Splatterhouse

n/a

TurboGrafx-16 PC Engine
Splatterhouse
System(s): PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, Virtual Console (Wii), PlayStation 3 (PSN)
Publisher: Namco NEC Technologies
Developer: Namco
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-04-03 ¥6,8006,800 NC90002 US 1990-08 TGX040041 JP ▼ 2007-07-03 600pts600 US ▼ 2007-03-19 600pts600 EU ▼ 2007-03-15 600pts600 AU ▼ 2007-07-20 600pts600 JP ▼ 2011-07-06
Non-NEC versions Arcade FM Towns

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Splatterhouse (スプラッターハウス) is an action game originally released in arcades by Namco in 1988. It was ported to the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 in 1990. The game was noteworthy at the time for its unusual amounts of graphic violence and dark imagery, which was slightly censored in this port. The port was further censored in North America due to its use of Satanic and Christian imagery.

Story

Rick, and his girlfriend, Jennifer, two college students with an interest in the occult, decide to visit the abandoned mansion of the infamous parapsychologist, Dr. West, whom supposedly conducted horrific experiments in his private lab located in the house before he mysteriously disappeared. Arriving during a massive thunderstorm, Rick and Jennifer take shelter inside the house only to be attacked by monsters. Rick is knocked unconscious and left for dead, while Jennifer is taken captive. When Rick awakens, he discovers that the "Terror Mask," an unholy artefact said to give inhuman strength to the wearer, is now attached to his face. With the power of the Terror Mask, Rick must now brave the horrors of West Mansion in order to save Jennifer from the mad doctor's creations...or die trying.

Gameplay

Splatterhouse is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game in which the hero, Rick, must progress through each stage while fighting the creatures that attack him with either punches and kicks or weapons which can be found during the stage. The D-Pad is used to move Rick left and right, to duck, and to pick up nearby weapons, Ⅰ makes Rick jump, and Ⅱ makes Rick attack. Rick can also perform a slide kick attack by jumping, holding down or diagonally down on the D-Pad, and pressing Ⅱ right before he lands.

Rick can find numerous weapons throughout each stage which he can pick up by standing by it and pressing the D-Pad in the direction of the weapon. When carrying a weapon, Rick will attack with it instead of his fists unless he is ducking. Weapons do twice as much damage to enemies as punches and kicks, but if Rick is hit while carrying a weapon, he will drop it, forcing him to retrieve it again. The currently carried weapon is displayed at the bottom-right of the screen. Melee weapons can be used unlimited times until the end of the current stage, thrown weapons can only be used once, and shotguns can be used until they run out of ammo, which is displayed at the bottom-right when carrying a shotgun. The player cannot bring a weapon between stages.

Some stages have multiple routes to the end, which can be picked by either climbing a ladder or by falling down a hole. Each route has different obstacles to be overcome, so if the player has trouble with one path, they can attempt another on their next game. However, all paths end up at the same place, where the player will fight a boss. Defeating the boss will allow Rick to move on to the next stage.

Rick has a health gauge displayed at the bottom-left of the screen, represented by a line of hearts. Whenever Rick is injured by an enemy or trap, he will lose one heart. Lost health can be partially refilled by completing a stage. If Rick loses all of his hearts, he loses a life. Rick's number of remaining lives are represented by a line of Terror Masks at the upper-right corner of the screen. Rick can gain an additional life by reaching a score of 30,000 points, and again at 70,000 points. The player's score is shown at the upper-left corner of the screen. If Rick runs out of remaining lives and dies, the game is over. However, the player may continue up to five times by selecting "YES" on the continue screen.

