playthroughs. It maybe primitive, it might be minimalistic and the story might not be as gripping as what you’d expect in current offerings for survival horror but for me it makes it worthy to be a #1 choice for this year’s Octoberween Game Title for 2017. Try it if you can someday if you can. It’s not your “Five Nights at Freddy’s” or your “Slender Man” but this game can show you what you can do with minimalistic gameplay approach for it’s day!

My Top 5 Octoberween Game Titles for 2017

#5: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood – Price $20 used PS4

#4: Doom – Price $20 new Xbox One

#3: Corpse Party: Book of shadows - Price $9.99 PSN Digital

#2: The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return – Price $9.99 used on Wii.

#1: Clock Tower – Price $25.00 on SNES (not my version >=) )