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Clock Tower: First Fear Review
Few games actually have had the great chance of scaring the poop out of me. Resident Evil used to back when it was still somewhat new, and the concept of playing a horror video game never really crossed my mind. But then it became second nature to me, and... well, Capcom turning the series into what stores can now officially call "Action" instead of true Survival Horror didn't help matters much. Resident Evil is about blowing up Zombies and laughing now. The terror of not knowing what the enemy was, and the terror of having absolutely no clue of what is going on has long since been dead after the original Biohazard. Sure, a couple of the new titles have their moments-- I don't think anybody wasn't afraid of Sherry Birkin -- but it's still nowhere near the experience of the original. Since then, other titles that tried to copy the good name of Biohazard haven't succeeded quite as well, unless they too were made by Capcom, or went by the name of Silent Hill. Thanks to Resident Evil, we've seen such horrors as doctors with knives in Galerians and guys with plants coming out of their heads in Carrier, Blue Stinger, and D2. Apparently, plants are alot scarier than I thought. Anyway, throughout all of this, we've seldom seen titles that stand out in the horror genre as their own, as well as contributing a great deal of scares. Except Clock Tower.
 Not to be confused with the Playstation U.S. "Clock Tower"(which is actually the sequel, not Clock Tower 2, which in actuality is just a spin-off, which is obvious by the Japanese name of Clock Tower: Ghosthead. Confused enough?), Clock Tower: First Fear as it's been known to be called is the actual start to the Clock Tower mythology, if one exists(the third title in the series seems to just completely toss out the past story). It was released in 1995 for the SNES, before Resident Evil, and was painfully obvious it would never land over on our shores. Nintendo of America made Toma in Chrono Trigger drink Soda Pop instead of beer, you think they're gonna let something as gruesome as this come out? Of course not, we had Mortal Kombat for that! I guess after that whole incident with Primal Rage that went on a little earlier before the game's release, they weren't about to risk Little Jimmy's state of mental health.
For those of you who haven't had the chance to try either Playstation versions, the style is exactly the same as it's following sequels. You move a mouse around, click on things, and the character moves to it and does something with it. Although it doesn't sound particularly exciting, the thrill comes from not knowing, and with no music accompanying the majority of the game, it's like walking down a nostalgic hallway in Biohazard all over again.
Graphics. When I read that the game was on the SNES, I couldn't picture it. The Playstation title had the style down perfect, but on a 16-bit console? Surprisingly, they did a great job. Whereas any game devolopment company could have royally screwed up with something that needs the level of detail a Clock Tower game does, Human Entertainment didn't. You can hardly tell it's on the SNES, to a certain extent. 9/10.
 Gameplay. It's a point-and-click adventure, without the mouse, or the boredom, or the stupidity, essentially. You click a spot, Jennifer walks towards it. You hit X, she stops. You double-click, she runs. You hit B, you pull out an item that takes the place of the cursor for use on something. You bash down the A button frantically when you're about to die. For the most part, it's simple, but for this it earns some brownie points. The basic purpose of the game is to explore the mansion you're in, stay alive as long as possible(until you die, at which point you hit "continue" as much as you wish), solve the puzzles involving what to do, and run very, VERY fast when a fellow named Dan shows up with a giant pair of scissors. Unlike in the original Playstation title where the two female protagonists could do very nice things while in an encounter with Scissorman, like punch him in the stomach or kick him in the nuts, our Jennifer has humble beginnings in the world of Psycho Fighting with a simple schoolyard push in First Fear. Guess by the sequel, she discovers she can actually HURT the guy without getting sued. It's called Self-Defense Against An Immortal Psychopath, Jen. Meanwhile her Gal Pal Helen knows that kicking the guy in the Jeuvos tends to usually work better, yet never explains this technique to our vulnerable Jenny. It's a shame. 9.5/10.
 Plot. CT's plot is quite a doozy. Alright... so this old lady in the 1980s has two kids, one named Bobby and the other Dan(whom I will call Dan the Man, because it just sounds right). The two of them are evil from the get-go, and rumors spread that the two would bring kids home to their mansion and kill them with scissors, preferably. Did I mention this all takes place in Norway?... Yeah, it does. Anyway, 1995 comes around, Jennifer and her friends are wandering around in the woods. Why? I guess because it's hip nowadays to do that, even though the likes of Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, The Blair Witch Project, and a million other movies, stories and folklore suggests never to do so. Even so, they're walking, and they meet a nice old lady who tells them to come back to her FABULOUS mansion. Gee, I wonder who SHE is? I thought Mike couldn't establish it enough, you never trust old ladies. So they go, and are told to make themselves at home, which of course Jen takes a little out of hand, and decides to start snooping around... which leads to a scream being heard, and the game beginning. See, I've always wondered what would happen if they just do as they're told. What would happen if they WEREN'T curious? Would Mrs. Barrows just come back and say, "Well, it was nice of you all to drop in, ya'll come back now, ya'hear?" and then send them home with a doggie bag full of Tea and Strumpets? They really should try that sometime. Anyway, those who've played the first Playstation title might notice this entire game is the exact events described as what happens to Jennifer at the beginning of the game. Yes, that's right, that poor girl endures two games, the second one involving more than just a mansion. I'd say she was a bit over-worked. 9/10.
Sound. Aside from the eerie noises, and the creepy music that occasionally plays during certain scenes, such as when Dan begins to chase you, there really isn't any sound. Ever. Just shoes clicking, eerie noises. But when mixed with the style of game Clock Tower is to begin with, it blends perfectly. Capcom should learn a thing or two. 8.5/10.
Replay Value. There are 8 endings, A-H, quite similar to the other Clock Tower's, each only being accessed by meeting the necessary requirements while in the game. If you're in the mood to crap your pants more than one time through, then that's a pretty good level of replay to experiment with. Then again, there's a good chance you aren't. 7.5/10.
Final Thought/Overall Rating
Clock Tower is the kind of game you play on-edge. You've no idea what's ahead of you whatsoever, nothing can be expected, and alot of things are random. And unlike the majority of Survival Horror games, you play a regular person. Without guns. Unbelievable to comprehend, but apparently not everyone wields Baretta Pistols and Combat Knives. You play the girl who always runs for her life from the killer in the movies, and get to see what goes through the minds of those weepy-women. Or at least, what doesn't. I found about 3-4 things I screamed that Jennifer could have done to stop Dan, but was unable to do so because I guess she didn't think it was a good idea. I suggest pulling a 2x4 bridge out so he can't chase her across the chasm anymore, she decides pushing a bookshelf on him would work better. Although I couldn't understand a word of the Japanese, it only takes a little bit of common sense to understand where to go and what to do. That, and playing the Playstation version a million times over and knowing how the game functions. 8/10.
-Grand Master Dragon
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