This year marks the 25th anniversary of Pixar's first feature-length film, the original Toy Story, which began a legacy of fantastic children's movies that will surely be a cause for celebration in November. However, this year is also the 25th anniversary of the American release of a forgotten Sega gem with a remarkably similar premise called Clockwork Knight.

Clockwork Knight was released in November 1994 in Japan and May 1995 in North America, mere months before Pixar would release Toy Story. The game also focused on toys coming to life, with players controlling a toy knight. Unfortunately, it was released on the company's first 3D console, the Sega Saturn, which ultimately failed.

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Clockwork Knight is a side-scrolling platformer where players control Sir Tongara de Pepperouchau III, or Pepper for short. Instead of toys just being alive like they are in Toy Story, they are awakened each night by the voice of the Clockwork Fairy Princess, Chelsea. But once she's kidnapped and many other toys are turned evil, Pepper braves the house to rescue her. Sega used pre-rendered digitized 2D sprites of high-resolution 3D models, giving it a similar look to Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country series on the SNES. It also featured some full-motion video segments.

In terms of gameplay, it didn't actually bring much new to the table. Pepper controlled the same as most other platformer stars, though he did have his own keyblade to attack enemies. What made it special was the same concept that made Toy Story special for so many kids in the 1990s. Seeing action figures come to life was joyfully imaginative, and taking one of them through various rooms of the house (like the kitchen and the attic) made for some great level design.

Clockwork Knight received decent enough reviews to warrant a sequel. Clockwork Knight was released the same year as the original's North American release. Much like many other platformers of the time, it was very similar to its predecessor, although it did make graphical improvements, featured some extra collectibles and had some levels where Pepper rode his steed, Barobaro. It was also well-received by players and critics and had the potential to turn Clockwork Knight into a franchise.

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But despite being a brand new system from an established company in the gaming industry, the Sega Saturn was failing and would be discontinued in North America by 1998. There are many reasons why the system didn't sell well, including the releases of Sony's PlayStation, which was $100 cheaper at launch, as well as the Nintendo 64 in 1996. A third Clockwork Knight game was in development for the system but didn't get past the beta stage. Footage of a prototype surfaced in 2006 and showed gameplay similar to Bomberman. Whether or not it was canceled due to the Saturn's poor performance in North America is unknown.

After the commercial failures of the Saturn and its follow-up, the Dreamcast, Sega stopped making console, instead focusing on publishing games. Another Clockwork Knight game called Knight 'N Knight was in development for the GameCube in 2003. However, no details about the game were ever released, and it was quietly canceled for unknown reasons.

Clockwork Knight showed a lot of promise and could've become a beloved platforming series. The toy aesthetic worked wonders for its level and character design, and it capitalized on the same childlike wonder that Pixar did with Toy Story. Had things worked out differently, fans might be celebrating two anniversaries for toy-related media franchises this year.

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