Clockwork Knight (Saturn) Review

🧸 Received: April 26th, 2022 🧸 Written: August 19th-29th, 2022 🧸

Alternate Title: Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchau no Daibōken [ ⬤ ]

Year: 1994, 1995 | Developed and Published by: Sega

Hello, gamers and readers, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it. 😃 I think enough time has passed since I got my latest retro video game console that I'm ready to properly conduct my first Sega Saturn video game review.  Yay! 😄

Screengrabbed and cropped while on the Sega Saturn's Wikipedia page

Following the success of their cartridge-based 16-bit MegaDrive/Genesis console, Sega hopped on the 32-bit train with their next console the Sega Saturn which was CD-based and had a dual-CPU architecture as well as eight processors; it saw a release in Japan on November 22nd, 1994, in North America on May 11th, 1995, and in Europe that July 8th.  Despite its early success in Japan (with console conversions of Sega's Virtua Fighter and Cyan's Myst acting as launch titles) it ended up not selling well overall in the West, with only 9.26 million units sold it was deemed a commercial failure; not aiding that fact was Sega of America releasing their newest console a whole four months earlier than they initially said they would (whoops) and absolutely got clobbered by the competition the PlayStation One and Nintendo 64 to the point that Sega had no other recourse but to discontinue Western support for this format in 1998 (and in 2000 in Japan).

Images from GameFAQs

One of the earliest games to be made for the Sega Saturn was Sega's Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchau no Daibōken (for which the subtitle translates to "Pepperouchau's Adventure") which was released in Japan on December 9th, 1994, which would be localized in North America and in Europe as one of the launch titles on May 11th and July 8th of 1995 respectively as simply Clockwork Knight.  This game was directed by Tomoyuki Ito, produced by Noriyoshi Ōba, Yoji Ishii, and Makoto Oshitani, executive produced by Mamoru Shigeta, designed by Katsuhisa "Kats" Sato, product managed by Tomoaki Ogawa and Kazuhiro Hanaya, and was programmed by Yoshio Fukushima.

Wobbly vibing blue biplane toy is my favorite

Every day at the stroke of midnight all the toys come to life and wake up after hearing the Clockwork Fairy Princess Chelsea sing a song with her angelic voice.

The good-natured golden wind-up toy knight Sir Tongara de Pepperouchau III is in love with Chelsea,

but so is his friendly rival in shining armor Ginger, however Tongara is also clumsy and careless which makes him something of a laughingstock among all the toys.

One night everyone hears an ominous thundering sound which caused a blackout.  Tongara and Ginger use a nearby flashlight and discover that Chelsea has been stolen away from her clock pedestal and only catch a fleeting glimpse of her abductor,

so the two rivals mount on the donkey Barobaro and clothesbrush Silver and set off on their quest to save Chelsea and bring her back, for without her voice to wake them up the toys will never be able to live again.  Just as Tongara and Ginger ride away all of the lesser toys become possessed by an unknown entity thereby rendering them all as fierce obstacles impeding your path.

Left: The "CO" spelled from those blocks stands for "completely operational"... presumedly | Right: Invincibility time already

In the sidescrolling platformer Clockwork Knight you take control of the wind-up toy knight Sir Tongara de Pepperouchau III whom you can move left and right as well as double tap either direction to make him run, hold down to duck and up to look above you (and if you hold either direction for a long time you'll be able to get more of a view of what's below you or above you), enter through a doorway by pressing up while standing in front of it, jump up in the air by pressing either the A or C button with your gained altitude depending on how hard or softly you pressed it, and with either shoulder button you can remove the upper HUD from the screen* or press it again to bring it back.

