A few thoughts on Creeping Terror (3DS) now that I've played and finished it

When Sushi Typhoon Games unveiled Creeping Terror in late 2016, I was stoked. A 3DS title inspired by the classic survival-horror game, Clock Tower? Sign me up!

Unfortunately, Creeping Terror didn't hit the North American 3DS eShop until Halloween day last year. For me, that was at least 24 hours too late. I wanted to play it in the lead-up to the holiday, not afterward.

So, I passed on it--with the intention of returning to it in advance of this All Hallows' Eve.

Of course, I completely forgot about Creeping Terror shortly after its release. Thankfully, an acquaintance reminded me of it a couple of weeks ago via an Instagram post.

In rapid succession, I bought, downloaded, and started playing the game. And after a little more than five hours (spread over seven or so days), I finished it, too.

What's my opinion of Creeping Terror given that experience? Here are a few thoughts:

If you've been looking for a "new" Clock Tower, you've got one in Creeping Terror--Clock Tower creator Hifumi Kono had nothing to do with Creeping Terror, but it can sure seem like he did when you're playing it. Not only does this 3DS title and Kono's Super Famicom standout have the same vibe, but the two games share a number of other traits as well. For starters, they look a lot a like--despite the fact that Clock Tower's claustrophobic world is crafted using sprites while Creeping Terror's is made up of polygons. Their gameplay is remarkably similar, too, though the 3DS title's is quite a bit more user-friendly. (Clock Tower is a old-school point-and-click affair, while in Creeping Terror you move the main character with the system's circle pad and interact with your surroundings with its face buttons.) All in all, Creeping Terror feels like a modern Clock Tower in most respects, which is just what I was hoping for when I bought it.

Unfortunately, Creeping Terror's protagonist is just as slow as her Clock Tower counterpart--The developers who brought Creeping Terror to life made a lot of improvements to the Clock Tower "mold" while doing so. That's not to say what they produced is the absolute best side-scrolling survival-horror game to see the light of day. For that to be true, its main character wouldn't move like she lacks leg muscles. The run button helps, but only a bit. (And even it becomes almost useless when an enemy starts chasing you.) Oh, well, it adds to the tension--even if artificially.

Every character besides the protagonist is an idiot--That's par for the course in slasher films, right?  And it's probably par for the course in slasher games, too. (I say probably because I've experienced far fewer of the latter than the former.) Still, Creeping Terror's cast seems especially dumb. They're constantly suggesting you split up or otherwise unnecessarily put yourselves in danger. I'm sure some of this is tied to keeping the gameplay focused on the protagonist, but I'm also sure it could've been handled in a far more elegant fashion.

Creeping Terror doesn't feature much music, but what it does feature is more than fitting--First of all, I've got to say I like that playing this game is a predominantly silent experience. Most of the time, all you hear are ambient noises, like creaking floors or dripping water. (Or the Mario-fireball-esque "ploink" that sounds whenever you turn on or off your phone's flashlight app.) Actual music only enters the picture right as one of Creeping Terror's antagonists are about to arrive on the scene. Believe me when I say the tune's not only fitting, but mighty effective in getting your attention (and in getting you to haul ass to safety).

The localization is disappointingly stilted--No offense to the person or people who handled Creeping Terror's localization. I know this work is tough. That said, the English text in the North American release of the game is pretty stiff. It almost feels like a "first pass"--like with a little massaging, it could've come across as a lot more natural. Don't worry, it's not so bad it'll make you drop the game; it's mostly just awkward.

How many items does a stranded school girl really need?--Creeping Terror's protagonist only has enough room in her jacket--or wherever she stuffs all the things she finds lying about the game's environment--for six items. That doesn't sound like much, but don't worry; it's plenty. After all, you seemingly come across a candy bar (eat it and you restore a bit of stamina--important when you're running from an enemy) or a portable phone charger in every other room. If your playthrough is anything like mine, it won't take you long before you barely even notice their existence. Which is a shame, as it keeps Creeping Terror from being a thoroughly terrifying engagement.

