Clockwork Knight
Encyclopedia
Clockwork Knight is a side-scrolling platformer
video game, released for the Sega Saturn
in Japan
on December 9, 1994, as a launch title
in the U.S.
on May 11, 1995, and in Europe
on July 8, 1995. It was followed by a sequel, Clockwork Knight 2
.
. He is in love with the Clockwork Fairy Princess, Chelsea, whose voice wakes up the toys of the house every night at midnight. But he is clumsy and something of a laughingstock, especially when compared to his friendly rival Ginger who is also after Chelsea's heart.
One night Chelsea is stolen away by an unknown force, which also hypnotizes some of the lesser toys to become fierce minions and stand in the way of anyone who would try to rescue her. If there's no voice to wake them up anymore then the toys will never live again, so Pepper and Ginger head off to find Chelsea before it's too late.
and Sonic the Hedgehog
series. Unlike those games, however, the game uses prerendered digitized 2D
sprites of high-resolution 3D
models similar to the Donkey Kong Country
series, or Killer Instinct
, on top of fully 3D levels (and with fully 3D bosses
).
Pepper attacks enemies and opens passages with his key. A quick tap of a button will thrust it out horizontally. Likewise, repeatedly tapping the button over and over will cause him to twist the key around and around. This makes it a bit more powerful (e.g.: an enemy could be knocked out temporarily with a simple jab, but running into the key when twisting it will instantly take it out). He can also pick up unconscious enemies or objects such as footballs or springs and toss them; vertical tosses are possible.
The goal is to reach the end of the stage before time or hit points (typically three, though Gold Keys can increase that maximum) run out. There are no checkpoints; dying sends a player back to the beginning of a level. The levels are fairly large and contain numerous side areas with treasures.
Every third level, Pepper must face off against a large, fully polygonal
boss
in a one-on-one battle.
The game has 13 levels, including boss levels. The 13 levels take place in four different rooms with two normal levels and one boss each, plus a final boss. If Pepper loses all his lives, the player can continue from the beginning of the current room by spending coins. If the player does not have enough coins to continue, the game is over and the player must start from the beginning of the game.
In Training mode, the game ends at the level just before the final boss.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game, released for the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on December 9, 1994, as a launch title
Launch title
A launch game, or launch title, is a video game released to consumers synchronously with the release of its respective video game console, meaning they are the only available games at the time of the console's launch. Several of these games are also packaged with the console...
in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on May 11, 1995, and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on July 8, 1995. It was followed by a sequel, Clockwork Knight 2
Clockwork Knight 2
Clockwork Knight 2 is a side-scrolling platformer video game released for the Sega Saturn in 1995. It is the sequel to Clockwork Knight, a launch title for the Saturn that also was released that year. A second sequel, Clockwork Knight 3: Pengin War, used gameplay similar to Bomberman, but never...
.
Story
Sir Tongara de Pepperouchau III ("Pepper" for short) is a toy soldierToy soldier
A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, pirates, and other subjects that involve combat-related themes. Toy soldiers vary from simple playthings to highly realistic...
. He is in love with the Clockwork Fairy Princess, Chelsea, whose voice wakes up the toys of the house every night at midnight. But he is clumsy and something of a laughingstock, especially when compared to his friendly rival Ginger who is also after Chelsea's heart.
One night Chelsea is stolen away by an unknown force, which also hypnotizes some of the lesser toys to become fierce minions and stand in the way of anyone who would try to rescue her. If there's no voice to wake them up anymore then the toys will never live again, so Pepper and Ginger head off to find Chelsea before it's too late.
Characters
- Sir Tongara de Pepperouchau III ("Pepper") - the sole playable character in the main game. He's brave, dashing, and quite clumsy.
- Barobaro - Pepper's nearsighted but ever-faithful donkey-for-a-steed. He appears to be a wine bottle on a wheeled basket. He has a crush on Soltia. He only appears in cutscenes.
- Prunchau - Pepper's valet and close friend, this top is also very conscientious of Pepper and sometimes treats him like a little boy. He gives suggestions in the Soltian Roulette.
- Sir Ginger - Pepper's chief rival and something of a showoff, but he works with Pepper in saving Chelsea.
- Silver - Ginger's steed. A horse-shaped clothesbrush, he's quite snobby in thinking he's the perfect horse for the perfect warrior.
- Le Bon - Ginger's valet. Like Prunchau, he also gives suggestions in the Soltian Roulette.
- Sir Oneon de Pepperouchau - Pepper's father. He's a bit overly dramatic; he thinks, for whatever reason, that his family has forsaken him.
- Sir Garluch de Pepperouchau - Pepper's highly-respected, if somewhat misguided, grandfather. He's mysteriously gone missing.
- Pa Zur - Ginger's lord and mentor. All the toys think that the sliding puzzleSliding puzzleA sliding puzzle, sliding block puzzle, or sliding tile puzzle is a puzzle that challenges a player to slide usually flat pieces along certain routes to establish a certain end-configuration....
is a wise old mystic. - Soltia - A hot-tempered perfume bottle who loves music, cards, and games of chance. She has a crush on Pepper and considers Chelsea to be a rival for his affection. She hosts the Soltian Roulette mini-game that occurs between worlds, also giving suggestions to players like Prunchau and Le Bon do.
- Clockwork Princess Chelsea - This beautiful young doll's voice has the power to wake all the toys every night at midnight. Both Pepper and Ginger compete for her heart. Her kidnapping starts the events of this game and its sequel.
Gameplay
This game is a side-scrolling platformer in the vein of the MarioMario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog series
Sonic the Hedgehog is the best selling video game series released by Sega starring and named after its mascot character, Sonic the Hedgehog...
series. Unlike those games, however, the game uses prerendered digitized 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
sprites of high-resolution 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
models similar to the Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies worldwide, making...
series, or Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct is a fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway and Nintendo. Initially released in arcades in 1994, and rumored to use an "Ultra 64" hardware engine, in reality the proprietary arcade hardware was co-developed by Rare and Midway. The game received a high profile launch...
, on top of fully 3D levels (and with fully 3D bosses
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
).
Pepper attacks enemies and opens passages with his key. A quick tap of a button will thrust it out horizontally. Likewise, repeatedly tapping the button over and over will cause him to twist the key around and around. This makes it a bit more powerful (e.g.: an enemy could be knocked out temporarily with a simple jab, but running into the key when twisting it will instantly take it out). He can also pick up unconscious enemies or objects such as footballs or springs and toss them; vertical tosses are possible.
The goal is to reach the end of the stage before time or hit points (typically three, though Gold Keys can increase that maximum) run out. There are no checkpoints; dying sends a player back to the beginning of a level. The levels are fairly large and contain numerous side areas with treasures.
Every third level, Pepper must face off against a large, fully polygonal
Polygon mesh
A polygon mesh or unstructured grid is a collection of vertices, edges and faces that defines the shape of a polyhedral object in 3D computer graphics and solid modeling...
boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
in a one-on-one battle.
The game has 13 levels, including boss levels. The 13 levels take place in four different rooms with two normal levels and one boss each, plus a final boss. If Pepper loses all his lives, the player can continue from the beginning of the current room by spending coins. If the player does not have enough coins to continue, the game is over and the player must start from the beginning of the game.
In Training mode, the game ends at the level just before the final boss.