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Clock Tower (1995 video game)

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Clock Tower
Cover art
Developer(s)Human Entertainment
Publisher(s)Human Entertainment
Platform(s)SNES, PlayStation, WonderSwan, Windows 95
ReleaseSeptember 14, 1995
Genre(s)Survival Horror
Mode(s)Single player

Clock Tower (クロックタワー, Kurokku Tawā) is the first installment of the survival horror series Clock Tower created by Human Entertainment for the Super Famicom. The game was published by Human Entertainment and was released in Japan in 1995. It was then re-released in Japan in 1997, when it was ported to the PlayStation with some adjustments, and renamed to Clock Tower ~The First Fear~ (クロックタワー ～ザ･ファースト･フィアー～, Kurokku Tawā ~ Za Fāsuto Fiā ~). There have also been ports to the WonderSwan, and Windows 95, both of which were released in 1999. The game has not been released outside of Japan. The story is loosely based on Dario Argento's film, Phenomena.

Gameplay

Struggling with Bobby in 'panic mode'.

Clock Tower is a 2D point and click style game, where the player controls a cursor to direct the main character, Jennifer Simpson, and give commands such as investigating objects or opening doors. The interface is akin to 1990-era computer adventure games, but simplified to work better with a gamepad. Primarily, the player can only move Jennifer left and right through the environment, although there are some rooms in which an action requires Jennifer to step into the background.

Clock Tower is unique to other adventure games of the era in that it features a stalker pursuing the main character; this delays puzzle solving and requires the player to run in order to find objects or hiding places to fend off or avoid the attacker. The stalker is a slasher villain, named Bobby, who wields a large pair of scissors. If directly confronted by Bobby, the player engages in a "panic" phase and must repeatedly pound the "panic button" to struggle with the attacker. If Jennifer is low on health, or the player does not tap the panic button fast enough, Bobby will attack Jennifer and the player will be presented with a game over screen.

Although the game refers to it as Jennifer's health, the color of the background where her face is shown changes to represent her current fear level. Blue means she is in a calm state, while yellow means she is startled, orange meaning she is alarmed, and finally red, where she will begin to panic. In red, she is more likely to be attacked during a direct confrontation with Bobby. Additionally, while running away from Bobby, there is a chance Jennifer might trip over her feet, making her vulnerable if Bobby is close by.

Many of Bobby’s appearances are triggered by the player inspecting certain objects, but there are some cases in which he will come out of a hiding place and chase Jennifer as soon as she enters a room.

Plot

Jennifer Simpson is a child from the fictional Granite Orphanage[1] in Romsdalen, Norway.[2] She and her friends, who are also orphans (Laura, Ann and Lotte) are adopted in September 1995[1][3] (the same month the game was released) by a wealthy recluse named Mr. Barrows, who lives in a mansion known as the "Clock Tower", named after its most predominant feature.[2]

The game immediately begins with these characters walking towards the Barrows mansion and settling in the main foyer.[4] Mary leaves to find Mr. Barrows[4], but she takes an unusually long time.[5] Jennifer offers to investigate[5], but upon leaving the room, a scream is heard from main foyer. Jennifer returns to find the lights are off and the girls are missing. She soon finds herself being stalked after finding either Laura or Ann[6] killed by a murderous little boy with deformed features, wielding a huge pair of scissors.[3] Laura's corpse would be found hanged at the bathtub,or found in a suit of armor if the player dares to click on it, while Ann would die either by being impaled through a stained-glass ceiling, being thrown through a window, or drowning in the pool of the courtyard.[6] The boy is Bobby Barrows, the Scissorman, who will be Jennifer's main stalker and tormentor for the rest of the game.[3]

While exploring the mansion, Jennifer will need to find out Mary's true intentions - either by discovering Simon Barrows trapped in a jail cell inside the courtyard, or by discovering her father's corpse in a hidden room. If the former happens, Jennifer will need to give him a piece of ham as food.[7][8] If the latter happens, Jennifer will find his death letter that tells of his account about Mary Barrows and her twins, Bobby and Dan.[9] It says that he was trapped there for three days, until his death on November 10th, 1986.[9]