If you like making use of your system's 3D abilities, crank up its depth slider while playing Creeping Terror--I rarely play 3DS titles in 3D. Doing so usually either brings on a migraine, or makes me feel like I'm about to get one. That said, I made an exception for Creeping Terror after giving that aspect a try. Not only did it help immerse me into the game, but it also helped me see the on-screen action. (Most of Creeping Terror's set pieces are eye-strainingly dark. Switching to 3D mode makes them a little less so.)

See also: 'five things that made it really easy for me to put more than 60 hours into The Alliance Alive' and 'five reasons I've fallen head over heels in love with Sushi Striker'

Welcome to WonderSwan World: Special Glamour Shots® Edition

Three WonderSwan-focused posts in a row? Seriously?

Yes, seriously.

I guess you could say I have Bandai's Japan-only GameBoy competitor on the brain right now. Don't worry, I'll write about something else in the next few days. (In fact, a couple of half-finished, 3DS-centric posts are staring at me, begging to be wrapped up, as I type this one.)

In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy ogling the following photos I recently snapped of my WonderSwan Color system and a selection of the WonderSwan games I brought on the road with me this year.



I took these photos in a Palm Springs (California) hotel room, by the way. Its decor didn't exactly lend itself well to such snapshots, so I improvised a light box by going to a nearby Walmart (don't judge), buying a large piece of white poster board and then laying it on a table near our room's main windows.

Granted, that isn't a whole lot different from what I did to nab game and console photos back when I lived in Seattle. There, I placed items on a white, well-lit IKEA table that also effectively replicated a light box.

Anyway, enough about that. I promised WonderSwan Glamour Shots®, so let's focus on them from here on out, shall we?

The first two showcased here are of my translucent black WonderSwan Color system. It's a real beauty, isn't it? Honestly, I'm head-over-heels in love with this handheld's design. Strangely, I think I like the look of the original WonderSwan best (it's a tad sleeker and smidge more minimalist than its two successors), but the Color is pretty sweet, too.

If you'd like to see a few photos of the WonderSwan Color's box, by the way, you can do so by checking out my first "Welcome to WonderSwan World" post or this Flickr photo album. (The latter includes shots of a number of WonderSwan game boxes, cartridges and manuals, too, in case that sort of thing interests you.)

Seven 'old' games I'm planning to play at some point in 2017

Late last year, I published a trio of posts about the many Japanese and North American 3DS and Vita games I'm planning to play sometime in 2017.

(This post covers the 3DS games I'm itching to experience, while this post and this post cover the Vita games on my "play as soon as possible in the next 12 months" list.)

Despite my current living situation, I'm also hoping to play a number of "old" games next year. Here are the ones I'd like to tackle first:

Clock Tower (WonderSwan)--Why would I play the WonderSwan port of Human Entertainment's first Clock Tower game when I could play the Super Famicom or PlayStation versions instead? Because I want to show my new-ish WonderSwan Color system some love, for starters. Also, I can't help but think that playing this game in black and white could be kind of cool--not to mention surprisingly atmospheric. If only experiencing Clock Tower on a fairly small screen would make Scissorman's appearances a bit less terrifying.

Last Window (DS)--After ignoring it for ages, I finally played through--and thoroughly enjoyed--Cing's Hotel Dusk in 2015. (You can read some of my thoughts on it in this "A Decade of DS" post.) I have a hard time believing this sequel from 2010 will be anywhere near as captivating as the original, but I'd love for my skepticism to be proven unwarranted. Regardless, it'll be really nice to hold my DS Lite--or, you know, my go-to 3DS--sideways like a book again.