* I'm... glad Sega felt the need to include that... for whatever reason? 😕 Maybe it was to take advantage of the Saturn controller's shoulder buttons so early in its lifespan

Left: Propeller incoming | Right: Unlocking and opening up a transportation box

A lot of Tongara's actions throughout the course of the game are accomplished with the B button, where his weapon of choice is a keyblade.  Certain enemies get dispatched with one lunge, but most will only temporarily be incapacitated as a result; while they're unconscious you can pick up said enemy by holding the B button until you let go by tossing them ahead of you or above you.  To do away with some of the tougher enemies simply twist the keyblade until they pop by repeatedly pressing B, and since Tongara's weapon doubles as a key it can also be used to twist inside a lock which will then open up a transportation box for you to get inside of.  Finally, you'll occasionally come across objects which you can push ahead of you by holding B and forward or pull behind by holding B in the opposite direction.

Left: Walk | Right: Upward toss

Throughout each area you will come across a variety of items that'll aid Tongara in his quest: clocks to slightly prolong your allotted time, coins that can be used for Soltia's roulette mini-game or if you have enough to exchange for a continue in the event you lose all your lives, a bronze winding key to replenish your health by one, a silver winding key to replenish all lost health, a golden winding key to not only replenish your health but augment your health capacity by one (you start off with three, but can get up to five), a ball icon with a star to momentarily render Tongara invincible, a helmeted blue icon to gain one life, and a helmeted red icon to garner three lives.

Left: Stunnin' a Katchin' | Right: I didn't know Sega was in the book business too 📘

Each room is divided into three stages, with the third and last one culminating in a boss fight.  Losing a life regardless how far you got will not only set you back to the start of the present stage but will reset your health capacity back to three should you have lost while your health capacity was four or five.  At the end of the first two stages you have a chance to gain an extra life by performing a long jump from behind the white line and land on the correct letter that's needed to spell "clockwork", for failure to do so will result in nothing.  Only by defeating the boss at the end will Tongara be granted access to the next room.

After defeating the boss you'll be given access to a bonus mini-game (programmed by Yuichi Matsuoka) hosted by the perfume bottle Soltia where you have a choice to wager five, ten, or even fifteen of your coins to play the roulette, or there's the farewell option to resume your business and get back to the main game; if you choose to play you get to see the contents of each box for a brief moment until they slip back in, at which point the circle of boxes will spin around and rotate until they stop in place.  Be sure to choose the box that has either a coin or a helmeted icon if you paid attention to which box had which, for if you choose the box that's got Pierron in it you'll get nothing.  You have a choice to continue at this point or to choose the farewell option to resume your business.  It's optional, but it's there should you feel you need it.

Left: Unwinding the monocled tuxedo doll | Right: Attacking right up front won't do with that shield knight deflecting your keyblade, meaning you must make a well-timed attack while ducking

Clockwork Knight has got a very appealing visual aesthetic, and for the time period looks very advanced for what is a 2D platformer at heart as many of the props and sets are 3D.  The backgrounds designed by Shirō Kinemura, Masahiro Sanpei, Osamu Ogata, and Yumiko Miyabe look good as they loom in the distance, but what steals the show is the 3D constructed foregrounds by Namie Manabe, Takehiko Miura, and Yoshihito Takahashi with the occasional background and visual effect programmed by Akira Ōe.  The ground skews based on the direction you're moving, there'll be certain objects that reach out towards and/or pull back from the screen, the camera will zoom in and out depending how far you are in relation to the boss you're fighting with effective scaling, and with prerendered sprite work Sega managed to make it all gel so well.

Left: More of that shielded blue knight | Right: Stepping on a switch to operate the crane to find a new place for the box of Moomin Hippo Cookies

The stages in Betsy's room have got pink walls with the word "Atelier" adorning its pattern in stylized font with occasional pictures of Chelsea and Soltia as well as arts and crafts, and when you get to the bookshelves there are blue books that reach toward the screen and pull back as an attempt to impede you (like a 3D effect popping out at you), Kevin's room has got a blue backdrop with toy aircraft dangling on a string as Tongara ventures on top of impressively sculpted building blocks and later as you hop from one train to another the previous one you were just on will make its way on the tracks towards the background, and the kitchen area is neatly designed with you having to go through its bricked walls, the stove with the out of control flames, and being careful not to fall in the rising and receding waters of the sink (with a fuzzy looking scrub sponge and soap suds to get on).

