Today is a special day for horror game fans. That’s because WayForward is releasing Clock Tower: Rewind. This is a remake of the original Clock Tower game, Clock Tower: The First Fear. One of the pioneers of the so-called “survival horror” genre, Clock Tower: The First Fear was a genius horror game made for the Super Famicom way back in 1995. I’m glad WayForward recognizes this hidden gem as this was probably one of the scariest games on that system ever.

If you haven’t played this version of Clock Tower, I don’t blame you. This was a very niche game back then as it was a point-and-click adventure, hardly something you could play easily way back on the Super Famicom. Also, you may have noticed I’ve been saying it was on the Super Famicom and not the Super Nintendo. Well, that’s because the game never got an official release on the Super Nintendo and was a Japanese only release. It did get ported over to the PlayStation and more modern Nintendo systems. But even then, they were still Japan only exclusives.

Thankfully, there have been fan translations of Clock Tower and, way back when, I did manage to play that version and, I have to say, I’m very glad I did! So, with its modern release, I think it feel apt for me to relay my experience with the original version and, hopefully, convince you to try out the remake.

I do have to tell you the tale of how I managed to play the original Clock Tower: The First Fear. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly through legal means. Then again, as there was no official release in Western territories as it never got an official translation, it was the only way to play it. I won’t be telling you what site I downloaded it from… but you should be able to handle that on your own.

The game has you controlling Jennifer Simpson, an orphan who, along with four other girls, are adopted by the mysterious Mister Barrows. The girls move into the Barrows estate nicknamed the “Clock Tower” as per the main distinguishing feature of the mansion. After their arrival, one of the girls does missing and Jennifer leaves to try to find her. Unable to do so, she returns to the main hallway but the rest of the girls are now missing. Jennifer now has to figure out the mystery of what’s happening in the Clock Tower while being stalked by the Scissorman, a short but nigh-invincible giant scissors wielding madman intent on killing her.

I will say the weakest point of the original Clock Tower was its controls. I mentioned it uses a point-and-click mechanic and, while that’s very helpful when searching for interactable objects in a location, it’s not meant for systems where the main and only input would be a directional pad. It does feel really sluggish and, as far as I can remember, you can’t change the cursor speed, making it really frustrating when you’re being chased by the Scissorman and you’re frantically trying to click on a good hiding space.

Speaking of the Scissorman, he’s virtually the only real enemy you encounter all throughout Clock Tower. However, I will say he’s all the game really needs as he’s frightening enough by himself! I remember playing and how he popped out for the first time was pretty effective. I wouldn’t say I was scared by the jumpscare but I was genuinely surprised with how he first pops up.

Oh, I also do have to mention the Scissorman cannot be killed or stopped. Jennifer isn’t a fighter so, when she does run into the Scissorman, she basically only has two options: run and hide. This does ratchet up the tension a lot. While you can outrun him, Jennifer will start to panic, which may cause her to stumble and trip like any fair damsel in a horror film. There are some ways Jennifer can outsmart Scissorman with some classic horror trope moves and these are always fun to do.

As with any good survival horror game, there are multiple ways to die in fun and creative ways. Probably the dumbest way is to make Jennifer take a shower because that’s always a smart thing to do when you’re being stalked by a homicidal maniac carrying a pair of giant shears! Some of them can come out of nowhere so it does add to the fear of simply clicking on everything in the room because you never know if that click will lead to Jennifer’s doom. Save often, kids!

Clock Tower did have a lot of replayability as there are multiple endings. Some are good, some are bad and some are really bad. I do remember trying to get all of the endings but I gave up as they are arduous to do so. They require multiple saves as there are several branching off points all throughout the game depending on your actions and what you discover on your playthrough. Speaking of which, I do remember feeling frustrated at points because, despite having a lot of experience with adventure games, some of the puzzles and clues can come off as rather obtuse.

Even with those complaints, the best thing I have to say about Clock Tower is it indeed feel spooky. I’ve played a lot of survival horror games in the past. I’ve played all of the Resident Evil games as well as the Silent Hill games. Clock Tower was much more unnerving simply for the fact you really couldn’t defend yourself properly. You didn’t have a handy lead pipe to bash Scissorman’s head in on a shotgun to blast your way through. Having to rely on your knowledge of hiding places and items that can enable you to get past Scissorman would cause some level of panic in you. You can’t get any more “survival horror” than that!

I also would kick myself if I didn’t mention the very atmospheric music they used. Normally, when walking throughout the Barrows mansion, Clock Tower is sans music, with only Jennifer’s footsteps the only thing you hear. This does a great job of making you feel that you’re all alone in this spooky and empty house. It’s only when Scissorman or some demented horror pops up that the music plays and, my god, the music is glorious! There’s a certain uneasy mood it just puts you in and it does manage to give you the creeps. I especially love the main theme song as it harkens back to Alfred Hitchcock horror films of old. It’s not a copy but does pay homage to them, which is great.

I do have high hopes for WayForward’s remake of Clock Tower. It looks like a faithful recreation, albeit it does look a little too faithful as the sprites don’t look like they were touched up all that much and the animations still have that familiar jank of lacking some in-between frames you’d see in some 16-bit games of the time. I didn’t see any reports of WayForward smoothing things out for modern audiences, which does seem like a misstep. Still, I do hope the game gets more recognition now that it’s finally getting an official release in the West. I do have some spooky memories of the game and I hope this remake will create some nightmares for newer players who have yet to experience it.

Have you played the original Clock Tower? Have you tried out WayForward’s port of the game? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!