Before closing its doors in 2014, Japanese developer Westone created the Wonder Boy series, the Sega CD co-op classic Dungeon Explorer, and many more games. Westone’s last title, the co-op platformer Clockwork Aquario, never made it to arcades and was thought lost for many years. Thankfully, ININ Games recently uncovered and completed the game. Clockwork Aquario is now available on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Europe and will launch in North America on December 14.
Clockwork Aquario is a 2D platformer with large, gorgeous cartoon-like sprites, backgrounds filled with vibrant colors and parallax scrolling, and a soundtrack composed by Westone’s Shinichi Sakamoto. Players select from three playable characters: green-haired Huck Londo, pink-haired Elle Moon, and the giant robot Gush. Cooperative mechanics allow the heroes to toss each other at bad guys, which should make for a crazy, good time. Between certain rounds of co-op games, our heroes will engage in a sports-themed competitive minigame that bestows a big points bonus to the winner.
In resurrecting Clockwork Aquario for modern consoles, ININ looks to have created a fairly robust package. The game is presented with several difficulty levels, each allotting a fixed number of continues to players. Beating the various difficulties will unlock a free-play mode, the minigame, and other bonuses. The game also offers a short practice mode, graphical settings, an art gallery, and a full sound test.
Clockwork Aquario supports 2-player local co-op. The game is available now in Europe and Australia. North American digital versions for PlayStation 4 and Switch will launch on Tuesday, December 14 at a price of $19.99. Physical editions are available to preorder via Strictly Limited Games. We’ll have a full co-op review then!