Left: Push the battery inside to operate the train | Right: Riding on a stomper

This game uses prerendered sprites to bring Toshiyuki Mukaiyama and Ryūichirō Kutsuzawa's characters to life with a 3D-like affect (a process Rare used for their Nintendo 16-bit classic Donkey Kong Country/Super Donkey Kong) and as a result they look really good with a nice degree of polish.  The rosy-cheeked Tongara is endearingly designed with the most fluid of movements as he walks, runs, skids, flaps his arms as he's falling down, and lunges or twists his keyblade, and when looking up or ducking down you can see his wind-up key operate which is a nice attention to detail.  I especially like the way the clock moves its hand in the upper HUD as time passes.

Left: Push the sign with your keyblade to clear your path | Right: Jump on occasion as the train moves along the tracks

The enemy toys Tongara contends with comprise of the trident-wielding Katchin' enemies adorned in just a football helmet (who go bug-eyed before jumping into the foreground from the backdrop), the clownlike Pierron who sprouts from inside cans, sentient Darjeeling vacuums, lumbering blue knights who alternate between swinging their shield arm and their bare arm, enemy Propellers, Chain Snakes, and Kimmy the toy hatchling duck with sausage legs, et al, and they're all drawn and animated in adorable fashion; I like the way they tumble backwards as Tongara makes a domino chain reaction of enemies upon tossing one, and they all get vanquished by turning into paper confetti.

Left: Ah, Sega Saturn, my favorite Autobot... or is it a Decepticon, it's hard to tell | Right: Tossing a football towards the Kimmy enemies in order to create a domino chain reaction

The bosses, all designed by Yusuke Yoshida, are all big and imposing while still maintaining the lighthearted appeal of the game.  There's a well-dressed monocled prerendered doll who tries to land on you with a 3D top hat that looks too big on him, one boss takes a lot of inspiration from Takara Tomy and Hasbro's Transformers as it turns into a jet to fly towards the screen and then towards the playing field until it transforms into a tall humanoid automaton and vice versa (colored in red and blue), but my favorite boss is the very final TV one due to the creepy vibes it exudes and strong buildup as well as the way it changes expressions.

In the opening, ending, and in-between rooms there are 3D cutscenes that for 1994 are impressively conceived with solid rendering and well-utilized camera usage with a good sense of compositing, pacing, lighting, and shading.  Tongara, Ginger, and Oneon de Pepperouchau II's armors have got a shiny texture, the floor in one of the cutscenes has got a reflective surface as there's a crane shot of Tongara running on foot, the buildup to Chelsea's entrance is nice as the camera zooms in on the clock she emerges from,

and the characters have got an endearing amount of charm.  Cutscene programmer Yoshio Inoue as well as artists Norihiro Nishiyama and Masayuki Hasegawa have done a good job bringing these moments to life, and at nearly three decades old they still hold up well for the most part.

Left: Springing upward from a food weight balance | Right: That tool tossing toy chipmunk had it coming

Clockwork Knight's soundtrack was composed by Hirofumi Murasaki, whose prior video game credits comprised of Santos/Megasoft fare such as the Sega 16-bit port of Tad's JuJu Densetsu/Toki: Going Ape Spit, The Super Shinobi II/Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, and Aa Harimanada, and it is very good with impeccable sound quality.  Not only does it complement the lighthearted nature of this game but also fits the atmosphere of each location to a T, and during the course of the game the music changes genres.