London Seirei Tantei-Dan (PlayStation)--A Japanese RPG set in Victorian England that's full of lovely sprite art and turn-based battles? Where do I sign up? Also, why did it take me until late 2016 to track down a copy of such a game? I've yet to even stick my London Seirei Tantei-Dan disc into my trusty PSone system, of course, but I'm determined to rectify that in the coming months. I'm also determined to publish a post about this game's magnificent packaging, by the way, so be on the lookout for it if that sort of thing is your cup of tea.

Metroid II (GameBoy)--I'm one of those weird folks who loved both Metroid and Super Metroid as a teen but then never played another Metroid game. I'm not kidding here--no Metroid: Fusion, no Metroid: Zero Mission, no Metroid Prime and, yes, no Metroid II. That last game is the most appealing to me, and everyone knows how much I adore the GameBoy, so I'm going to do my best to jump back on the Metroid bandwagon (if such a thing still exists after Nintendo's attempts to kill the series) with it in 2017.

Mother (Famicom)--I actually put a few hours into this game a couple of years ago. For whatever reason, though, I walked away from it after that--despite the fact I was really enjoying its rather antiquated (especially in comparison to follow-up EarthBound) adventure. I'd prefer to give it a second chance by buying and playing EarthBound Beginnings on my 3DS (ahem, Nintendo), but since that's unlikely to be an option, I guess I'll either put the Mother cart I bought ages ago to use or, you know, plug the old EarthBound Zero ROM into my emulator of choice.

Seiken Densetsu 3 (Super Famicom)--You'd think someone who absolutely loves the second Seiken Densetsu game, released in North America as Secret of Mana, would've played the third by now. Well, you'd be wrong. I find Seiken Densetsu 3's graphics mesmerizing, though, so look for me to finally put it through its paces by the end of this year. (I'd like to do the same to the similarly gorgeous Legend of Mana, to be perfectly honest, but that may be a stretch given everything else on my plate.)

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS)--When Atlus announced this 3DS  port of it Japanese Sega Saturn game from 1997, I told anyone who would listen that I'd buy it as soon as it hit store shelves in my neck of the woods. Nearly four years later, I've still yet to follow through on that affirmation. Copies of Soul Hackers are pretty cheap these days, though, so I'll do what I can to add one to my pile of 3DS cartridges before this time in 2018.

Are you planning to play any particular "old" games this year? If so, which ones?

Your new favorite tumblr: Katakana Kitten

OK, so maybe Katakana Kitten isn't your new favorite tumblr, but it's definitely mine.

Why? A quick look at this unique tumblog's description should help explain things: "Hellow, I'm Midori. I know some Japanese. This blog posts one example of katakana usage a day, usually from video games. Please use these posts to bolster your own Japanese studies."

Here's a recent example of the kind of content Midori has published on Katakana Kitten since the tumblog debuted last December:





She always follows up the screenshot and katakana sample with a short blurb about the game in question, too. Here's the text she typed up for Clock Tower:

"A noteworthy point-and-click horror game originally made for the Super Famicom, developed by Human Entertainment, 1995. Much of the game’s content and style was inspired by the work of horror film director Dario Argento."

In other words, not only can Katakana Kitten help boost your Japanese language abilities, but it also can broaden your knowledge of Japanese video games. Now if we could just convince Midori to start a second tumblr devoted to hiragana or even kanji usage in games...

NightCry (aka Project Scissors) embraces its jankiness in this just-released trailer

Full disclosure: I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to NightCry, the spiritual successor to Clock Tower that began life with the working title Project Scissors, until now.

Of course, that makes a good amount of sense when you consider I've played just one Clock Tower game to date, and even then I've only played a small fraction of it.

Still, I've always loved the idea of Hifumi Kono's long-running series of survival horror titles thanks in large part to its giant-scissors-wielding antagonist.

Because of that long-ignored admiration, last night I eagerly clicked on a link that led me to the latest NightCry trailer that can be seen below.



