Nostalgic Vacation: 1988 - Splatterhouse

On 09/17/2014 at 02:48 AM by KnightDriver

"Give me a little bit of bass with those 88s" sings The Capitols in the song "Cool Jerk". . . What to play then. For NES we've got: Metal Gear, Zelda II, Double Dragon, R.B.I. Baseball (I mistakenly put it with '87), Contra, Ikari II, Super Mario Bros 2, Bump n' Jump, and Castlevania II; for Arcade: Super Contra, Splatterhouse, Altered Beast, Gradius II, New Zealand Story, Vindicators, Alien Crush, and Double Dragon II; for SMS: Phantasy Star, Miracle Warriors, Shinobi, Wonder Boy, and Ys: Vanished Omens (good year for SMS!); and for PC: Ultima V, Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance (the first of the SSI DnD games), Exile, Bard's Tale III, and Wasteland. I must've been in a bloodletting mood because I chose Splatterhouse.

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An arcade perfect port of Splatterhouse is on iOS now, but I wanted to get 2010's Splatterhouse for Xbox 360 because I wanted to play it and Splatterhouse 1, 2 and 3 are present as unlockables. I got it for $10 at Gamestop. All I had to do to unlock the first arcade game was to play the first few levels, or phases as they're called. I really liked the game though and couldn't pull myself away from it until I had finished Phase 6.

Splatterhouse, the arcade game, is a side-scrolling brawler with a horror theme. The story is Rick and his girlfriend Jennifer have wandered into West Mansion, nicknamed "Splatterhouse" for its history of gruesome deaths at the hands of Dr. West. Rick is brutally killed there and reawoken by the magic of The Terror Mask. With his magically enhanced strength, he must destroy the monsters of the undead lurking there and search for his girlfriend Jennifer.

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Rick punches what Obi-wan light-saber's. That's BADASS!

The graphics of Splatterhouse are wonderfully gruesome and colorful in dark tones of blues, reds and greens. Blood, or whatever that green gore is, flies everywhere. The music is dark and aggressive and the sound effects are are kinda funny. When you hit something it sounds like a hollow tube hitting a wood block. You can punch, kick, jump, slide and pick up and throw weapons. Some stages let you chose alternate routes and at the end of each stage there is a boss fight.

splatcus

Ground Kontrol in Portland, OR. now has a custom Splatterhouse cabinet. I like it!

I didn't get past stage 1 in this game, but I didn't know you could do a slide kick move - those parasites at the end of stage 1 are a pain. Luckily I can enjoy what I wasn't able to play by watching some guy's expert playthrough. It's an entertaining watch.

Super Step Contributing Writer

09/17/2014 at 03:11 AM

I've always wanted to play one of the Splatterhouse titles. They actually seem fairly creepy.

KnightDriver

09/17/2014 at 12:40 PM

Creepy and full of crawlies. I really want to go back and finish the 2010 Splatterhouse and play 2 and 3 on Sega Genesis.

Cary Woodham

09/17/2014 at 07:35 AM

I don't really recall seeing Splatterhouse in arcades much, and the only other way to play it back then was via the TG-16, which I didn't have, so I didn't play it much back then. Not to mention it's not really my cup of tea anyway. On the Famicom in Japan, they made a cutesy chibi Splatterhouse game that looks neat.

I didn't like the Xbox 360 3-D Splatterhouse game much. Again, not my cup of tea and it seemed a bit juvenile anyway. One interesting thing is that Jim Cummings was the voice of the Terror Mask! I almost expected him to bust out with a "Let's Get Dangerous," or a Tigger-ish "Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"

09/17/2014 at 12:58 PM

Apparently that TG-16 version is pretty heavily censored for U.S. audiences.

Chibi Splatterhouse! Awesome!

splatch

I was thinking The Terror Mask sounded like someone from Gears of War, but I guess not. J.C. did Bad Mr. Frosty in Clayfighter 63 1/3! Awesome!

I really liked the new Splatterhouse. I love brawlers and it made me think of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in its variety of attacks. So many moves to learn!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

09/17/2014 at 08:38 AM

man I can't believe you're up to 88 already.

09/17/2014 at 01:00 PM

I knew the 80's would go fast. I almost chose Phantasy Star or Ys though. That could've taken a while.

NSonic79

09/17/2014 at 12:47 PM

It's funny you mention Splatterhouse....

^_______^

Octoberween is coming...
Octoberween is coming....

Now which version is best I wonder. PS3 or Xbox 360....

09/17/2014 at 01:19 PM

Nothing on wiki suggests any difference between PS3 and 360 versions.

goaztecs

09/23/2014 at 10:58 AM

I've never played any of the Splatterhouse games, but I do remember wanting to try the 360 game, but I had no 360. For $10 I would give it a try. The custom touches on that cabinet are cool, and I wish a lot more older arcade games were released like that. For someone who grew up trying games based on the graphics, that would have pulled me in.

09/23/2014 at 04:27 PM

The 360 game is really fun. Lots of 3D brawling. I love that stuff. When you get a special move, you go into a quick time segment where you do various types of dismemberment. Super gruesome stuff. Your collectibles are fragments of sexy pictures of your girlfriend too.

Custom cabinets are boss.

PixlBit