Splatterhouse

This article is about the original 1988 game. For the upcoming remake, see Splatterhouse (2009 video game).

Splatterhouse
Japanese arcade flyer of Splatterhouse.
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Designer(s)	A. Usukura
Platform(s)	Arcade TurboGrafx-16 FM Towns PC Virtual Console
Release	Arcade TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine FM Towns
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Single player
Arcade system	Namco System 1

Splatterhouse (スプラッターハウス Supurattāhausu) is a beat 'em up arcade game, released by Namco in 1988. It is also subsequently the title of the entire series of games released in home console and personal computer format.

Due to its violent nature as well as some questionable enemies, the Turbografx-16 port of Splatterhouse had a "parental advisory warning" of sorts printed on the front of the box.

Namco Bandai has announced a next-gen adaptation to reboot the franchise to be developed by BottleRocket Entertainment. On February 9th, 2009, Namco split ways with BottleRocket Entertainment as the developer. On March 12th, 2009, Namco announced that the split from BottleRocket was due to "performance issues".

As of September 2008, it is the only Teen rated Virtual Console TurboGrafx game available in North America.

Story

The game takes place in West Mansion (nicknamed the "Splatterhouse") where a parapsychologist, Dr. West, is rumoured to have conducted bizarre experiments. Dr. West has subsequently disappeared. Two university students — the series main character, Rick Taylor, and his girlfriend Jennifer Wills (both parapsychology majors) — visit the house for a school project, when a sudden thunderstorm causes them to seek shelter inside the mansion.

Inside, a scuffle with unseen enemies occurs, Rick is knocked unconscious and left for dead, while Jennifer is kidnapped. As Rick barely clings to life the "Terror Mask" (sometimes referred to as the "Terror Head", "Hell Mask", and in future game installments shortened to just "Mask") attaches itself to him. Rick wakes in a dungeon and finds that he cannot remove the Mask, which he recognises as an ancient Mayan sacrificial mask from West’s documents he had been studying. Discovering it gives him incredible strength, he decides to take advantage of its power and use it to rescue Jennifer. All of this information is given in the instruction manual for the TurboGrafx-16 port; there are no in-game cutscenes that illustrate any of these events.

Rick fights his way up from the dungeon and into the mansion, where he eventually finds Jennifer surrounded by monsters. Begging Rick for help, Jennifer mutates into a monster and Rick is forced to kill her. Rick follows the monsters that had been surrounding Jennifer to a massive, bloody hole in the floor; entering it, Rick discovers that the house itself is alive, bloody, organic catacombs leading him to a giant womb which is spawning fetus-like monsters that attack him. Rick kills the womb, which explodes and causes the mansion to burst into flames, "dying."

As Rick flees the fire, he comes across a lone tombstone on the mansion's grounds. As he approaches it, an orb of light emanates from the mask and enters the grave; a massive creature which looks like a man with melting flesh rises up from the earth and tries to kill Rick. Rick attacks it until it sinks back beneath the earth, at which point a screaming ghost appears before him and dissipates into a series of bright flashes of light. Rick is then shown leaving West Mansion. The mask shatters while still on Rick's face, and after the credits roll, the mask re-forms itself and laughs.

Ports

Splatterhouse was released in various home version ports on the TurboGrafx-16, FM Towns and PC.

Though the Japanese PC-Engine (the Japanese name of the TurboGrafx-16) version of the game remains largely unedited, the Western TurboGrafx-16 version features a number of changes, as well as standard changes for an arcade port at the time, caused by the less-powerful hardware of the console (loss of graphical detail, removal of some sounds). They include the following:

• The introduction cut scene is shortened and Jennifer's scream is removed.
• The Terror Mask is changed from a white hockey mask to a red mask with black accents. This is to keep Rick from looking too much like Jason Voorhees. The mask became more skull-like in later games.
• The first weapon in Stage 1 is changed from a meat cleaver to a 2x4.
• The overall violence and gore is toned down; enemies bleed less and the sound effects are less gruesome.
• All references to the Stage 4 boss area being a church are removed in the western console version, including the altar.
• "Evil Cross", the boss of Stage 4, is replaced with a new enemy, a disembodied demon head called "Evil Sleep", and his heads are renamed "The Nightmares" (only three of the original six in the arcade game are present). Also, the weapon for the boss is changed from an axe to a gold meat cleaver, the only cleaver in the game.
• The death of the womb boss of Stage 6 is changed from a graphic spilling of embryonic fluids into a generic fiery explosion in the console versions (both western and Japanese releases).
• The final boss uses different attacks in the console version.
• The final boss' grave is changed from a wooden cross to a tombstone in the western console version.
• The end cut scene is changed from the original arcade ending, in which the mask breaks from Rick's face, followed by a shot of him walking away from the burning mansion and an additional cut scene showing the mask reform and laugh. The ending in the TurboGrafx-16 version only shows the mask explode, followed by a picture of West Mansion burning while the credits roll, and finally a large red and orange "End" is displayed.

The TG-16 version was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Europe on March 16, 2007 and in North America three days later on March 19, 2007. The version of the game ported to the Wii Virtual Console is the western TurboGrafx-16 port; therefore it is the "censored" version as opposed to the "uncensored" original arcade game.

The FM Towns version, ported by Ving Co. and released only in Japan in 1992, is a pixel-perfect rendition of the original arcade, with no substantial changes apart from a new menu interface in the title screen.

There was also an LCD handheld version released, but it is not a port of either games. It is considered to be an original Splatterhouse game in and of itself, though many elements in it are similar to the original game.

Also of interest is the fact that the LCD game's title is "Splatter House", instead of the conventional "Splatterhouse".

Namco Bandai had announced that the arcade version will be ported to the Japanese Virtual Console and released on May 26, 2009. There are currently no plans for a U.S. release.

Gameplay

Splatterhouse is a sidescrolling beat 'em up game in which the player controls Rick, a parapsychology student who is trapped inside West Mansion (aka "Splatterhouse"). After his resurrection by the Terror Mask, Rick must make his way through the house, fighting off hordes of creatures in a vain attempt to save Jennifer from a grisly fate.

The gameplay works very much in the style of side-scrolling beat'em ups in that Rick can jump and has a Punch Attack, a Kick Attack, and a Special Attack, in this case a drop kick that sends him skidding along the ground a short distance, killing any enemies he hits. Rick can also perform a low kick, low punch, and jumping attacks, as well as pick up and use various weapons placed in the levels. Rather than the more typical style of scrolling fighter (ie. Final Fight, Streets of Rage), the playing field in Splatterhouse is a flat plane where the player walks left and right but not forwards or backwards into the screen, in the fashion of Kung-Fu Master. This does however allow for up and down on the joystick to perform additional low punch and kick attacks.

All of the levels consist of walking left to right, with occasionally fixed scrolling rates. However, alternative pathways through sections of the house are possible by falling down through holes or jumping up onto ladders. In this way, branching gameplay is possible, if only prevalent on the middle levels. Levels culminate in boss fights that take place in a single room. Unlike traditional side-scrolling fighters, boss fights have varying objectives and styles.

External links

• Splatterhouse (Sega/1989)
• Splatterhouse at the Killer List of Videogames
• West Mansion: The Splatterhouse Homepage - An extensive fansite
• Compmike19's Splatterhouse Page
• Splatterhouse series at MobyGames
• The Arcade History Database entry on the game
• Splatterhouse Strategy Guide (TurboGrafx-16) and Splatterhouse Advertisement at the TurboPlay Magazine Archives
• HVGN: Splatterhouse at RetrowareTV