After I watched it for the first time, I couldn't help but think, that's it? A few minutes later, though, I caught myself smirking at its unabashed jankiness, which reminds me of all the similarly rough PS1 and PS2 titles I've loved since I was a barely legal game fan.

The thing is, this trailer only mentions a PC release for NightCry--which is concerning, as its original Kickstarter mentioned Android, iOS and Vita versions as well.

Here's hoping the game finds its way onto the Vita in some form or fashion, and not too far down the road at that.

In the meantime, the PC iteration will hit Steam and the Playism site on Mar. 29 carrying a $24.99 price tag. I don't suppose any of you are planning to pick up this spooky looking title on or around that date?

5 games I bought in 2015 that I've regrettably (some might say embarrassingly) failed to play

Here's an admission that should shock almost no one: I bought quite a few games--both old and new--in 2015.

Even less shocking to those of you who've been reading this blog for even a few weeks: I've only played a handful of those pick-ups so far.

I'll spend some time chatting about the ones I've actually spent time with in a post that'll be published in a couple of days. In this one, though, I'll blab about some of the ones I've regrettably (and embarrassingly) ignored.

Clock Tower (WonderSwan)--I was so excited when I finally acquired a WonderSwan system (along with five WonderSwan games) a few months ago. I've been buying WonderSwan games for a number of years now--read about some of them in these previously published posts--but until my black WonderSwan Color arrived on my doorstep in mid-October I was unable to play them. Anyway, you'd think that all of this would've prompted me to cram my freshly obtained Clock Tower cart into the aforementioned portable as soon as possible. After all, I've wanted to experience some version of Human Entertainment's point-and-click horror game for ages. Alas, it's still on the to-do list. As is the case with all of the games mentioned here, though, I'm planning to rectify matters in 2016.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS)--I'll be honest here: I wasn't entirely sure what to think of this turn-based strategy game when Nintendo first unveiled it. Sure, Intelligent Systems' involvement thrilled me, and I also loved that they dared to take the genre in a unique direction with the comic-book setting and steampunk aesthetic on display here. On the flip side, though, I wasn't so enamored with their seeming obsession with garish colors. Still, I pre-ordered a copy as soon as I was able--and then promptly neglected to even open it after it was delivered.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (3DS)--True story: I've wanted to play Majora's Mask ever since I conquered the original Nintendo 64 version of Ocarina of Time back in the day. For whatever reason, though, I passed on Majora's Mask when it was released in 2000. Actually, I believe my brother and I owned a copy of it at one point, but I never went through its adventure myself. With that in mind, I happily pre-ordered this 3DS remake-of-sorts and then ... you know how this story ends by now, right?

Taiko no Tatsujin V Version (Vita)--When I first heard that the folks at Bandai Namco were prepping a new Taiko no Tatsujin game for the Vita, I was stoked. I own and love all three of the Taiko titles that were released (in Japan only, sadly) for the DS a few years back, and that affection pushed me to purchase iterations for the PSP and 3DS, too. So, why not add V Version to the pile, too, right? Unfortunately, I didn't give my Vita the attention it deserved in 2015, so this and other releases basically fell by the wayside. Hopefully that won't be the case in the coming year.

Yomawari (Vita)--Of all the unplayed games name-checked in this post, this one bugs me the most. Why? Yomawari is "my cup of tea," as that old saying goes. Specifically, it's cute, it's scary and it's portable. Yet it continues to sit in the same stack as the titles noted above. Admittedly, one reason I've been dragging my feet when it comes to booting up my copy of this Nippon Ichi production is that I'm a bit worried the in-game text will be over my head. Even if that proves true in the end, though, I won't know it for sure until I've actually given Yomawari a try, wouldn't you agree?

With all of that out of the way, what are some of the games--new or old--that you picked up in 2015 but failed to play?

The 'Tumbleweed Portable Club' (of lonely WonderSwan owners) has another member

Remember this recent post, the focal point of which was a snapshot of a tiny, cube-shaped box that was topped by a copy of Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits?

Well, the photos that follow detail the contents of that surprisingly small package.



No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. I finally got off my lazy butt and bought a WonderSwan. Specifically, a translucent black WonderSwan Color.

That may have elicited a groan from some of you. After all, anyone who knows anything about the WonderSwan knows that the SwanCrystal is by far the best of the three WonderSwan systems that were sold in Japan in the late 1990s and early 2000s.



The thing is, I didn't go out of my way to buy this WonderSwan Color. You see, it was just one part of a nicely appointed eBay auction that also included a number of WonderSwan games.

In fact, one of those games--the one seen below--was responsible for bringing my attention to the eBay auction in question.

That would be the WonderSwan port of Human Entertainment's Clock Tower--or Clock Tower for WonderSwan, as I believe it's officially known.

For whatever reason, I got a bug up my butt about this horrific point-and-click game a month or so ago, and while searching eBay for a copy of it I came across a tantalizingly cheap auction that included a black WonderSwan Color, Clock Tower, a visual novel called Terrors (not pictured here) and three other WonderSwan games.

Which ones, you ask? Well, here's one of them:

Although this WonderSwan Color "remake" of Final Fantasy IV isn't all that different from Final Fantasy IV Advance for the GBA--the latter was released in 2005, while the former was released in 2002--I've long wanted to own a copy of it because I'm such a huge fan of this particular Squaresoft game.

The other two games included in the eBay auction I ended up winning are Final Fantasy titles, too. Specifically, the WonderSwan Color re-imaginings of the first and second Final Fantasy adventures. (These remakes later served as the backbones of 2002's Final Fantasy Origins for PlayStation and 2004's Final Fantasy 1 & II: Dawn of Souls for GBA.)

The photo above showcases the back of the first Final Fantasy remake's box. That illustration covering its top half is pretty slick, don't you think?

I didn't snap any shots of the front of that game's box because, well, it's not all that exciting. The same is true of the box that houses the WonderSwan Color version of Final Fantasy II.

Still, you can ogle both covers in the image above--especially if you click and zoom in on it. 

Last, but far from least, is this photo of the translucent black WonderSwan Color I first described in the opening lines of this post. 

Something you probably can't tell from this snapshot: how small this system is. Seriously, it's about the size of my wallet--which came as quite a shock to me. 

Also a pretty big shock was the dimness of the system's screen. I had been warned about this, of course, but it's been so long since I spent time with a handheld that doesn't have a backlit screen that I almost forgot how annoying that kind of thing can be.

Oh, well, I got used to it back when I spent a ton of time with an actual GameBoy (these days I mostly play that system's titles through emulation--even though I have a couple of OG GameBoy systems and a ton of games), I'm sure I'll get used to it again.

See also: 'I now own 10 WonderSwan games but I still don't own a system that will allow me to play any of them'

A trio of spooky games I'm hoping to play between now and All Hallows' Eve

For those of us in North America--and any other locale where folks celebrate the holiday--it's that time of year again. And when I say "that time of year," I of course mean Halloween.

While my compatriots spend the next couple of weeks prepping costumes, planning parties and popping orange and black candies into their mouths, I'm going to spend them playing spooky games. Specifically, I'm going to play--or maybe I should say I'm going to do my best to play--the following trio of Halloween-appropriate titles.

Undertale (Mac)--The good news here is that I've already started playing this just-released, EarthBound-esque RPG. The bad news: I've only played about an hour and a half of it so far. I have no doubt that will change appreciably by the end of this coming weekend thanks to all of the grins and chuckles it's already produced.

My favorite aspects of Undertale at the moment, by the way, are its colorfully creepy "overworld" graphics, its wonderfully witty text and its unexpectedly unique gameplay. A highlight of that last component: if you want, you can dance, flirt or simply chat with baddies rather than beat them up during this title's battle scenes.