Stages

	The Underground Dungeon
	Weapons: Two-by-Four
	Rick's search for Jennifer begins with him trapped in an underground dungeon. The player must quickly learn to make good use of weapons and to be ready for unexpected dangers such as spikes extending out of the floor, and prisoners in the background vomiting acid. At the end, Rick is attacked by a swarm of giant maggots that leap at him from piles of rotten meat.
	The Sewage Canal
	Weapons: Two-by-Four and Wrench
	This stage begins in a torture chamber in which Rick must defeat hanging enemies that drop down, before descending into a flooded basement filled with sludge monsters and floating spike balls. Finally, Rick is ambushed in a dining room by a poltergeist that uses the furniture to attack him from all angles.
	The Forest Ambush
	Weapons: Shotgun and Stone
	Investigating the woods surrounding the mansion, Rick is accosted by zombie dogs and creatures hung from the trees. If Rick is not careful on the bridge, he might get pulled under by sludge monsters and be forced to fight his way out. Shotguns will provide Rick with some extra firepower, but it might be wise to conserve ammo for the boss.
	The Forbidden Room
	Weapons: Spear and Golden Cleaver
	Returning to the mansion, Rick is confronted with a series of diabolical traps. First, he must traverse a hallway with spinning blades along the ground, being careful not to fall down holes in the floor. If he does, he will have to contend with another room filled with giant maggots. He will then come to a hall of mirrors where his reflections come alive to attack him. Finally, Rick arrives at a chapel where he must do battle with a blasphemous spirit blocking his path.
	The Rendezvous
	Weapons: Two-by-Four
	Rick, hearing Jennifer's screams from somewhere nearby, rushes to her rescue. This stage starts in a library with possessed chairs, moves to a treacherous hallway filled with rotted, sloping floors and re-animated severed hands, and then branches into two distinct paths. The top path goes through a haunted gallery filled with paintings that come alive to attack Rick, a walk-in closet with more mirrors, and another maggot room. The lower path takes Rick through a sewer, has him fight a necromancer that re-animates zombies to attack him, and finally goes through a kennel full of zombie dogs. The boss requires careful tactics and positioning to avoid its long extending claws, but if you manage to defeat it, you'll finally save Jennifer! ...Right?
	The Womb
	Weapons: None
	Rick delves into the deepest bowels of the mansion to destroy the monsters at their source. The area is swarming with eggs which quickly hatch into clingy newborns that threaten to suck the life out of Rick, who must fight his way to the reproductive center giving birth to the monsters and destroy it once and for all.
	The Finale
	Weapons: None
	With the source of the monsters destroyed and the mansion burning to the ground around him, Rick must escape into the surrounding woods, jumping over rolling logs and avoiding burning monsters' death throes. If Rick can survive this gauntlet, then only one threat remains between him and survival.

History

Legacy

Splatterhouse would receive two direct sequels on the Sega Mega Drive, Splatterhouse 2 in 1992, and Splatterhouse 3 in 1993.

In 2010, A 3D reboot of the franchise, simply titled Splatterhouse, was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game included the arcade version of Splatterhouse, Splatterhouse 2, and Splatterhouse 3 as unlockable content.

The PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 version of Splatterhouse was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007. Konami would later re-release the game on all versions of the PC Engine mini in 2020.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Splatterhouse	Splatterhouse
Japanese	スプラッターハウス	Splatterhouse

Comparisons

Main article: Splatterhouse/Comparisons.

Production credits

• Director: Y.Asada, Mr.Yokoyama
• Producer: Kazuu, Papaya Payapaya
• Editor: Kirifune
• Sound Program: T.Kobayashi
• Sound: Joshua
• Original Music: Chopin, Kawagen
• Graphic Designed: Y.Sakakibara
• Art: Akumakun
• Original Art: M.Ishida
• Visual Effect: T.Oda
• Special Designed: Daihadan13
• Title Designed: Spanky Usukura
• Special Artist: Tenkomoriya~n
• Special Thanks: Bolero

1988 1990 Namco Ltd.

End

Source:

In-game credits (JP)

Digital manuals

• 

  PC Engine mini JP manual

• 

  PC Engine mini US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Splatterhouse/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

File:Splatterhouse PCE JP TVAdvert.mp4

JP TV advert

US Comic Ad

Physical scans

PC Engine version

NEC Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games 92 №107, p121

	92
Based on 1 review

PC Engine, JP
Cover
Card File:Splatterhouse JP manual.pdf Manual

TurboGrafx-16 version

TurboGrafx-16, US
Cover
Card File:Splatterhouse TG16 US Manual.pdf Manual Jewel Case

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 6b319457 MD5 ea2eaf7aa11a639d13a6119dd3c3f6dc SHA-1 b0bdbb7729d775496581dc3141c4447614aaac46	512kB		Card (JP)
✔	CRC32 d00ca74f MD5 f6690ec0f440ced641718d6bc52e3fbd SHA-1 e2167b5d67a065ec97763d3ee843ac2b2328c082	512kB		Card (US)