Lost In Translation/Splatterhouse

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This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.


Splatterhouse
Splatterhouse marquee.
No screen shot.
Manufacturer Namco
Released 1988
Control
Method
8-way Joystick
3 Button(s)
Main CPU (3x) M6809 (@ 1.536 MHz)
HD63701 (@ 1.536 MHz)
Sound CPU Stereo
YM2151 (@ 3.580 MHz)
Namco CUS30 (@ 12.000 kHz)
DAC
Video
Details
Raster (Horizontal)
288 x 224 pixels
60.61 Hz
8,192 Palette colours
Screens 1
ROM Info 30 ROMs
3,149,824 bytes (3.00 MiB)
MAME ID splatter · splattej

About The Game

Splatterhouse is an horizontally scrolling arcade video game beat-em-up.

In a dark and stormy night, Rick and his girlfriend Jennifer take refuge in the creepy West mansion, only to find himself dead and Jennifer missing! Now, a mysterious sacrificial mask with amazing powers brings him back from the dead and in order to free himself from its curse, he must destroy the evil lurking deep within the mansion and save Jennifer in the process! Features some of the goriest graphics ever seen at its release date, awesome music & sound effects, lots of the typical toys seen in horror flicks (knives, etc) as well as lots of challenge!

Trivia

Released in November 1988. The game was banned in most arcades in the US due to its violent nature as well as some questionable bosses such as the chapel boss (the inverted cross). Splatterhouse was the first game to get a parental advisory disclaimer.

Rick makes a cameo appearance in "Point Blank 3".

Splatterhouse's developers seem to have been inspired by many known and a few lesser known horror flicks such as...

  • Friday the 13th movies : The third boss wears a bag for a mask just like Jason Voorhees did on the first three films and Rick's mask resembles the well-know hockey mask that Jason wears in the later films of the series until the Jason X film in which he gets a totally different new look.
  • Evil Dead films: Many concepts were borrowed from these particular films such as : House deep within the woods where a famed scientist unleashes some very evil demonic power; The fight between Rick and his evil twins; The evil severed hands that even taunt him; The possessed room with flying furniture; The necromancer's zombies that just won't die, Rick's quest to rescue Jennifer, only to find her possessed and turned into a cackling demon hungry for his blood!
  • The Exorcist : When fighting against demon Jennifer, she recovers her sanity for a few brief moments and begs for your help just before turning into a demon once again, something quite similar is seen in this horror classic.
  • H-man : The sludge monsters seen in the sewer levels seem somewhat similar to the liquid people seen in this old Japanese horror flick.
  • Poltergeist : The possessed room may also have been inspired by this film.
  • Parasite : The leeches seen at the end of the first stage as well as in many other later levels are clearly based on the creatures seen in this pseudo 3-D film.
  • Rejuvenator : The big headed monsters whose heads fly off and attack before dying are very reminiscent of the gruesome brain-eating monster seen in this film.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Winning Run : G.S.M. Namco 2 - D24B1003) on 21/07/1989.

Tips and tricks

Slide Kick

Rick's most powerful attack is also the trickiest move to do in the game! Do a big jump (hold the jump button) while walking either left or right, then as Rick comes down from the jump hold diagonally down-left or down-right and press the attack button JUST BEFORE Rick's feet touch the ground. Use this move to take out many enemies at once and to quickly reach a levels exit but be sure not to slide right into a trap such as a pit, an acid puddle, etc!

Reaching The Exit Is More Important Than Fighting!

When you are close enough to the end of a level, Rick will automatically walk towards the exit and he becomes completely invulnerable to any incoming enemy attack!

Save Your Ammo!

You can only use your weapons while standing or jumping. This means you are free to low kick or slide kick your enemies in order to save your weapons for tougher enemies in a particular level. Also each time you pick another weapon, Rick will drop the previous weapon slightly ahead of him allowing you to pick it up again. This is particularly useful against the third stage's boss since you'll be able to easily blow him away with two shotguns!

Series

  1. Splatterhouse (1988)
  2. Splatterhouse - Wanpaku Graffiti (1989, Nintendo Famicom)
  3. Splatterhouse 2 (1992, Sega Mega Drive)
  4. Splatterhouse 3 (1993, Sega Mega Drive)

Staff

Director
Mr. Yokoyama
Producer
Kazuu
Associate Producer
Haya Paya
Programmer
PSQGL
Art Director
M. Ishida
Special Visual Effects
T. Oda
Special Make-up Designed & Created By
Daihadan13
Original Music
Katsurou Tajima
Yoshinori Kawamoto
Title Designer
Mr. Usukura
Special Artist
Y. Komoriya
Data Processing
Mr. Natsui
Miss. Chiiko
Debug Chief
Sisyo Seto Kyososama

Cabinet and Artwork

Ports

Consoles
NEC PC-Engine (1990)
FM Towns Marty
Others
LCD handheld game (1988) released by Namco.

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name Catalogue No. Released Publisher Comments
Scitron Video Game Music Best of the Year 1989 PCCB-00022[1] 1990-03-21 Pony Canyon Inc. CD version.
Winning Run -G.S.M. NAMCO 2- D24B-1003[2] 1989-07-21 Pony Canyon Inc. CD version.
Winning Run -G.S.M. NAMCO 2- 24P6-0083[3] 1989-07-21 Scitron Cassette version.

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.