JewWario: Clock Tower: The First Fear

Tonight I went to the next platform up from the Famicom/NES... the Super Famicom/SNES! (please forgive my lack of reporting skills)

Clock Tower The First Fear was never released in the US and it's a shame because it's one of the better SNES games out there. Yes indeed. Tonight I am using my SNES USB controller that I got from RetroZone... and the emulated game translated in English that I got from DGEmu.com.

So I turn off the lights and sit through a pretty eerie introduction scene. I talk to all the girls twice and begin to play.

(PLAYS GAME)

Ok. MUCH creepier than last week's 'Sweet Home' by FAR! It's not pee your pants scary... it's more like a scary story that's being told while camping out scary.

There are some scenes that I had to go back through (because I died) that certain things didn't happen again. The first time through, I looked at the weird painting in the background here (just after I turned on the TV)... and the eyes started to bleed. I didn't notice it until I was walking out the door... and it was pretty spooky.

The second time through, nothing.

So with things that can or won't appear at times, that makes for a pretty good spook-factor in my book. Good replay value as you're gonna need it. You can continue, but you can also start over and try different things.

Playing in the dark REALLY gave me shudders at times. I know I jumped more than once and really felt like I had no idea what to do next. Then something would happen and I jump again!

It's really a shame that this game never saw the light of day in the USA because it would have been very popular. But this was also the time they (Nintendo) didn't want to show blood... and there's a lot of deaths in this game... I mean, all your friends are dying left and right!

I will definitely be playing this game again (in the dark) as the 16 bit graphics won't scare you otherwise. The soundtrack that turns on and off is fantastic as I forget it's there and then it startles me by turning back on.

But you can't go out and get an FAQ... if you know where the scares are going to come from then it won't be scary... or as much fun. This is a fun game. Also, see if you can make the emulator full screen... or at least big. The bigger the spookier.

The controls were a bit tough to get used to... and I really got frustrated at time trying to figure out how to use items you collect (A button, select item, then click on where you want to use it). Having it not gory was a plus, and I felt bad for the character when I didn't make the right decision and she got killed.