Clockwork Aquario Review for Nintendo Switch

The more I investigated Clockwork Aquario the more I became interested in the fascinating development that it has gone through with an astonishing over 30 years it has taken to finally release. This blew me away that this game could even be completed after all it has gone through. Being an arcade game at first it tried to be revolutionary in working towards making it so you can play with three characters at once. The game now only has two characters that are playable at once the fact that this game that started being developed in 1992 is now finished is beyond amazing. To be revived in 2021 this game brings some side-scrolling action to the Switch I am all for bringing this back to life on the console.

Overall, I feel that Clockwork Aquario does truly not bring anything revolutionary to the space of side scrollers and that is the main issue of this game. It is truly average as it does what it sets out to do well, with side-scrolling action reminiscent of games in the 90s, which makes me wonder if it would have been best to let this game stay in that time. I just feel with this added development they could have added more to truly help separate this game from the rest of the pack instead of just making sure it is playable on the Switch. However, I understand staying true to the original and I know many will appreciate the arcade game feel. I feel this game truly does not do enough to separate with the innovative newer games of this genre that are coming out now like Metroid Dread, which I would rather play than this title.

Now Clockwork Aquario does look great on the Switch and will truly make you feel like you are jumping into an arcade with this title. Especially when you have a friend to join you which was great fun with my roommate as it felt just like the type of games I grew up with. The co-op gameplay is good, but there are some issues with picking up the other player even when you do not mean to, which can become frustrating. What separates side scrollers for me is the level design when it comes to the unique platforming that comes with them. I feel this is lacking for Clockwork Aquario. None of the levels truly stuck out to me as they felt generic and gave me some levels of excitement but were too far in between. Even with the length of the game, you can finish it in one sitting which isn’t too surprising considering it started as an arcade game, however, there is no true incentive to go back into the game. There needs to be more substance so that one will want to come back even after one sitting and Clockwork Aquario gives me no reason to truly want to jump back in.

The game has three characters that you can control from the robot, my favorite, the boy, and the girl that all have their animations when they take damage, which I love. I do wish there was more variation when it came to the characters with design or just more choices in general but for a 90s title, it makes sense. With this, I enjoyed the addition of making the game look like an arcade screen to bring you back to when this game was first being made back in the 90s, a nice little aesthetic feature.

The gameplay of Clockwork Aquario is your basic side-scrolling experience from taking on enemies by jumping on them or throwing them. There are even balloons, kind of like coins in Mario, to collect points as you make your way through the levels that are created. Through the five levels, you experience you will fight a boss at the end of each level to complete them in the basic vein of side-scrolling experiences. The difficulty level can be changed which revolves around changing how many lives you have throughout the game as this adds the most replayability in trying to challenge yourself through each level.

I was looking forward to playing Clockwork Aquario after learning about its truly unique history of getting revived on the Switch. While I feel this was such a great platform to bring it back on, the game truly is missing that special something that makes me fall in love with this genre. The visuals are great, and the controls are just as good, but sadly, everything else is pretty meh about the experience. Truly nothing stands out to me, and I don’t have that desire to jump back in. I’m glad they brought back a title that was lost for so long, but I felt they could have done so much more with it for the cost of the title.

For more information, visit: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/clockwork-aquario-switch/

Mark Krueger-Van Oyen

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Gaming has always been an outlet for me to interact with different people and explore all kinds of possibilities. I play a wide variety of games always willing to try different mechanics and storylines that developers are trying to create for their games. I grew up delving into MW2 and World of Warcraft, I miss the Wrath of The Lich King days, and as I have gotten older I have found a love for RPGs and strategy games, my favorites being The Witcher 3 and Total War. Always looking forward to the next great game.