Corpse Party (PSP)--I put a small handful of hours into this game a couple of years ago while traveling for one reason or another. That playthrough came to a screeching halt, though, when I got stuck and couldn't figure out what to do next. Why didn't I turn to GameFAQs or some other online resource? I have no idea, I'm sorry to say.

Thankfully, I'm feeling decidedly less stubborn these days--especially after listening to my podcast pal, Mollie, rave about this original entry in the oddly titled Corpse Party series while we recorded the 17th installment of The Nichiest Podcast Ever a few nights ago. So, look for me to give the game a second chance (and write about it in one or more future blog posts) between now and the end of this month.

Clock Tower (Super Famicom or WonderSwan)--Can you believe I've never played any of the many versions of Clock Tower that have been released over the years? I can't. OK, so that's not completely true. I spent about 30 minutes with the Super Famicom release earlier this year, but I quickly gave up on that campaign when the game's scissor-wielding antagonist popped up and scared the living daylights out of me.

I can't guarantee the same thing won't happen again when and if I return to this pixelated horror title, but I can guarantee I'll do my best avoid it. Who knows, maybe playing it in black and white will help?

Any you playing any spooky, scary or otherwise Halloween-esque games this month? If so, which ones--and what do you think of them thus far?

Shall We Do It? (Clock Tower, Fairune, The Legend of Dark Witch and Tappingo 2)

While I was in the shower the other day (don't ask), it struck me that it's been quite some time since I last published one of these "Shall We Do It?" posts.

To be completely honest, I had kind of forgotten this column even existed--until that fateful shower, I mean.

Thankfully, I think today's "Shall We Do It?" post should make up for some of that lost time. After all, it includes commentary on and impressions of four recently played (by me, of course) games.

Actually, I originally planned to cover a fifth game--Game Freak's Japan-only 3DS eShop title, Solitiba (aka Soliti Horse)--as well, but I decided to devote an entire post (look for it later this week) to it instead.

In the meantime, here are some thoughts on the other games I've played in recent days and weeks:

Clock Tower--I've wanted to play this 16-bit spooker, published by the fine folks at Human Entertainment in 1995, for eons, but I put off doing so until now because, well, I've been too chicken to deal with its scissors-wiedling antagonist. Blogger Anne Lee's "Horrogemonth" play-along is what pushed me to finally play it, by the way--in case any of you were curious.

Sadly, so far I've only played it long enough to get killed by Bobby, the aforementioned scissor aficionado, twice, but that's longer than I originally expected I'd spend with it, so I'm not about to complain.

The only other thing I have to say about Clock Tower at the moment is that I find it hilarious how, every time Bobby arrives onto the scene, I completely forget which button on the controller does what, which I guess goes a long way toward explaining the deaths I mentioned earlier.

Fairune--This adorable Ys clone, made by Japanese indie devs Skipmore and Urara-Works, began life as a mobile game. Don't hold that against it, though, as this 3DS eShop port is pretty darn great. Unfortunately, it's currently only available to people who can access the Japanese 3DS eShop, but I have a feeling the folks at Flyhigh Works will publish it elsewhere sooner rather than later.

Anyway, I've put about an hour into Fairune so far, and like I mentioned a couple of sentences ago, I've had a lot of fun with it in that time. That's largely due to the wonderful look of the game, I have to admit, although the gameplay's far from a slouch. I do wish there were a bit more to that aspect of the title, though, as in its present state it seems to offer less depth than the series it seems to try to emulate (Falcom's Ys).

I'm going to keep plugging away at it regardless, as I'm curious to see how its minimalist story progresses (if at all). Plus, it features a female protagonist, something I think is almost always worth supporting.

The Legend of Dark Witch--If you're anything like me, you probably didn't even know about this 3DS title's impending release--or you knew about it at one point and then promptly forgot about it. At any rate, you know about it now. Kind of. And now you know it's hitting the North American eShop in just a couple of days (on Oct. 16).

