Clock Tower (1995 video game)
Clock Tower is a survival horror point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Human Entertainment for the Super Famicom in 1995. It is the first installment in the Clock Tower series. The story follows orphan Jennifer Simpson soon after she is adopted by the Barrows family along with other orphaned girls. Shortly after arriving at the Barrows family manor, one of the other children is killed by a stalker called Scissorman. Jennifer must then explore the Barrows Mansion to find a way to escape while evading Scissorman, leading to one of the game's multiple endings. Clock Tower utilizes a point and click interface with the player controlling a cursor to direct Jennifer's actions.
| Clock Tower | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Human Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Human Entertainment |
| Director(s) | Hifumi Kono |
| Producer(s) | Hiroyasu Ichizaki |
| Programmer(s) |
|
| Artist(s) | Akiyoshi Iijima |
| Composer(s) | Kōji Niikura |
| Series | Clock Tower |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom PlayStation Windows WonderSwan PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Nintendo Switch Xbox One Xbox Series X/S |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Survival horror, point-and-click adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Much of Clock Tower's plot and artistic style are inspired by the works of Italian horror film director Dario Argento, most notably Phenomena (1985). Director Hifumi Kono loved horror films like this and wanted the game to feel like one. Many of the game's character graphics were digitized from photos of real people. Jennifer's movements were constructed from a woman in Human's planning division acting out the scenes. Her design was inspired by Jennifer Connelly's character in Phenomena.
The game sold well upon release. An updated version, titled Clock Tower: The First Fear, was ported to the PlayStation, WonderSwan, and Windows. Many years later, it was re-released again on the PlayStation Network, as well as the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console. The game has never been officially released outside Japan, although fan translations exist. In retrospective reviews, Clock Tower has been praised for its haunting atmosphere, but the puzzles and exploration have drawn criticism for being tedious. It is considered an influence on horror games and a pioneer of the survival horror genre.
An enhanced, international port of the game, targeting eighth and ninth-generation consoles, as well as the PC, is scheduled for an early 2024 release.