Left: Who in their right mind leaves a bar of soap in the kitchen stove area?? 🤨 ... other than for the convenience of the game, that is? | Right: How about a magic trick?  Tongara, with the tip of his keyblade, turns Propeller into confetti 🎊

The first theme in Betsy's room is very high-energy and enjoyable, starting off Tongara's quest on a really catchy and engaging note as it gets you pumped for the action, Kevin's room's first theme has got a nice bluegrass vibe with the saxophone while the second theme plays a mean harmonica as you board the train, the kitchen's first theme is atmospherically nice thanks to the rocking harmonica and bells while its second theme would go great with an ice rink event, and the second theme for the attic is appropriately fast-paced jazz as you're nearing the end of your journey.  It's got two different boss themes that are good listens in their own right, but one of my favorite tracks is the final boss theme as it's perfectly apropos with its epically do or die composition.  The sound effects by Seirō Okamoto and Katsuyoshi Nitta are decently selected, with the crank sounds of the keyblade as you twist it around, an audible pop as the enemies turn into confetti, the cartoony screech sound as Tongara skids on the floor thanks to his spurs, the squeaks that come from the Katchin', and the loud signal of the toy train, et al.

Hirofumi Murasaki also provided the music for the opening and ending cutscenes with the lyrics written in English by Reiko Waters.  The titular song at the beginning sung by Misumi Kosata (Soltia) and Shiori Fujita (Chelsea) is a really fun number that eventually segues into a jazzy tune which perfectly sets the lighthearted tone for the game, and the ending theme "A Lullaby" is an incredibly sweet way to bookend Tongara's adventure with its nice, slow melody and Kosata's strong vocals.  It's even more emotional upon learning that Murasaki created the latter song for his newborn daughter; seriously, what a heartwarming gift he made for her.

Left: Careful not to run too fast lest you wish to slip into the water | Right: What an authentic-looking sponge, Sega used the right texture for it

On the options screen you have a choice to start off your game having anywhere from three to six lives, change the difficulty to training or normal or hard, and alter the button layout should the default one not suffice for some reason (don't think you'll need to, but it's there if you feel you must).  On training the game ends after defeating the robot boss at the end of the attic, with the final boss and ending scenarios only being accessible by playing the game on normal and hard.  All three difficulties are varied regarding how much enemy activity you have to put up with, how much time you need to get to the end, the amount of keyblade attacks needed to dispose of a boss, and the helmeted red icons being swapped for the blue ones* (or on rare occasions, vice versa).

* Remember that blue is worth one life and red three

Several months after Clockwork Knight's release Sega would follow it up with the sequel Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchau no Daibōken Gekkan in 1995, with a European and North American release following suit months after the fact as Clockwork Knight 2, which like its predecessor was a Sega Saturn-exclusive.

Taking place immediately after the events of the last game, Tongara is back with his keyblade and same set of moves, though in a couple of stages he gets to ride his donkey Barobaro to keep things fresh.  While the core gameplay and overall structure largely remain unchanged, the difficulty has slightly been augmented to keep you on your toes plus there is a good dose of replay value with whether or not you find all the ace cards scattered about.

Playing Clockwork Knight and Clockwork Knight 2 back to back does make for a good double billing, for it's got all the qualities that made the first game so enjoyably appealing and I'd say that on the whole it is the stronger installment of the two but by a small margin.  In Japan the two games would get bundled up on the same disc with Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchau no Fukubukuro on December 1995, which is the version of the second Clockwork Knight that would be localized in the West.

Screengrabbed while watching Saturn Memories' gameplay footage on YouTube

There was going to be another iteration on the Sega Saturn with Clockwork Knight Puzzle (or Clockwork Knight 3: Pengin Wars, depending on the source) which was to be an action-oriented top-down maze game in the vein of Coreland's 1982 coin-op Pengo (which was a Sega release) where Tongara had to dispose of all enemies in the playing field.  Despite receiving press coverage at the time it sadly never went past the beta phase as it got cancelled, and what footage is available of it is very limited.  Sega also had plans for a Nintendo GameCube installment called Knight 'n Knight which was announced in 2003, but alas it also got cancelled before any real development got started.  Thus endeth Sir Tongara de Pepperouchau III's legacy.

