Sunday, November 21, 2010

Retro Review: Splatterhouse (TurboGrafx-16 / Wii VC)

"Splatterhouse" is one of the classic games from the TurboGrafx-16 console, and it was the one game that made me pine for that console (even though I never actually ended up getting one). Nintendo brought the game over to their Virtual Console, and now everyone with a has a chance to check out the game.

For those that don’t remember, "Splatterhouse" was an arcade game that was ported over to the TurboGrafx-16 console. The game put players in the role of Rick, a parapsychology student that went into a supposedly haunted house called West mansion with hi girlfriend Jennifer. They get attached by strange creatures, Jennifer is kidnapped and Rick is mortally wounded. Rick wakes up some time alter, having been revived by the “Terror Mask” (which looks a lot like Jason’s hockey mask), and he sets off to save his girlfriend.

The gameplay is straight beat ‘em up-style, with Rick punching and kicking his way through floors of hideous monsters. He can also pick up weapons along the way--2x4’s, machetes and the like. The game is very graphic, even in it’s “censored” TurboGrafx-16 version on the Virtual console, which replaces some of the more disgusting elements. There are six levels that culminate in boss battles, and the bosses are some of the more unique ones you’ll see in a beat ‘em up. One of my favorites is the second boss, which is basically a haunted room right out of "Evil Dead 2," where the furnishings themselves attack you. The final level features an interesting twist that I will let people experience for themselves.

"Splatterhouse" still holds up pretty well as a beat ‘em up in my opinion, and with the remake slated to arrive for the 360 and PS3 later this month, it’s a great time to revisit this old classic. I have heard that the original will be an unlockable in the new game however, so you may want to hold off on the Virtual console version us you plan on picking up the new game, as I’m not sure if the unlocakble version will be the original arcade game.


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