The Final Word game review

Clockwork Knight 2 -- Sega

In Sega's Clockwork Knight 2 for the Saturn you return as Pepperachou, the wind-up toy knight. In this sequal, the Clockwork Fairy Princess is still unconcious and has been kidnapped again. You must set out (at times, with the help of your trusty steed), to find her, while facing all new challenges. This new installment not only contains an all new adventure, it also features the entirety of the first game hidden as a special bonus.

E.Phoenix
When I first loaded Clockwork Knight 2, and saw the beginning of the first level, and heard the Saturn churning out the same music (although a bit better with more instruments), I thought that Sega had botched another game (I wasn't too fond of the first installment). However, after playing for a few hours, the fact that Clockwork Knight 2 has been vastly improved over Clockwork Knight solidified. The character interaction is much better than the first; for example: on the second level of the second room, Pepperachou can pick up a Zippo and run around lighting candles. On this same level Pepper comes across a coffee pot balanced on a book and, if he stands under it with the lighter long enough, the pot begins to boil over with various assorted goodies. The guardian of the first room is a snake that is made of blocks and has a microphone attached to his tail; every once in a while he stops slithering around the box-frame background and a spotlight appears on him while he barks into the microphone. Everything in Clockwork Knight 2 has been improved except the sometimes sloppy control. Clockwork Knight 2 also gets pretty damn hard really quick. Sega claims that there is a code in Clockwork Knight 2 that allows you to play a full game of Clockwork Knight. This one is a (sometimes etremely hard) winner.

R.I.P.
To the casual viewer, you would think that there really weren't any changes made in this sequal. But in reality, there are quite few... You now have a greater amount of "world" depth to the effect of platforms that you have to make jumps to in the background and forground. Also, the backgrounds themself have a greater amount of texture and animation in them than the first. Sound and music are ok, although I would have liked a bit more variation in game music than just remixes on the original theme. Another problem I had was the drastic extremes in difficulty from segment to segment... You could just blaze through whole parts of a game in minutes, then you would get to a part where you would beat your head against it for hours or more with no luck. If you liked the first Clockwork Knight, and you don't mind moments of extreme frustration, you might be able to fully enjoy this game. Otherwise you may want to atleast rent it for a weekend so you can get a look at the graphics and take some time to watch the music video (I will not say more on this subject since I don't want to spoil it).

------ 40.5/50 -------		--E.Phoenix--	--R.I.P.--
Graphics		4.5	4.0
Sound		4.0	3.5
Gameplay/Control		4.0	4.5
Longevity/Playability		4.0	4.0
Overall		4.0	4.0
Total		20.5	20.0

(03/96)