Surprisingly, I was granted a bit of a sneak peak at The Legend of Dark Witch this past weekend thanks to an unexpected e-mail--followed up by a review code--from one of publisher Circle Entertainment's PR staffers.

Do I think it'll be worth the asking price of $3.99? It's kind of hard to say right now, as I've only spent about an hour with it so far. What I can say is that it's a nice (at least nice--it could wind up being great, but I haven't experienced enough of it to know that) Mega Man-esque side-scroller that sports some really nice spritework. As such, I think $3.99 probably isn't a bad price if you consider yourself a fan of the genre.

Tappingo 2--Another 3DS eShop game? What a shocker. Seriously, though, a number of great games have been added to the 3DS eShop as of late, and this Picross-esque puzzler is one of them.

Of all the titles mentioned here, I've played this one, developed and published by Goodbye Galaxy Games, the most. In fact, of the 100 or so puzzles that are included in this $2.99 game, I've completed just over 60 of them, and I don't expect I'll stop until I've cleared every last one of them.

The beauty of this digital title, by the way, isn't its graphics or soundtrack, although both aspects are up to snuff; no, the real draw of Tappingo 2 is that it's fun and addictive in all the ways a worthwhile puzzler should be. This is one of those games that will prompt you to tell yourself, "just one more puzzle"--over and over again until, an hour or two later, you finally, reluctantly put your 3DS down because you have to eat dinner or go to bed or do some other task that seems completely unimportant in the face of such addictiveness.

Note: all of the screenshots showcased above were altered a bit because it drives me bonkers to have images of different sizes in the same post. Rest assured each of these games look far better on an actual 3DS or TV screen than they look here.

Three scary games I'm playing as part of #HorrorMonth

Although I had a lot of fun playing the shoot 'em ups that I chatted about in these recent posts and that were inspired by my blogging and podcasting pal Anne Lee's #Shmuptember game-along extravaganza, I'm about ready to move on to another genre now.

Thankfully, Lee is one step ahead of me and already has announced another such event for October, with the theme this time around being scary games.

The thing is, I've never been one to play overly scary games--games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill and Siren and Resident Evil. Oh, I love reading about them and watching videos of them and stuff like that, but playing them? Not really--which is kind of funny when you consider how much I love scary movies.

Still, I really want to participate in #HorrorMonth (that's the official name of Lee's latest game-along, by the way), so I'm doing my best to put my fears behind me and play through the following trio of terror-ific titles between now and Halloween.

Sweet Home (Famicom)--Those of you who have visited this blog for a few years now may remember me mentioning Sweet Home in previous posts that were published around this time of year. That's because this isn't the first time I've attempted to play through this spooky, Resident Evil-esque (due to its setting more than anything) RPG. I've never made it more than a couple of hours into it, though, so this year my goal is do do a bit better than that (if not make it all the way to the cart's credit roll).

Splatterhouse (PC Engine)--Here's a game I've been curious about since it first caught my attention back when the PC Engine was still in its infancy and its North American counterpart, the TurboGrafx-16, had yet to be released. I've barely played it in the ensuing years, although I couldn't tell you why that is--other than this genre generally isn't my cup of tea. Thankfully, the few minutes I spent with Splatterhouse the other day were a blast, so I have a feeling it won't be all that difficult for me to complete at least a handful of its stages before I call it a night, so to speak.

Clock Tower (Super Famicom)--Unlike the pair of titles discussed above, I've purposefully avoided this Super Famicom spooker over the years because I knew its scissor-wielding antagonist would be too much for my rather delicate constitution. Although that mostly was proven true when I played a fan-translated version of this unique point-and-click title over the weekend, I'm not going to give up on it--mainly because I want to learn more about the aforementioned villain, the titular mansion and protagonist Jennifer Simpson.

Are any of you participating--or planning to participate--in #HorrorMonth? If so, which titles have you short-listed for this particular game-along?