There have been games which showed some blood and guts violence well before
titles like Mortal Kombat became famous for doing that sort of thing. It’s not really
a surprise. There was a video game adaption of the 1978 classic slasher film
Halloween, when you were defeated by Michael Myers, you saw this pixelated
depiction of Laurie Strode’s body running across your TV screen, sans head.
There was a twisted arcade game called Chiller, which had you shooting a light
gun at victims in medieval torture devices, leading to crushed heads and
dismembered limbs. Then in 1988 a side scrolling action title called
Splatterhouse first appeared in Arcades in Japan, a year later appearing in the
US, and later still on the TurboGrafx-16.
The game first came to my attention by way of commercials for that TurboGrafx-
16 version on Saturday mornings while watching wrestling. It wasn’t until much
later I’d get to see what the game was all about, but the masked, 2x4 wielding
protagonist’s image, despite the mask’s color being changed to red, the character
was still quite reminiscent of slasher icon Jason Voorhees.
Splatterhouse is the tale of a young man named Rick who, along with his
girlfriend Jennifer, were trapped inside the mansion of an evil mad scientist.
Granted superhuman strength by an ancient artifact known as the Terror Mask,
Rick battles the hordes of monsters through the mansion… but his attempts to
save his beloved Jennifer are all for nought… or so we’re led to believe.
That’s what leads us to a sequel. Splatterhouse 2 on the Sega MegaDrive,
known in the US as the Genesis appeared in 1992. It opens with Rick having
dreams of the mask, telling him to come back and rescue Jennifer.
The series as a whole takes inspiration from a huge number of horror films, not
just Friday the 13th, complete with gory violence. From the start of the game,
you are slugging it out with monsters, smashing them with weapons and yes,
splattering their guts all over the walls. It’s pretty apparent where the title comes
from.
Not unlike one of my favorite 80’s horror films, Evil Dead 2, Splatterhouse 2 is
kind of like a sequel and remake rolled into one. It takes everything the original
game did and improves on it greatly, except for the gameplay, which may be very
basic, maybe a little clunky, but still passable. You walk to the right, punching,
kicking and bashing a series of progressively more hideous monsters as you go.
The weapons you can obtain and use to your advantage include a shotgun and a
chainsaw… groovy.
This was the first and only Splatterhouse title I ever played back in the 90’s, and
I do remember that I played it quite a bit, despite the fact hat I never made it very
far in the game. This game throws a lot at you, just as a proper horror themed
video game should. In order to show some variety in my gameplay footage, I’m
getting my wish granted by the good old Game Genie. Or at least the cheat
menu on my Retron 5. It’s also worth noting that the US and PAL versions of this
title does have a password system, which is quite convenient.
But the main draw to the game is its presentation. Right from the get-go you will
find yourself punching enemies’ torsos right off of the rest of them and swinging
that 2x4, sending them into the background wall, truly putting the “splatter” in
Splatterhouse. The game definitely tries for the gross-out factor with the blood
and guts that are spewed by the monsters. I guess it’s okay since you’re killing
monsters and not people. Anyway, overall the visual design is good, well detailed
and colorful despite the dreary setting. The music is also a perfect match, very
creepy, but still fitting for an action game. Many of the songs are full of an eerie,
nasal simulated harpsichord sound that the Genesis sound chip does so well.
Probably the worst part of the presentation, and more than anything else, the
biggest negative about the game, would be the sound effects. Muffled grunts,
scratchy screams, and numerous uninspired noises do no favors to the game.
In some parts the monsters screams can get pretty annoying, too. But truth be
told there are a lot worse out there, especially on the Genesis.
In short, what you have is a game which shows its age with kind of clunky
control, and mediocre sound effects, but it’s such a product of its time. It was
games like this that Sega licensed to put on the Genesis that made it stand out
and help it get that reputation of being “edgier” than prime competitor Nintendo’s
products. It comes off kind of like the schlocky horror films that the series drew
inspiration from, and it’s still pretty fun, and it’s worth a look. Aside from its
original release on the Genesis, it also was released on the Wii Virtual Console
in 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment