Clock Tower: Rewind

Introduction

Clock Tower: Rewind brings the 1995 Super Famicom horror pioneer to the West officially for the first time, chasing players through a mansion while evading the relentless Scissorman. Developed by WayForward and Limited Run Games and published alongside original rights-holder SUNSOFT, it launched on Steam on 28 October 2024 at NZ$28.99. Its 307 English-language reviews sit at 89% positive, Very Positive. This review read all 34 negative reviews in that sample alongside a range of the positive side.

A classic almost nobody disputes

What stands out reading through this negative-review sample is how consistently reviewers separate the original game from the port. "Clock Tower is neat... Love the look of this game, the sounds, it all comes together to create a really appealing horror atmosphere," reads one negative review before detailing its complaints. Another, more directly: "Clock Tower is one of the best point 'n clicks ever made." This isn't faint praise — reviewers repeatedly credit the 1995 original as a genuine, influential pioneer of the survival-horror genre, worth experiencing on its own terms regardless of their verdict on this specific release.

"This is an emulator with a launcher"

The negative-review sample's actual complaint is squarely about the port itself. "This isn't a remaster. This isn't even a PC port. This is an emulator with a launcher," reads one review, a sentiment echoed almost word for word by a separate reviewer: "so a 20 bucks emulator." Several reviewers point out that free fan translations and emulation have existed for years, arguing this official release doesn't clearly improve on them. A specific, widely-reported design complaint recurs independently across dozens of reviews: a "you unlocked a cutscene" notification that covers most or all of the screen during major story beats, without pausing gameplay, with no option to disable it. "There's literally a PC release of the original version but to save time and be lazy they emulated one of the console versions," reads one detailed review, also noting the game doesn't clearly disclose the lack of proper mouse support for what is fundamentally a point-and-click game.

Missing basics and real performance issues

Beyond the emulation complaint, this sample repeatedly flags specific missing features. "There is ZERO audio settings which is completely baffling for a remaster in 2024," reads one detailed review, noting players have to adjust volume through Windows' own audio mixer instead. Mouse sensitivity draws a similar complaint — several reviewers report it's fixed unreasonably high with no in-game way to adjust it, effectively forcing controller use for a game built around precise point-and-click interaction. Real performance problems recur too: slowdown, lag, and laggy audio reported independently across multiple reviews, on top of the deliberate period-accurate limitations of the original 1995 design.

A developer that has kept patching

This review checked WayForward and Limited Run Games' own public update history given how many reviewers report launch and crash problems specifically. The record shows a real, rapid response: a crash fix the day after the 28 October 2024 release, "Steam Cloud and Additional Startup Crashes Fixed" less than two weeks later, restored screen-size and window-resolution options in mid-December, and continued updates as recent as October 2025 — a full year of ongoing support. That directly addresses the specific launch-failure complaints in this sample, even though the deeper "this is just emulation" critique and the missing-audio-settings complaint don't appear resolved by any patch this review could find.

Verdict

Clock Tower: Rewind delivers something genuinely significant — the first-ever official, legal English release of a landmark horror game many reviewers had waited years to play properly. But this review's full read of its negative-review sample confirms a specific, widely-shared disappointment in the port itself: missing basic settings, an intrusive unskippable popup, and real performance issues that a full year of continued patching hasn't fully resolved. Worth it for the game's historical significance and the developer's demonstrated willingness to keep fixing it; a harder sell if you're expecting a polished, modernised remaster.