Left: Got a life by landing on the correct moving letter | Right: Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh... 😨 no comment

I first heard of Clockwork Knight some time in the past year.  Whenever I see a suggested video by NintendoComplete on YouTube, I mainly click on it just to read his description of the present game he's playing (he sure has an amusing way with words) though if it looks interesting I might watch a tiny bit of the gameplay video.  I never knew about Clockwork Knight until that point, I watched his video up until the first Soltia roulette bonus, and it looked like it was a fun lighthearted toy-themed game to play, but I did not own a Sega Saturn console at that point.  Growing up in Italy during my elementary school years up until 2002 me and my classmates owned a PlayStation One, and when visiting my relatives in the United States during the Summer I played the SNES, Nintendo 64, and on rare instances the Genesis with my cousins (only one set of my American cousins had the PlayStation like I did).

I didn't even know of the existence of the Sega Saturn until sometime in 2003 I believe (either when I saw a short snippet of Sonic Team's Sonic Jam in the History of Sonic video on their Nintendo GameCube compilation Sonic Mega Collection or when I first stumbled upon the FlyingOmelette website), but given Sega's handling and management of the console, I'm not surprised.  Surprise releasing it in North America in May of 1995 as opposed to September like they initially announced they would certainly did the Saturn no favors, but Sega's management focused so much attention on how they could one-up Sony and Nintendo that they neglected to find a way to work into their console's viability.

Image from GameFAQs, with Sega font added by me; politics, what a terrible and oppressively toxic concept, all it does is spark hatred and resentment inside those who would've lived a long happy life without experiencing such a feeling (9/10/22 Update: I just felt the need to vent, that's all)

Sega Technical Institute's Sonic X-Treme, which would've been the game that salvaged the struggling Saturn, had a troubled development of legendary proportions (with poor communication, inexperience, declining morale, insurmountable pressure, rampant technological difficulties, and misguided fixation on politics resulting in them falling behind schedule, Yuji Naka denying them usage of Sonic Team's Nights Into Dreams...'s engine, following its cancellation a PC edition was denied because it did not appear on a Sega format first, and as if things weren't bad enough, two of its key members were told they would literally die if they continued working at the nonstop rate they did so they had no choice but to exit the project for their health*) to the point that it had to be cancelled altogether resulting in Sega Technical Institute's disbandment.  The Sega Saturn never stood a chance, and Sega has no one to blame but themselves for it.

* Look, I love video games, but I don't think they're worth dying for, I think they made the right call in not staying if deteriorating (mental) health was going to be the only outcome from it

When I got older I read a few articles of the Sega Saturn on RVGFanatic's website, which were engaging reads.  Several years ago I considered looking into getting the console, but I went against it because some of the games I wanted to try were Japan-only and were on the pricey side of things (like Ving's port of Taito's Bubble Symphony and Success' Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams); I figured, I didn't need a Saturn to be happy.  I realize now that my Saturn wishlist was fairly unrealistic back then, so when my desire to get a Saturn came back months ago I made sure to start out small and make my way from there.

I've been a happy Saturn owner for four months now, I never realized what I was missing out on! 😄 I talked about my experience with it and gave my brief thoughts on the first four games I got for it in my Random Saturnday post, which I'm quite happy with how it turned out, I hope to get to work writing a second Random Saturnday post soon

Mere weeks after I turned 31 back in April, I made what was arguably the craziest video gaming decision I made: with all the eBay gift cards I had at my disposal I used them to curb down the spending for and invested in a Sega Saturn console and ordered my first Saturn game Clockwork Knight separately.  One ceaselessly rainy April day, after coming home from work, the console arrived at the door.  I was so excited to enter my new video gaming chapter, with Clockwork Knight arriving the next day (and two months and five games later I was lucky to find a reasonably priced copy of the sequel).  Little by little I caught up with more Sega Saturn games, but within reason (though I have to say, I've been a bit more daring with my purchases as of late), and it is quite a ride.  Of the nine games I presently own for the Saturn (as I write this review) I've only come across one real stinker, but everything else I've had a pleasantly positive experience with. 😃

