Last Update: 2/16/07

Clock Tower

Note: This is the second of the Clock Tower series, and is called "Clock Tower 2" in Japan. The first release was simply "Clock Tower" a Japanese-only realease for the SNES/Famicom, but was eventually renamed "Clock Tower: The First Fear" when later ported to Playstation (also Japanese only) and Windows 95.

Because the Japanese Famicom/SNES edition remained "Clock Tower", this next installment became "Clock Tower 2" in Japan, but simply "Clock Tower" to North America. These titles would be followed by Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within (Clock Tower: Ghost Head in Japan), and then Clock Tower 3, the latest installment to date.


Playing Clock Tower is like watching an intense slasher film, with one heart-stopping sequence after the next.
In the mountains of Romsdaaren, Norway, stands the Barrows Family Mansion, an unwholesome, brooding manor perched atop a large cliff. Home to the Barrows family for generations, locals grew to depend on the clock tower of this once peaceful family. They would tend their flocks of sheep in surrounding fields by the dependable tones of the great tower. It was for this reason that the local people began to call the mansion the Clock Tower.

In 1986, however, the mistress of the Barrows Mansion gave birth to twins, and from the day they were born it was obvious the twins were not normal and were of evil nature.

The twins were given the names Bobby and Dan. Their unwary parents knew that there was a foreboding evil about them, but who could have possibly known that the two were later to become the most feared and malicious murderers of our century - the infamous giant scissors with which their murders were committed became their namesake - they were called, simply, the Scissormen.

In 1995, a young girl from the Granite Orphanage, her 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 - yet no one wanted to believe the orphan girl when she returned to town, terrified and alone, claiming to have been attacked by the infamous killer.

That monster had, in fact, been Bobby Barrow, the Scissorman. She managed to escape from the terrible horrors, destroy the monster, and flee the mansion, yet she simply could not manage to convince anyone of authority of what had happened - in part because they could never find a body.

For the next year, all of Norway was caught up with the sensationalized Scissorman Murderer. Everyone was enthralled and completely relieved that he was dead - though authorities denied his existence.

That is, until the brutal murders started again...

(from the original ASCII press release for Clock Tower)




Additional Game Features:
  • Evade the insane psycho killer Bobby "The Scissorman" Barrows in the Barrows Family Mansion, solving a mystery while he continues to stalk you.
  • Navigate your way through the game's story and around Scissorman's blade in a direct continuation of the original story.
  • 3 major scenarios follow a prologue in which main characters are selected, seperated by interludes in which you can explore the town and search for further clues.
  • Single player point and click horror-survival adventure in chilling 3D settings.
  • 5 playable characters interact with a varied ensemble of other characters who might help you unravel the mystery.
  • When Bobby attacks find a hiding place or a useful object to fend him off. If he directly confronts only the "panic button" can save you from death by scissors!
  • Player actions result in various outcomes and numerous endings.

Developer: Human Entertainment
Publisher: ASCII Entertainment Software, Inc.
Released: December 13, 1996 (Japan), September 30, 1997 (North America)
Platform(s):  
Publisher: ASCII Entertainment Software, Inc.