Splatterhouse 3 (Genesis)

By 1993, it must have been clear to publisher Namco that their action horror series Splatterhouse was in dire need of an update. All three installments to date (counting the parody spin-off Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti) were simple single-plane beat-’em-ups in the tradition of Irem’s Kung-Fu Master. Walk to the right, kill monsters, and that’s about it. Kung-Fu Master was a great game…for 1984. Since then, however, landmark titles like Double Dragon and Final Fight had rewritten the brawler playbook. Splatterhouse 3 would finally reflect this.

Five years after Rick Taylor rescued his sweetheart Jennifer from the clutches of underworld demons in Splatterhouse 2, the two have settled down to start a family. Alas, evil forces predictably return to invade the Taylor household, threatening Jennifer and the couple’s son, David. It’s all part of a scheme by an entity known as the Dark One to use a magic stone (and a little human sacrifice, of course) to attain ultimate power. Rick must one again reluctantly don the sinister Terror Mask, as only it can grant him the unholy strength necessary to avert his loved ones’ destruction.

Right off the bat, Splatterhouse vets will note that screen depth is now a factor. Instead of being locked onto a horizontal plane as before, Rick and his foes are free to maneuver around one another in search of positional advantage. This isn’t the only change intended to bring Splatterhouse 3 up to date with its genre contemporaries, either. Grabs and combo attacks are now the order of the day, and non-boss enemies can soak up a lot more punishment as a result. A generic zombie that might have been dispatched with one or two basic punches in the earlier games could well require a dozen here.

When the going gets especially tough, Rick has one last flashy new trick up his jumpsuit sleeve: By collecting the blue orbs scattered around the mansion, he can fill up a meter along the bottom of the screen. As long as said meter is at least partly full, he can transform at will into an even more freakishly musculature form, dishing out extra damage and taking less in return until the meter either depletes on its own or every monster in the current room is slain.

Determining the ideal moments to transform Rick is but one of several key strategies you’ll have to implement if you hope to earn the best ending. Simply put, speed is everything. Failing to complete the first, second, and fourth stages before the timer runs down will spell doom for Jennifer, David, or both. Other important considerations include mastering the tricky spin kick (more on that later) and using your in-game map to plot an efficient route through the sprawling mansion. No pressure!

Daunting as having to pulverize wave after wave of monsters under a strict time limit sounds, the designers at Now Production weren’t wholly without mercy. You’re given a safety net in the form of unlimited continues and a password system. So if a planned route or sequence of fights doesn’t go as anticipated, you can always redo the level from scratch with no repercussions. You can also safely ignore the timer in stages three and five, where it was seemingly included just to mess with your nerves a bit.

The emphasis on racing the clock to achieve the good ending can be a double-edged sword, however, as it sharply limits your options in battle. This is where that spin kick I mentioned comes in. This sucker is godlike. It has a huge hit radius, strikes foes on all sides, deals twice the damage of a full punch combo, and renders Rick invincible during the whole of the animation. If you’re serious about clearing a level quickly, you really need to be using this kick almost exclusively. The problem with this is two-fold. First, and most obviously, executing the same attack over and over gets old fast. Second, the kick isn’t as easy to pull off as you might hope. It requires a fighting game type forward-back-forward motion with very specific timing and botching it can leave you open to enemy reprisal. I was still only able to nail it around 75% of the time by the end of my playthrough. The cumulative effect is one overpowered-yet-finicky move completely overshadowing the remainder of Rick’s arsenal. Though not totally game-breaking, it is unfortunate.

While undoubtedly different, Splatterhouse 3 ultimately doesn’t lose sight of what made its predecessors so memorable: Ghoul smashing galore backed up with eerie music and gleefully gory pixel art. Its maze-like structure leads to less focus on arcade style set pieces, but the signature brutal combat and diabolic atmosphere come through loud and clear. Pity it marked the beginning of a franchise drought that lingered well into the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era. Sadly, this means it’ll be the last Splatterhouse entry I’ll be covering here. It’s been a long, blood-spattered road; one I’ll be retreading often in Halloween seasons to come. Adieu, Rick. We’ll always have Paris.