Left: Toy chef preparing to hop towards your position | Right: The keyblade is strong enough to push pot-shielded toy chef who's been knocked off his feet as a result

Clockwork Knight is a fun game, not just as an entry point into the Sega Saturn but also on its own merits.  I think it's a good technical showcase of what the Saturn is capable of, and it's very polished to boot.  Granted, even on the hardest difficulty it is a particularly easy game and it is pretty short clocking in at roughly forty to fifty minutes*, but it is fun to play while it lasts regardless.  It doesn't strive to be anything more than a fun family-friendly toy-themed platformer, and that's perfectly fine.

* The Japanese version is longer, mostly due the pre-stage dialogue that's been excised from the Western version, and Sega ensured that the game would be a little harder for the American audience

I love the eyebrow raised depending on which option is highlighted, that's such a cute idea

It's so adorably lighthearted and charming, too, there isn't a mean bone in its body even during its most intense of boss fights which makes it all the more endearing.  Tongara is a very likable protagonist, while he isn't the most coordinated of heroes he is pretty nimble and quick on his feet not to mention he's so good-natured and made the keyblade cool before SquareSoft did with Kingdom Hearts.  I've also seen some comments likening him to a skinny Wario... it's the moustache and color yellow, I take it.

While promoting Traveller's Tales' and Sonic Team's racing game Sonic R in an interview conducted by Sega Saturn Magazine, designer and visual coordinator Kats Sato talked about the good working relationship Sega developed with Jon Burton's company over the years and briefly cited the British Disney platformer Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse as his influence for Clockwork Knight.

I was very surprised to learn this, as these games were not released that far apart from each other.  In North America, Mickey Mania debuted on October of 1994 on the SNES console,

while the base MegaDrive/Genesis version would come out that November, which was exactly one month prior to Clockwork Knight's Japanese December 1994 release.  I don't believe for a moment that this game was worked on in the span of two months, that would've been too quick even at the time, but it is nice to know that Mickey Mania was a good source of influence.

Bonus fun fact: in the very same interview Sato said he took inspiration from Mickey Mania when working on Clockwork Knight, it turns out Burton also took some cues from Sato's game when working on the subsequent Traveller's Tales venue,

It didn't matter whether it was the Sega 16-bit, Nintendo 16-bit, or PC version (or, God forbid, Tiertex's barebones Game Boy conversion), Traveller's Tales' Toy Story was one of those games that pretty much everyone, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, played in one form or another in the mid '90s

Toy Story based on PIXAR's inaugural feature-length computer animated film.  I can definitely see parallels and comparisons being drawn to Clockwork Knight, they do both explore similar territory as you're in control of a sentient toy where the world is viewed from the perspective of toys where the characters' sprites are prerendered, but that's really where the similarities end.  Clockwork Knight is exclusively a platformer from beginning to end,

This game was so hard for its target audience that Jon Burton ended up incorporating a password system for the European version, as the American version has to be beaten in one go

whereas a good chunk of Toy Story is a platformer and occasionally changes genres for certain stages to keep things fresh.  Even though I grew up playing Toy Story on the PC and SNES (as well as on the Game Boy, unfortunately), I do think the Clockwork Knight games are superior; Sega's platformers have got a consistent degree of flow, are very manageable in difficulty, and are very polished both visually and structurally, whereas Traveller's Tales' game, fun though it may be in spurts, is hampered by its high difficulty and is very ambitious to say the least as it doesn't share the same the degree of polish as it does get cheap in areas.  But hey, good influence can go both ways, which I see as a positive takeaway from this.

