Clocktower 1 & 2, psx

[EX-Soldier]

I just read a review on gamespot about this game, i honestly dont know how this game managed to fly under my radar, sounds interesting, resident evil with point & click adventure gameplay ala broken sword & myst

anyway, any of you ever play this game? is it worth getting? if you could only get one of the 2 which would it be? depending on your responses i might pick this up at the flea market on the weekend...and soooooo.....BEGIN!!!

[Daria]

The original was a Japanese SNES game, you can download a translation patch here:

I suggest trying the game out for yourself. If you like it then buy the sequal for the PSX as it's a direct continuation of the game. I've never tried Clock Tower 2 so I couldn't tell you if it was any good.

But I love the first two games.

It's a point and click, much in the way all Survival Horror games are. When you're not facing zombies, or ghouls you're faced with situational puzzles. It's been the same for Resident Evil and Silent Hill. What sets Clock Tower apart however is the inablity to fight anything. When your heroine runs into trouble, she turns right around and flees. It's your job to remember where the nearest hiding spot is and get there before she's caught. It's an addictive game of hide-and-go-seek that is actually really fucking creepy. During exploration mode there's a complete lack of background music, just the methodical footsteps of your main character highlighted by the occasional background noises. I find that my heart starts pounding as soon as Scissorman leaps on screen and the panic music kicks in. It's just a really effective approach to a 16-bit horror game.

What's nice about Clock Tower for PSX is that Scissorman learns by trail and error. For example if you hide in the locker once and he walks away, the next time you hide there he will kill you. So you're forced to run around and mix up your hiding spots.

[EX-Soldier]

The original was a Japanese SNES game, you can download a translation patch here:

I suggest trying the game out for yourself. If you like it then buy the sequal for the PSX as it's a direct continuation of the game. I've never tried Clock Tower 2 so I couldn't tell you if it was any good.

But I love the first two games.

It's a point and click, much in the way all Survival Horror games are. When you're not facing zombies, or ghouls you're faced with situational puzzles. It's been the same for Resident Evil and Silent Hill. What sets Clock Tower apart however is the inablity to fight anything. When your heroine runs into trouble, she turns right around and flees. It's your job to remember where the nearest hiding spot is and get there before she's caught. It's an addictive game of hid-and-go-seek that is actually really fucking creepy. During exploration mode there's a complete lack of background music, just the methodical footsteps of your main character highlighted by the occasional background noises. I find that my heart starts pounding as soon as Scissorman leaps on screen and the panic music kicks in. It's just a really effective approach to a 16-bit horror game.

What's nice about Clock Tower for PSX is that Scissorman learns by trail and error. Forexample if you hide in the locker once and he walks away, the next time you hide there he will kill you. So you're forced to run around and mix up your hiding spots.

lol damn that sounds crazy, lol autocop!!! definitly buying now, unless someone can dissuade me that is =)

[norkusa]

Has anyone here ever played the Japanese version of Clock Tower 2? I always wanted to know if that yellow blood from the human arm sticking of the toilet in the beginning of the game was censored for the N. American release or if it was done that way on purpose.

Clock Tower 1 is my all-time favorite PS1 game but I couldn't get into the second one. Played so much differently than the original. I liked Clock Tower 3 a lot though.

[kedawa]

Do these games support the mouse like CT3?

[Steven]

For what its worth, Clock Tower (PSX) was probably the only PS game I ever loved enough to go out and buy. My brother did all the buying, and I was always a casual PSX player. Anyway, CT pulled me in, its gameplay wasn't the best, but at the time I found it highly intriguing. Scissorman was a great villain and there are some legitimate jump in your seat scares. One time I seriously jumped and my controller flew 2 feet in the air.

CT2 US PSX was very very very disappointing IMHO. Try it if you love part one, but long gone is Scissorman, and you got some lame villains chasing you instead. It just didn't have the spooky tense magic that the original had.

I never did play the SNES version, but the PSX version I was quite obsessed with. Even got all ten endings. Some of the "stages" are awesome fun, like the dormitory, library and house. Scissorman makes some dramatic entrances... good stuff

[yok-dfa]

Hmm. Still have Clocktower 3 for the PS2 somewhere in my collection. Maybe i should give that one a try. Anyone care to share their impressions of that game?

[Spartacus]

For what it's worth, I've played some of Japanese PlayStation game Clock Tower: The First Fear. This is a port of the original SFC game Clock Tower with some extra scenes and FMV's and the ability to save your game to a memory card. I didn't put to much time into the game, but I saw enough to know that I definately wanted to pick up all 3 US versions of the game. The US versions start at Clock Tower II and I haven't played any of those yet.
What I remember from First Fear that it created a great atmosphere of tension. The character didn't control very well. She could walk around and explore and examine things. I believe she can operate things, like turn on light switches. But most importantly, she can run! The first time I saw the fellow with the large sissors, I ran into the bathroom and shut the door. He hacked his way thru the door and killed her. I tried playing again and this time found a garage with a car to hide in. That time he couldn't see/get to her and went away after a spell.
I guess you could say that I saw just enough to know that I wanted to get all the Clock Towers and sit down one day to play them in sequence.
I really need to get around to doing that!

