Clockwork Aquario is an upcoming action-platform video game developed by Westone and published by Strictly Limited Games for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2021. Hangyo from taking over the world. Clockwork Aquario was originally intended to be the last arcade game by Westone, being developed...
Clockwork Aquario is an upcoming action-platform video game developed by Westone and published by Strictly Limited Games for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2021. Hangyo from taking over the world. Clockwork Aquario was originally intended to be the last arcade game by Westone, being developed in 1992 for Sega System 18 and push the hardware to its limits, however the increasing popularity of both 3D games and fighting games in arcades as well as poor response during location tests in 1993 led to the game's initial cancellation. In 2017, Strictly Limited Games acquired the title's rights from Sega, with ININ Games collaborating on a restoration work alongside former Westone staff members as certain elements from the project's source code were lost. Clockwork Aquario is an action-platform game reminiscent of Super Mario Bros. and Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, where players assume the role of Hack Rondo, Elle Moon or the robot Gash through multiple stages in order to stop Dr. Players also have the ability to turn invincible against enemies for a brief period before the character's invincibility gauge is depleted, which can be replenished by picking up items. On each stage, players must defeat a sub-boss to obtain a key in order to enter the boss' lair. The game features a 2-hit points per life system similar to Ghosts 'n Goblins, in which getting hit once would make the player's clothes look tattered and getting hit a second time results in a life lost, however the character's clothes can be restored by picking up a health item. Once all life stocks are lost, the game is over but players have the option to continue playing. Clockwork Aquario was created in 1992 at Westone as their final arcade game by most of the staff who were previously involved with several entries in the Wonder Boy/Monster World series, intended to push the hardware limits of the Sega System 18 board. Both Nishizawa and Sakamoto recounted the project's development process and history through various publications, stating that the project was created over the course of two years and intended to resemble Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair but focusing on co-op play before the team added a third player. Nishizawa stated that the game was coded in Assembler language and recalled that the team used in-circuit emulation for debugging.