retro Review: Splatterhouse
“The horrifying theme of this game may be inappropriate for young children…and cowards”
What’s the story: Splatterhouse made its debut in Japanese Arcades in 1988. It was developed by Namco and is one of the first “horror” games ever made. The game made it’s way to home consoles in 1989 via NEC’s Turbo Grafx 16. Due to the graphic nature of Splatterhouse, NEC decided to slap a parental warning label on the game’s box. While we’re not 100% positive, we believe Splatterhouse was the first game to receive a label like this here in the US. Image above is a complete Turbo Grafx 16 with CD Attachment. Notice the Super Rare American System 3.0 Card. As for the game’s story, it stars Rick, a parapsychology student who happens to be on a romantic walk with girlfriend Jennifer when a storm blows in. The two are forced to seek refuge inside the nearby West Mansion. One little problem – West Mansion has been given the nickname “Splatterhouse” for its supposed hideous experiments preformed there by Parapsychologist Dr. West. Once inside the two are attacked by demonic creatures who of course kidnap Jennifer. Rick awakens in the basement to find Jennifer missing, and an ancient Mayan artifact named the “Terror Mask” fused to his face. So begins Splatterhouse. Whats to like: Splatterhouse is a lot like your regular beat-em-up only its pretty gross. Unlike traditional beat-em-ups from the same era, Splatterhouse is drenched in horror motifs. Thanks to the Terror Mask, the main character Rick has an uncanny resemblance to Friday the 13th superstar Jason Voorhees. We think this is a good thing, who doesn’t’t like Jason Voorhees?Like many beat-em-ups released in the late 80′s, Rick moves on a 2 dimensional plane, and only in the left or right directions. Rick can jump and swing, and do both at the same time. Rick also has low attacks as well as a special attack where he performs a drop kick leading into a Mortal Kombat style slide kick across the ground. You’ll begin the game with a 2 x 4 but can pick up variety of weapons such as; a Golden Cleaver, Shotgun, Stone, Monkey Wrench and Spear although the last three are only good for one use. If all else fails Rick can resort to using his bare fists. Another cool aspect in Splatterhouse is the way a few levels branch out. This is done by falling through holes or climbing up ladders. This gives players a few ways to go about beating certian levels and is always welcome in any beat-em-up.
Whats not to like: Even with the occasional branching out of levels, Splatterhouse is still an arcade game and is very linear. Rick starts the game with only 3 “hearts”, you are only given 3 continues, and cheap enemy hits occur often. Somehow the horror theme of the game makes this all okay, even if a little frustrating. Thankfully the Turbo Grafx 16 version is much easier then the arcade version and can be beaten rather quickly. The US release of Splatterhouse is heavily censored from the original Arcade, or even the Japanese TG-16 versions. The most notable changes have to be Rick’s mask, which was changed from white to red to keep Rick from looking too much like Jason Voorhees. There are quite a few differences between the ArcadePCE Splatterhouse and the US version, for a complete list click here. Despite the US version being heavily modified, to this day the Turbo Grafx 16 is still the only platform where you can play Splatterhouse (and on the Wii VC, which emulates this version). It still amazes us how Namco was able to squeeze this game onto a 4-Meg Hue card. Check out some gameplay from the original Turbo Grafx 16 release of Splatterhouse in the video below. The original never made it to a Nintendo or Sega machine. Enjoy!
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Great reviews guys just in time!!!, I was too afraid to play this when it was out, my friend had it, and we both had to play it when we were hanging out, we were to afraid on our own! lol
Nice review, I always wanted a Turbo Grafx for this game.
I loved this game and still do. Amazing that the rebirth of Splatterhouse is coming out at just the right time. I would love to wear Rick’s mask and smash a certain someone (or 2) directly in the face with a 2×4. Ohhhh the satisfaction!!!
Probably going to boot up the WiiWare version of this title tonight in honor of the (much delayed) release of Splatterhouse 2010. Stiff gameplay, sure. But the gore drenched horror theme and grotesque monster designs make up for it…especially when coupled with some nostalgia.