[Wolfrider31]

Hmm. Still have Clocktower 3 for the PS2 somewhere in my collection. Maybe i should give that one a try. Anyone care to share their impressions of that game?

I haven't played it through yet, but I really like it so far. The element of powerlessness works really well and it reminds me of Silent Hill in that "I really don't want to play this anymore because it's too exhausting," kind of way. It's not creepy in the same way Silent Hill is, but the constant feeling of pursuit is really intimidating.

BTW: CT3 works with a mouse? How does that work?

[exit]

I loved Clock Tower for PSX, I remember borrowing my friends PSX and renting that game. It scared the hell out of me and I loved every minute of it, needless to say it was one of the first titles I purchased when I finally got a PSX.

The first Clock Tower for SNES is pretty scary as well, probably one of the only effective horror games of SNES.

[Steven]

The first Clock Tower for SNES is pretty scary as well, probably one of the only effective horror games of SNES.

Only if you discount horror the likes of Pit Fighter, Bebe's Kids and so on

[shoes23]

I haven't played the first, but I did pick up an ex-rental copy of 2 for really cheap. My question is, did anyone play through this without a mouse? I became frustrated several minutes into the game with trying to navigate the cursor around the screen with the pad. I imagine it would be much more enjoyable with the mouse accessory.

I did play through a bit of CT3 as well (until my memory card was corrupted), and enjoyed the game. The cutscenes are brutal and beautiful at the same time.

[Promophile]

CT 3 starts off really strong, and then loses steam fast. The first two areas / murderers are much better than the later ones. Still worth a playthrough tho.

[EX-Soldier]

CT 3 starts off really strong, and then loses steam fast. The first two areas / murderers are much better than the later ones. Still worth a playthrough tho.

They better have this, and clocktower 1 tommorow when i go to pick them up.....or there will be blood....

also seems like the general consensus is to stay clear and far from clocktower 2...except its having the opposite effect on me as i wanna play it even more now just to see exactly where it went wrong....wierd

[Juganawt]

Hmm. Still have Clocktower 3 for the PS2 somewhere in my collection. Maybe i should give that one a try. Anyone care to share their impressions of that game?

My opinion, and the general consensus, is that the game makes a better beer coaster than it does a video game. It's not even close to being as good as the originals, and has several brain-numbing issues.

The puzzles are extremely bland, simplistic and cliche, and the "action" element is broken at best.

My advice would be to steer clear of CT3, but do grab CT 1 & 2 on PS1 along with the original Snes version. Also, the Wonderswan Color version of the original SNES game was a pretty good conversion, and is worth checking out.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

They better have this, and clocktower 1 tommorow when i go to pick them up.....or there will be blood....

also seems like the general consensus is to stay clear and far from clocktower 2...except its having the opposite effect on me as i wanna play it even more now just to see exactly where it went wrong....wierd

ohhhhhhhhhhh the ironyyyyyy


fuck my reading comprehension, this entire time i've been playing clocktower II thinking it was one because of the confusion of the super famicom original version

this entire time i've been trying to force my way thru this piece of shit game wondering wtf all the hype was about, its not completely terrible, but its not really entertaining either


that being said, im on a new mission to find the one i meant find from the get go, clocktower 1, anyone have a copy they wanna sell me?


whats this shit go for nowadays???

[Loremaster]

My opinion, and the general consensus, is that the game makes a better beer coaster than it does a video game. It's not even close to being as good as the originals, and has several brain-numbing issues.

The puzzles are extremely bland, simplistic and cliche, and the "action" element is broken at best.

My advice would be to steer clear of CT3, but do grab CT 1 & 2 on PS1 along with the original Snes version. Also, the Wonderswan Color version of the original SNES game was a pretty good conversion, and is worth checking out.

I second this. CT3 is terrible. Enemies constantly chase you, which is MUCH more of an annoyance than it is a terror or thrill. Honestly, I found myself so irritated by that during the first arc, that I took to calling Mr. Hammer man "Mr. Shit Pants", after my friend observed that his manner of walking looked like he had done just that.

[Eyedunno]

I have only played the SNES version to completion (though I've started the PS version, known as Clock Tower 2 in Japan and just Clock Tower in the U.S.). Let me just say that it's one of my favorite Super Famicom exclusive games, and not because of gameplay - it's a standard point-and-click adventure, and once you've seen all of the endings, there's very little new. But man, the atmosphere of the game is just incredible.

I've played The First Fear as well, and while there's not much that's different, I would still give the edge to the Super Famicom version by a small margin. The music sounds better and the graphics are sharper (not dithered). The one advantage the PS version offers is a small amount of new content, but most of it seems to me just like cheap scares that don't really benefit the game at all (e.g. TVs that turn on by themselves, bleeding paintings, and a mummy that will follow you VERY slowly until you exit the room).

[Famidrive-16]

Love the SFC game. Never played the others.

[mobiusclimber]

The PSX Clock Tower is, imo, godawful. I wrote an incredibly long review (that spoils the whole game) here but I'll just say that it has one of the dumbest plots imaginable, stupid characters, a ridiculous villain... It is just painfully idiotic. Not to mention the controls suck.