Jennifer visits a small, Satanic-looking church. However, to obtain the key to that church, Jennifer fights off a possessed doll in Bobby's room that tries to kill her. If the player has collected all the necessary items and clues, then Jennifer is able to gain access to the underground catacombs of the mansion - using either the Devil Idol or the Sceptor, but the former is canonical as it appears in the sequel.[10] Jennifer sees a cloaked figure walking ahead of her; this is Mary. She follows it, wearing a disguise to fool the guard dog using Mary's perfume, and a black cloak found in the mansion.[11] If she did not need to rescue Jennifer from the jail cell, Lotte can be found dying at an altar, and tells Jennifer about the switches in the clock tower.[12] Otherwise, she rescues Jennifer from the jail cell, but is shot by a threatening Mary.[13]

Jennifer enters a room, where she discovers the humongous Dan Barrows, hidden within curtains. At that point, the awaken Dan chases down Jennifer to a steep cliff. She successfully climbs over, knocking down a can of kerosene which splashes onto a nearby candle. This triggers an explosion and burns up Dan[14], and Jennifer rides an elevator in the catacombs. She ends up defeating Bobby in the clock tower[15], and Mary as well in (or around, depending on prior actions) the clock tower. If Ann (or Laura) had not died yet, then this survivor would reunite with Jennifer at the clock tower, but later be thrown down the tower by Mary. These actions would lead to one of Endings A, B, or C - any of these could be canonical according to the events of the next game. Because of the game's open-ended nature, the player can also discover a number of other endings.

Characters

  • Jennifer Simpson

Jennifer is the game's protagonist, a 14-year-old girl with long black hair that wears a dark blue dress and white blouse.

  • Dr. Walter Simpson

Jennifer's father. His corpse can be found in a hidden room, with the door covered with plaster. Jennifer can uncover and destroy this wall. A few medical charts show his patients' (Mary, Dan and Bobby) names.[16] He is identified by Jennifer when she discovers his medical bag on the floor, with his name printed on it.[17] Jennifer can examine the body, and find a memo which triggers a cutscene showing her holding his dead body, while reading the note. The note explains that he had been called to help Mary deliver the boys. After they were born, Dan and Bobby devoured his right hand. He knew something was very wrong with the boys, which caused Mary to hide him in a room, and plaster the door shut.[9]

Characters

  • Ann (Anne)

Jennifer's brunette friend. Ann can be sent flying through a window, drowned in the pool[6], or impaled through a stained-glass ceiling by Bobby. She can also be thrown off the clock tower by Mary. Ann has long brown hair and wears a long green dress with yellow sleeves. If she survives, she will appear in endings A and S.

  • Lotte

Jennifer's best friend and the redheaded tomboy of the group. She is insecure about the Barrows Mansion, as well as Laura. Lotte sacrifices herself to rescue Jennifer if she is knocked out by Mary and placed in Simon Barrows' cage. Shortly thereafter, she is shot by Mary.[13] If the player does not see this sequence, Lotte will be found dying in the caves.[12] Unlike Ann and Laura, Lotte cannot be saved.

  • Laura (Rolla)

Jennifer's blonde friend, wearing a blue dress. Along with Lotte, she is uncomfortable about the Barrows Mansion. Her deaths focus more on tension. Laura can be found hanged in the shower; there was some speculation on how she died in this case, however an official comic panel reveals the death was due to being stabbed in the lungs. She can also be found dead inside a suit of armor. She (like Ann) can be thrown off the clock tower by Mary. If she survives, she will appear in endings A and S. It is revealed in the Clock Tower novels that her last name is Harrington.

  • Mary Barrows (Mary Burroughs)

Simon Barrows' wife and the mastermind behind the game's events; although she is kind to the girls when she takes them to the mansion. Mary is a tall, curvaceous woman with blond hair. She is the mother of Bobby and Dan, the demonic twins and is revealed to be a Satanist. She either dies from falling off the tower, being electrocuted by a generator box, or losing her grip on a ladder.

