The game does a lot right, giving you weapons (including a branching path on the first level that rewards good timing) like shotguns and 2x4s, and making you feel suitably powerful as you smash enemies into the background. Surely this game was responsible for some of the controversies around video game violence back in the day? The graphics aren't incredible, or at least they look a little bit dated, but that's looking back with hindsight. Splatterhouse is a pretty simple game, but its theme and big chunky sprites instantly set it aside from other brawlers of the time. In this era of emulators, I found and played the arcade version and am convinced the same character graphics were compressed and used, they look the same even though the backgrounds are very simplified and censored. Most of the music does well to create atmosphere but a couple the songs are pure magic, especially the end stage and the saddeningly sweet minor lullaby that plays in the end. Play this game! Turbografx/PC Engine owners owe it to themselves to play great games. I can think of two other times I went "NOOOOooooooo.!!" in a game, Nei in Phantasy Star II, and Aeris in FFVII. It was just like a favorite character dying in a book or a movie. The build up and scripting of losing Jennifer got to me, though simplistic and through a video game. It got to me in a way that games usually don't. I thought “YOU BASTARDS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” This all culminated in saving her soul, but holding her lifeless body as it dissolved in my arms…what…I mean Rick’s arms! Then to find that the house itself is ALIVE and you have to go through its womb fighting screaming little Satan babies - what a ride. Finally I reached the room where demons were performing a ritual around Jennifer and real digital voice (a rarity back then) had her helpless little voice screaming “Help Rick!” before she mutated into a demon. I knew there was to be more story development when Rick entered an empty chapel with an uplifting tune playing, only to be left alone and empty handed. Though the game is not too difficult, it took many tries to learn the proper attacks to advance without dying. I cringed the first time I saw the bag of flesh crawling towards me on the ground, and actually jumped when Rick’s doppelganger broke through the mirror. Each level provided new demons and strange, surreal settings that didn’t overshadow the main interactions with too much detail. But, when the game started and all Hell literally broke loose, I was hooked. (Spoiler Alert) At first, the story sounded so simple, and the beginning scene of the mansion was on par with an NES title.
(I didn’t know of the arcade version back then). I knew my $30 dollars of hard-earned summer job money hadn’t gone to waste. Large, hand painted characters, gruesome creatures that turn to slush when you kill them, reanimated corpses vomiting and stereo chipmusic with eerie instrumentation. Kicking when landing from a jump performs a powerful slide kick.Ĭleavers, rocks, wrenches, 2x4’s, spears and shotguns can be found to give Rick aid in rendering the hordes of evil into stew while he traverses the seven sometimes branching stages of Hell. Though his gait is lumbering, Rick can punch, kick, low punch, low kick, and jump punch/kick in rapid succession. Jennifer is missing, and his newfound strength gives him the wherewithal to search for her in the Splatterhouse. Rushing into the house due to an impending storm, Rick is rendered unconscious only to awaken hours later, transformed by a cursed mask into a powerful, but grotesque hulk. West involved himself with gruesome, occultist activities.
Rick and Jennifer, a boyfriend/girlfriend team of parapsychology majors set out to investigate West Mansion, a rumored hotbed of paranormal activity.
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