The Clock Tower series isn't exactly a household name these days, but it was one of the first survival horor games to emphasize a slower and methodical approach that involved exploring spooky environments, running and hiding from monsters with no options for combat, unlike your Resident Evils and Silent Hills.
No zombies or horriffic embodiments of trauma here. Just guys with big ol' scissors
The original was a 2D 16-bit point & click game released by Human Entertainment in 1995, which was never officially released outisde of Japan. Confusingly, its 3D sequel was released outside of Japan with the name Clock Tower, but was called Clock Tower 2 in Japan. After the third game, Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within, Human Entertainment went under in 2000. One of their former employees, a guy by the name of Goichi Suda, went on to found his own studio called Grasshopper Manufacture, and the Clock Tower franchise went to Sunsoft. The fourth and final game in the series, Clock Tower 3, was a joint effort between Sunsoft and Capcom, and its poor sales effectively killed the franchise.
It had a few spiritual successors, like Capcom's Haunting Ground in 2005 and original series creator Hifumi Kono's 2016 game NightCry, but up til now the series had been largely forgotten. Until Capcom , Sunsoft, Shantae devs Wayforward and Limited Run Games announced they're collabing on a remaster of the original Clock Tower.
The original Super Famicom/PS1/PC/WanderSwan(?) game only had fan-translations, so this marks the first time it's being officially localized. It'll also feature a new theme song, animated intro and cutscenes while retaining the original 2D 16-bit artstyle as players help orphan girl Jennifer Simpson escape a haunted clock tower.
Bringing back a classic series is cool and all, but I've seen more people asking Capcom to remake Resident Evil: Code Veronica than Clock Tower. At least there's good news on that front: after a fan survey asking which titles gamers would like to see get the remake treatment, a shareholder asked Capcom during a Q&A about their plans for “high-end visual remakes of only the main numbered entries in the Resident Evil series.” Capcom replied that they're "carrying out discussions regarding the future expansion of this series so it can be enjoyed by a wide audience.” So this means Capcom are at the very least aware of the demand for a CV remake, but we may have some time to wait until an official confirmation. At least we have Clock Tower til then.
The Clock Tower remaster is out some time next year for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbone, Series X/S, and Switch. Have you played Clock Tower before? Are you hyped for the remaster? Or would you rather wait for Code Veronica to get remade? Let us know below!
