Title Screen
During the localisation process for the NTSC-U and PAL versions of the first Clockwork Knight game, the “Clockwork Knight “logo on the title screen was made slightly bigger, and the black outline around/inside of the Tongara face emblem was increased to the point that certain transparent parts are now filled in.
In addition, the TM and “Pepperouchau’s Adventure” text sizes were both increased, with the latter even having it’s colour changed from red to yellow. The copyright text also had it’s text size increased, and was changed from the year 1994 to 1995, due to the game not being released outside of Japan until that year.

Options Screen
In addition to the above, in the NTSC-U & PAL version of the first Clockwork Knight game, the “Easy” mode text in the options screen was changed to “Training”. Why this change was made is unknown, but it stuck in the 2nd game, with it’s NTSC-J version using the word “Training” instead of “Easy”.

Support Messages
Between the levels and rooms of the NTSC-J version of the game, you'’ll encounter friends in text based cutscenes. Their only point is to give hints and support to help you along the levels, and to add slightly to the story of the game. These were cut from the NTSC-U and PAL versions, and as such remain exclusive to the NTSC-J version.
The reason for their exclusion from other regions is unknown, but it is speculated that they didn’t want to bother translating them as they don’t add very much to the actual game itself, and the game is fully playable without them.

Dandy Bob
During the localisation process, it would be decided that the first Boss of the game “Dandy Bob” would have his skin and hair colour changed in NTSC-U/PAL regions from pink/blonde, to having blue hair and skin. It is just speculation, but the reason for this change in my opinion was probably a societal one…
By this I mean that, Japanese people tend to not have pink skin like westerners and neturally have very dark hair, so to Japanese kids, Bob may just look like a western doll, but to a kid in say America or Europe, he may well have looked like an actual child from that region due to blonde hair and pink skin.
Couple that with kids believing that toys come to life at nightt, it’s pssible that SEGA America wanted to avoid complaints from parents of kids having nightmares where their toys attack them in their sleep, and even knock their heads off, just as what happens to Bob!
Again, it’s just speculation, but, I wonder if any western kids were used to playtest the original Bob…

Easy/Training Ending Text
This one is a very small change, but still quite an interesting one. Upon beating the “Crazy TV” Boss fight during the Easy/Training mode of the game, you’ll be shown the following screens and the game will restart, encouraging you to play the game again in Normal mode to see the true ending to the game.
The Japanese version simply says “To Be Continued” in the Clockwork Knight font, while the NTSC-U/PAL version explicitly states “To Be Continued In Normal Mode”, along with a different font and a white line in the background. Neat!

 

 

Title Screen
During the localisation process for the PAL version of the second Clockwork Knight game, the “Clockwork Knight” logo text on the title screen was made slightly smaller and the number “2” was added.
The copyright text also had it’s text size decreased, and had it’s text changed from “© SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. 1994, 1995” in uppercase to ~© SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD., 1995 All Rights Reserved” in mixed case.
The screen resolution of was also changed from 352×224 to 352×240.

Options Screen
In addition to the above in the PAL version of the second Clockwork Knight game, the Clock image in the background of the options screen was made smaller and brigther. It was also seemingly de-stretched.
The curtains to the sides were completely remade with brand new textures.
The stage at the bottom also had it’s textures completely redone, being bigger, and it also has a shadow added to it.
The reason for this change is completely unknown, and it is 100% exclusive to the PAL release of this game. Perhaps it is because the PAL version runs in 332×240 instead of 332×224 like every other version, and the older textures for this screen simply didn’t fit at this resolution… that is, of course, just speculation on my part!

Support Messages
Between the levels and rooms of the NTSC-J version of the game, you'’ll encounter friends in text based cutscenes. Their only point is to give hints and support to help you along the levels, and to add slightly to the story of the game. These were cut from the NTSC-U and PAL versions, and as such remain exclusive to the NTSC-J version.
The reason for their exclusion from other regions is unknown, but it is speculated that they didn’t want to bother translating them as they don’t add very much to the actual game itself, and the game is fully playable without them.

Credits Art Comparisons
During the credits for the NTSC-J and even the PAL versions of the game, special art is shown to the player. The special art shown in both regions is completely different to one another, so let’s take a look at it below.

NTSC-J - Clockwork Knight Illustration Contest (クロックワークナイト・イラストコンテスト)[1][2][3]
The NTSC-J version of the game features entries that were sent in to the Clockwork Knight staff as part of a Japan exclusive competition known as the “Clockwork Knight Illustration Contest” that was held during the games development.
Some of the entries are from the winners of the competition, while others just seem to be ones that staff enjoyed.
They were kind enough to include the entrants names, ages and prefectures so they could identify their works easily in the credits. Further information on this competitioncan be found on the page dedicated to the subject[5], but other than tthat, let’s check out the entries below.

Note: The use of “Kun” (くん) and “Chan” (ちゃん) above were used to present weather the person who entered the contest was Male or Female, with the former “Kun” representing Male and the latter “Chan” representing Female.[4]

PAL - Clockwork Knight Memorial Scenes - CG Renders
The PAL version of course did not include the art of the entries for the above mentioned competition, but instead included CG images based on the levels and bosses found in the game. A strange thing to note is the lack of any CG image of the “Funky Snaky” boss from the Kids Room, leading to speculation that he was a late addition to the game. Anyway, let’s check out these cool CG works.

Of course, as of Christmas 2023, we now know that after years of speculation that “Part 1” absolutely is hidden in the game, and was simply hidden behind a cheat code this whole time! You can read more about that on the dedicated page for this discovery.

Other Modes Renamed
As the game was localised, a few pieces of text on the main menu were renamed. These include the change from “Boss on Parade” to “Bosses Galore” and “Move on Parade” to “The Movies!” as shown below.

Part 2 Title Screen
As shown below, the Title Screen for “Part 2” remain somewhat the same apart from the Copyright text at the bottom being removed, and a line of texy saing “Press To Exit” being added to the top-left. In addition, the “Clockwork Knight” logo text has been made slightly smaller and the number “2” has been added, just like in the PAL version of the game.
Unlike the PAL version which runs at a resolution of 352×240, this version of the game runs at a resolution of 352×224, which matches the Japanese release.

Unlockable Title Screens
The main title screen of “Clockwork Knight 2 (NTSC-U Ver.)” actually changes based on how many different tasks you’ve completed throughout the games, including completing “Part 2”, getting the rank of “MASTER” in the “Bosses Galore” mode, etc. As shown below, there are 10 different Title Screens to see in total.
To note, while the copyright text of the “Fukubukuro” title screens says “© SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. 1994, 1995”, this version’s copyright text states “© SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD., 1994, 1996”, and of course, the logo has been changed to reflect that the game is now Clockwork Knight 2.