Tell me, Sega Saturn fans: Do you own a North American copy of Clockwork Knight 2, but not the original Clockwork Knight? Well guess what? You actually do own a copy of the original Clockwork Knight after all.
It turns out the North American version of Clockwork Knight 2 contained a secret code all along that unlocks access to the game’s prequel, right off of the same game disc. For many years, this code was actually rumored to exist in old video game magazines, but until Christmas Eve, 2023, it was never actually confirmed to exist. Now we know for sure. It is indeed real, it works, and you can access it with a simple button combination from the title screen.
Check in after the break if you wanna see what this long rumored code is, then you can try it for yourself.
This code to access Clockwork Knight, which was discovered by @memory_fallen (Low Context Burning Rangers), is activated by pressing Up, Down, Left, Up, Left, Down, Right, Up, L, R, L, and R on Clockwork Knight 2’s title screen. You can also check out their website here to see a detailed account of how they found this code.
As for why Clockwork Knight exists within the sequel’s disc, that’s because North American copies of Clockwork Knight 2 are actually based on the Japanese CK 1&2 compilation “Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchau no Fukubukuro”, and not the actual standalone Clockwork Knight 2 game. It’s not currently known why Sega of America opted to adapt that version of the sequel instead. (Though the compilation does include some extra bug fixes, so perhaps Sega of America simply wanted North Americans to have the most stable version of the game available?) What is known is that they deliberately disabled access to the original game, most likely to not harm sales of the prequel, which was still in print at the time. We don’t know why they hid the original game behind a code either, rather than leaving no means of accessing it or removing the original game entirely. Even more curious than that is why they allowed rumors of the code existing to crop up. Perhaps one day, we might learn the answers, but until then, rejoice in the knowledge that you can access both Clockwork Knight games within a standalone copy of the sequel.
What do you think of this discovery? Do you own a North American copy of Clockwork Knight 2, and have you tried this code? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
Also, check out the last crazy discovery made in a Saturn game that I wrote about, where Tim Kitzrow and some dude named Fox were discovered as hidden characters exclusive to the Saturn port of NBA Jam: Tournament Edition.
EDIT: I credited Clockwork Knight.com for this code by accident and have corrected that. I’ve also discovered that @memory_fallen has a website and linked to the page where he detailed how he discovered this code. Once again, that website is here.
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I’ve clockwork knight 2 since the 90s. just tried the code and it works. This is blowing my mind lol
wdym, I’ve been doing this for years… How come no one knew??
Would you be willing to let us know where you found the cheat code please? People on Usenet in 1996 were asking the same question because they heard rumors of it in Magazines, etc. Not one person to this day has found the cheat. I personally spent the nearly 6 years researching and looking for it to no avail.
EthanSleuth, how did you find out about it?
rumored? this was in tips and tricks, video game ayers magazine and a few others, are there any other lost codes out there cause allt of these make my eyes roll with how widely known they used to be
Hi. Which issue of Tips & Tricks was this in? I used to subscribe to them back in the day.
After looking through all 1996 issues of both mentioned magazines, I can confirm this cheat was not included.
Tips and Tricks – CK2 Cheats first added in July 1996, then repeated in August, September, October, November, December 1996 Issues:
Boss Select, Mini Games, 999 Lives, Stage Select, See The Ending, Secret Screens (Date Specific), Control the Level 1 Boss, Control the Level 2 Boss
Game Players – Secret talked about in April 1996, but no cheat.
CK2 Cheats in May 1996 Issue:
Level Select, 999 Lives, See the Ending, Secret Screens (Date Specific)
If think you might be thinking of the bosses galore mode, and the boss select cheat. CK2 US let you fight all of the CK1 bosses and view the cutscenes from CK1.
Otherwise, please suggest any other magazines you can think of that it was in and I’ll try to take a look at them.
Err this isn’t new is it? I remember it being a thing when the game was released. Magazines covered it at the time. I remember a friend selling his copy of Clockwork Knight 1 because he bought 2 and said “It has both on it”.
It blows my mind that this can get posted as fact, yet reading the comments shows a few people who already knew because it was in print many years ago!
I tell ya, this internet is really turning out to be one big dud (minus the access to emulators, and loads of free games-thaaat we all currently own physical copies of anyway? …aww crayp, DELETE DELETE DELETE!!!
And yet, none of them can give an accurate magazine or issue where the cheat was posted.
People on Usenet in 1996 were asking the same question because they heard rumors of it in Magazines, etc. Not one person to this day has found the cheat. I personally spent the nearly 6 years researching and looking for it to no avail.
Any news on if this works on the European version too?
I’m afraid I could not confirm that. If you ever do, let us know.
No, it doesn’t work on any version except the NTSC-U version released in February 1996.