I love how Rare seemingly gave birth to the prerendered 2D platformer movement with Donkey Kong Country/Super Donkey Kong, shortly followed up by Sega's Clockwork Knight and Traveller's Tales' Toy Story.  Even though Clockwork Knight didn't share the same impact and scope as the Nintendo 16-bit classic has, it's still a good and fun classic in its own right.

Complete with a stinger too, it comes as a total shock after hearing the "A Lullaby" song

From what I've gathered this game was apparently rushed to meet up with the release of the Sega Saturn console, which caused Sega to split Tongara's adventure into two games, as the post-credits sequence ends on a startling cliffhanger with Chelsea unable to wake up despite being saved at the end.

At least, that's the impression I got, anyway, for Sega would add new elements that did not make the cut in the first iteration despite the gameplay being largely unaltered.  The first Clockwork Knight's cliffhanger ending does successfully draw a hook that makes you want to know what happens next, especially since Chelsea is an important source of every toy's vitality, and fortunately the story set up by Clockwork Knight pays off at the end of Clockwork Knight 2.  In so doing, Sega has managed to maintain a level of consistency in terms of quality.

Left: Secret room | Right: 🎵 And I'm freeeeeeeee, free faaaalliiiiiing 🎵

I love how if you search thoroughly in Clockwork Knight you might not only stumble across a secret spot where a life might be but you might come across a transportation box that will warp you around, it does give this game a bit of replay value.  While the game is easy on the whole, it's easy to lose health to a nuisance projectile throwing chipmunk if you don't pay attention to your surroundings (particularly in the penultimate section of the penultimate attic stage).  The start of the second attic stage places you in a long row of transportation boxes, where only picking the right one will set you on the right course.

Because Sonic the Hedgehog was Sega's mascot and there was yet to be a Saturn game that properly featured him in it, Clockwork Knight served as the first of three stand-ins for the blue blur until his formal 32-bit appearance, the other two being Sega's Kisuishō Densetsu Astal/Astal and Realtime Associates' Bug!,

none of which surpassed Sonic in terms of popularity and sales but they all varied in quality.  I consider Astal to be the strongest of the bunch, it's a gorgeously drawn 2D platformer with enjoyably good gameplay plus it's got the most breathtaking music I've heard from a Saturn game so far.

Left: Use your head?  You got it! | Right: Awww, what an innocuous, not at all creepy, sentient mechanical armed television set that is 📺

Would the Saturn have fared any better had Sega of America maintained their word and waited those extra four months?  It's hard to say, really.  Worst case scenario, the Saturn would've shared the same American launch month as the PlayStation (with one week's head start, but that's beside the point), though I'd like to believe it would not have suffered as bad as it did due to how things were played out.  The PlayStation One would've likely still run circles around it, but not by much, though that's just conjecture talking.  There are good games on the Saturn, but Sega was irrefutably in the wrong for how they handled and managed it.

Left: Contact | Right: Pouty TV

Clockwork Knight is a delightfully fun platformer from beginning to end, and while it would've been nice if it was a bit longer and slightly more challenging, the pros far outweigh the cons.  If you own a Saturn and have not played this game, then I happily recommend it, but if you don't own a Saturn but are thinking about getting one, this is not a bad place to start.  I'm happy I chose this game as my Saturn foray. 😃

My Personal Score: 8.0/10

d(^-^)bTO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b

● My present high score is 1,041,180.

● Off-topic, but I recently caught up with Randal Kleiser's Grease on Paramount+, I've heard its music but never really saw the movie before.  I'm glad I watched it, I really enjoyed it, Olivia Newton-John (RIP) and John Travolta had really good chemistry in it, the song numbers were all great ("Summer Nights", "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "There Are Worst Things I Could Do"), and it was so much fun that I didn't mind the fact that the actors were too old to play high schoolers.  Now I want to catch up with Robert Greenwald's Xanadu, which also had Olivia Newton-John in it, that's one movie I've been curious about for a while.

Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW is allowed); hope you have a great day, be a kind human, and take care! 😃