  • Bobby Barrows (Bobby Burroughs)

The 'Scissorman' and antagonist of the game, Bobby is a short 9-year-old dressed in a school uniform who wields a large pair of scissors. Bobby can be triggered by entering certain rooms, examining certain items and sometimes remaining in an area for a period of time. Bobby never talks, although he makes swift, high-pitched giggles whenever Jennifer is in terror (while dancing in enjoyment) or is about to sneak up on her, and his face is deformed.[9] He dies after falling off the clock tower, due to the bells' chimes.

  • Dan Barrows (Dan Burroughs)

The hideously deformed twin brother of Bobby. Dan is a hulking, purple, fleshy beast that spends his time in a cradle behind a curtain in the caves. When Jennifer finds him, he chases her but is "killed" when she accidentally ignites a can of kerosene on a candle.[14] Dan reappears in the second game as a normal, young schoolboy with amnesia (who supposedly had also survived the events in this game[18]) named Edward with blonde hair, and takes up the role of the Scissorman.[19] How Dan survived the explosion is never revealed, but the PlayStation version of the game has a short cutscene showing a young boy rising from the ashes left behind when Dan was killed.

  • Simon Barrows (Simon Burroughs)

Simon is the girls' supposed adopter. When discovered, he is locked in a cage in a shed, barely alive as Mary has left him starving.[7] As one of Jennifer's possible deaths, he can try to eat Jennifer if she does not give him ham.[20] Simon is married to Mary and he is the father of their children.

Endings

File:Bobby1.PNG
Bobby's most common debut.

Clock Tower has a variety of endings depending on the choices the player makes throughout the game. The endings run from A to H, H being the worst and A being the best, with a special S ending above A. Endings A, B, and C seem to be canonical, as the sequel Clock Tower (Clock Tower 2) is compatible with any of these endings.

  • Ending S

This ending is unique and the most difficult to obtain. In the initial list of endings, if it has not been unlocked, it is not shown at all. It is almost identical to ending A, however, instead of Jennifer's friend being pushed off the tower by Mary she is lying unconscious on the floor. Mary is pushed back, and falls from the tower by an enraged flock of crows, one of which Jennifer freed from a cage earlier in the game. Jennifer is then joined by her one surviving friend for the credits. (If Jennifer saw Ann die, then Laura will join her, and vice versa. Lotte can not be saved.) However, this ending is not canon. Two of the requirements are freeing the crow, and discovering Jennifer's father, Walter, in the secret room.

  • Ending A

If Jennifer encounters Simon Barrows in the elevator, and one of her friends survives, this ending is unlocked. After Bobby falls to his death, the surviving friend runs to Jennifer. Their reunion is cut short when Mary steps out and throws Jennifer's friend off over the side into the Clock Tower's gears. Mary is defeated when Jennifer pulls her off of the side, when Mary attempts to stab her. However, if the player previously freed the crow from its cage then the crow will peck at Mary until she falls off the tower, similar to ending S. This ending is considered canon, according to the events in Clock Tower (Clock Tower 2).

  • Ending B

Having seen all her friends die, Jennifer goes to the third floor using the elevator. Just before the elevator stops, Bobby attempts to break into it using an overhead vent. Jennifer escapes to the top of the clock tower using a ladder, and activates the clock tower bells with the switches, disorienting Bobby enough so that he falls off the top of the tower to his presumed death. Mary arrives, and hysterical at the deaths of her two children, attempts to throttle Jennifer. Jennifer throws Mary into a generator box, electrocuting her. Jennifer is the only survivor. This ending is considered canon, according to the events in Clock Tower (Clock Tower 2).

  • Ending C

Inside the elevator, Jennifer presses the button for the second floor, and finds Mary in the hall. Having seen her father's corpse, Jennifer talks to Mary before she attacks her with a knife. Mary then calls for Bobby to help her. Jennifer avoids Mary and climbs up a ladder to reach the clock tower. However, Mary grabs Jennifer's leg while she is climbing. Jennifer breaks free of Mary's grip and she is flung off the ladder to her death. At the top of the clock tower, Jennifer faces Bobby again who is out to avenge his mother and brother, but she activates the clock's bells. The bell's chimes disorient Bobby enough so that he falls off the top of the tower to his death. Jennifer is the only survivor. This ending is considered canon, according to the events in Clock Tower (Clock Tower 2).

