93. Splatterhouse

(Arcade/Various Home, Namco, 1988)
Most anybody with an interest in games knows something of this series, whether the original, the Sega re-incarnations, the cutesy NES version or the still to this day unreleased remake. The hockey/skull masked Rick is already a part of videogame lore, not bad for a copycat hero of an ultra gory game originally made for obscure consoles that no-one owned.

Let's get it out the way, Splatterhouse isn't a very good game, EASY, FANBOYS!
Yes, It is basic, controls badly and has some painfully unfair boss fights, but that doesn't mean its without its charm. Rick, possessed by the TERROR MASK~ scrolls from left to right in a quest to rescue his girlfriend Jennifer from a mansion from hell. Dropping a whole host of ghosts and goblins (ahem) either with his limbs or a variety of garden implements he can collect along the way, Rick makes his way through the grounds and the various levels of the mansion itself.

The game is damn violent, the original uncensored version has a lot of goo and gore and features various items of questionable taste such as inverted crucifixes, puking corpses and a giant womb corridor, amongst other LoLs.

Theres some good, spooky sounds and an awesomely satisfying "Thwock!" that accompanies a solid chop with whatever rusty death dealer Rick has his hands on.
There is a long legacy that goes along with Splatterhouse, including various remakes and sequels on a variety of formats, worthy of note are the Sega Genesis "Splatterhouse 3" and the bizarre, cuddly "Splatterhouse: Wan Paku Graffiti" on the NES:

A play of the original game will show that Splatterhouse is hard, borderline unfair and suffers horrible control response issues, however it is still somehow playable and has earned a place in videogame history for its early approach to game gore and its iconic lead character. Maybe it would be better for that legacy if the long delayed, development hell remake never came out.

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