  • Ending D

Inside the elevator, Jennifer presses the button for the second floor, and finds Mary in the hall. Having not seen her father's corpse, Jennifer talks to Mary and Mary consoles her, telling her that "You're safe now". Jennifer runs towards Mary at which point Mary stabs Jennifer in the chest with a knife. With her dying breath, Jennifer asks "Why" and Mary stands there with an evil grin. There is an alternate Ending D, see below.

  • Ending E

Inside the elevator, Jennifer presses the button for the third floor, and the elevator suddenly halts. Bobby breaks into the elevator through an overhead vent, Jennifer screams and the screen fades black.

  • Ending F

If Jennifer does not see Lotte die, she will continue the game normally until the elevator sequence. Upon entering the elevator, the doors close (not showing Jennifer). Jennifer screams, there is a cutting sound, and blood seeps from under the elevator doors.

  • Ending G

If Jennifer sees two of her friends die, she will leave in the car, successfully escaping the mansion and returning to the orphanage. A brief text cutscene tells the player Jennifer was found three days later in her room, dead. The cause of Jennifer's death in this ending is unclear; the two most common theories are that she is tracked down and killed by one or more of the Barrows, or that Jennifer committed suicide out of grief over the loss of her friends, and her inability to save them.

  • Ending H

This ending is the quickest to accomplish, and considered the 'worst'. Jennifer stumbles across an old car in the mansion garage, and finds the key to the car in a nearby crate. At first she is unable to leave behind her friends in the mansion, but after repeated attempts to enter the car, eventually gives in and attempts to escape, driving through the wall of the shed. In the cutscene, a pair of scissors can be seen rising from the back seat in the front mirror, Jennifer becomes shocked, and screams. The screen then fades black.

In addition, there are two endings that can be obtained through a glitch in the game in which Jennifer does not see Ann or Laura die. The first is identical to endings H and G, but only displays the credits after Jennifer leaves; this results in a Ranking of D. The second is obtained if the player meets the prerequisites for Ending S, but it is identical to Ending F.

Development history

File:Bobby2.PNG
Fleeing from the stalker.

Clock Tower can be considered one of the pioneers of survival horror games. It was also one of the first to incorporate multiple endings. It contains more endings than most modern day games. Clock Tower was later released only in Japan on PlayStation, WonderSwan, and Windows 95. Other games in the series have been released in other countries since.

Details

It has been stated by the producers of the game that the game design was inspired by Dario Argento's Phenomena (known as Creepers in the US). This is likely because the film and the game share similarities, including the name and basic appearance of the leading character (Jennifer), a deformed killer child and a deranged mother. There are some additional comparisons to Argento's other supernatural thrillers that may be seen in Clock Tower's presentation. Also in Suspiria, the opening death scene is of a woman falling though a red rosette-window in a manner which is almost identical to one of the opening death scenes found in the game. Some of the character traits and actions, particularly those of Mary Barrows, also share similarities with those in Argento's 1975 movie "Profondo Rosso".

Notes

  1. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Intro. Raised in the Granite Orphanage, Jennifer and her friends were wanted as adopted daughters. It happened in September...
  2. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1997-09-30). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Clock Tower Story. In the mountains of Romsdaaren[sic], Norway, stands the Barrows Mansion. This mansion had a large clock tower, by which the locals tended their flocks in the surrounding fields. The local people called the mansion the Clock Tower...
  3. ^ a b c Human Entertainment (1997-09-30). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Clock Tower Story. In 1995, a young girl [Jennifer] from the Granite Orphanage, whose parents died when she was quite small, was lured into the Barrows Mansion where she was attacked by a monster wielding a giant pair of scissors. That monster was the grown-up Bobby.
  4. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Main Foyer. Laura: "What a huge place..." / Ann: "Yeah! The main hall's gigantic!" / Mary: "I gotta go get Mr. Barrows. Everyone wait here.
  5. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Main Foyer. Lotte: "Mary...she's taking a long time. Should I go find Ms. Mary?" / Jennifer: "No, I'll go look for her.
  6. ^ a b c Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard. Jennifer: "! That was Ann!" / Ann: "Jenni...fer...Help!...glub..." / Jennifer: "Ann!" / Ann: "H...e...help...glub glub...glub..." / Jennifer: "Ann! Ann!!" / Ann: ".....
  7. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard Shed. Jennifer: "W...who are you!?" / Simon: "Uhn...huh...F...food...
  8. ^ Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard Shed. Jennifer: "Um...Who are you?" / Simon: "Simon...B......Barrows..." / Jennifer's thoughts: "This man...is Barrows....?
  9. ^ a b c d Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Secret Room. 11.10.1986 - This is the third day I, Dr. Walter Simpson, have been in here. I'll not last long. Before I die, I will record this...There are twin children who are a blemish on this world. When the lady was to give birth, I was called to this house. She gave birth to two chil...no, demons. When they were born, they ate my right hand. They were ill, their bodies deformed...they should have died. But they lived...I should have tried to...Breathing is painful. The air in this room is already gone...They are in a cradle under the star...
  10. ^ Human Entertainment (1997-09-30). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Prologue - University. Narration: "A statue, it is cold...one of the items found at the scene of the Clock Tower murders. It seems to be hiding some sort of secret." / Barton: "It would be a good idea to get an expert opinion on this...
  11. ^ Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Underground Catacombs. Narration: "You can no longer smell the perfume." Jennifer's thoughts: "The dog won't be tricked again...
  12. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Underground Catacombs. Jennifer: "Lotte. Lotte!" / Lotte: "Uhh..." / Jennifer: "Lotte, you're still alive!? / Lotte: "Mmm...Jennifer...The switches in...the clock tower........" / Jennifer: "Lotte? Don't...leave me alone...
  13. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard Shed. Lotte: "Jennifer, you're okay!" / Jennifer: "Lotte!!" / Lotte: "Half a sec, I'll get you out. There we go! Now, get out of here before Mary comes!" / Jennifer: "Huh...?" / Lotte: "Quickly, Jennifer!" / Narration: "A voice is heard outside the shed..." / Mary: "Now isn't that a pity...Jennifer, don't move a muscle. I will punish you.
  14. ^ a b Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Ending C - Clock Tower. Mary: "Bobby! Bobby! Get this girl [Jennifer]! She's the one who killed Dan!
  15. ^ Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Ending S - Clock Tower. Mary: "You [Jennifer]...you...killed my sons!
  16. ^ Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Secret Room. Narration: "It looks like a chart of some sort." / Jennifer's thoughts: "Mary's and patients' names..." / Jennifer: "The name of the master of the house......Mary...Barrows...
  17. ^ Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Secret Room. Narration: "A black medical bag." / Jennifer's thoughts: "A name's embroidered here." / Jennifer: "Walter Simpson...Walter...Simpson!?.....Fa...ther...
  18. ^ Human Entertainment (1997-09-30). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Prologue. Barton: "I'm expecting another survivor of the Clock Tower murders. He is supposed to be a young boy about ten years old...
  19. ^ Human Entertainment (1997-09-30). Clock Tower (PlayStation). ASCII Entertainment. Level/area: Jennifer's Scenario 3 - Barrows Castle Caverns. Jennifer: "So it was you, Edward." / Scissorman: "I guess the secret is finally out, Jennifer. But my name isn't Edward. It's Dan." / Jennifer: "You don't mean...No!" / Scissorman: "So you remember me now. Let's play again, Jennifer!
  20. ^ Human Entertainment (1995-09-14). Clock Tower (Super Famicom) (in Japanese). Human Entertainment. Level/area: Courtyard Shed. Simon: "Yaaah! My food!!

External links

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