Splatterhouse 3

"There's Lots Of Splatter In This House!"

'Splatterhouse 3' is an infamous game released for the Sega Genesis sometime around, 1993. It is of course, the third game in the gory Horror series, hopefully one day they will make another. Notorious for it's non-stop gore and blood-shed, 'Splatterhouse 3' is one of the first games to ever be rated by the Videogame Rating Council. For a more in-depth look upon the game, continue to read on.

The story is fairly decent and reminiscent of those cheesy but great, Horror films of the 80's. The main character, Rick, even looks like Jason Voorhees, and to those who have been living under a rock, he is the killer of the, 'Friday The 13th' movies. This entry takes place about five years or so after the second installment, Rick has now married his girlfriend, Jennifer and together they have a son, named David. Rick has also become a wealthy man, entering the field of parapsychology, similar to Dr. West ('Re-Animator', anyone?) from the original game and purchasing a mansion. Everything seems to be going fine for Rick, that is until demons from his past show up to haunt him once again. The mask from the games prior makes a return and even talks this time around. It tells Rick that, 'The Evil One' has risen again and is Hellbent on seeking revenge against, Rick and his family. As much as he doesn't want to place the mask on for another round of zombie-bashing, he does so in order to save his family, many bloody beatings and gory deaths start from here on until the very end. And throughout the game, morbid things like having to save Jennifer in a certain time limit before a worm 'bores through her internal organs' are your main goals, mess up and they die, don't screw up and they live, sounds simple, but it isn't. Like I said, the story is like a playing through any slasher or zombie film from the old-school days, and it's very cool.

Graphics-wise, the game looks pretty damn good to say the least, the tone is dark and scary and with the atmosphere of the mansion, it delivers on being creepy. The opening cinema even has a bit of 3D visuals to it, nothing spectacular, but still 3D nonetheless. Rick himself however, looks a bit plain, decked out in a simple blue suit, with muscles bulging and his trademark mask. Although, when transformed into his monstrous-form, cool graphical-touches like having his intestines being used as weapons come into play and add a nice-effect. The monsters themselves, look really nice and detailed, some even resemble more buff versions of the aliens from the 'Alien' franchise. They are also packed with lots of animations, even more than the other 'Splatterhouse' games prior. One neat feature is visual-damage, you can bash enemies with giant meat cleavers and their bodies will be drenched with gore, in one boss battle you can even punch the beast until his head falls off and his tongue continues to waggle from the severed stump. Backgrounds are also handled well, some not as gory as the earlier installments, which consisted of bodies hanging on hooks, walls of guts and so on, but they are still detailed with care. One of the more interesting levels included was a 'living-room' so to speak, it's walls and floors seemed to quiver and it looked as though you were walking through someone's innards, cool stuff. Another was ripe with dismembered bodies on the floor, attention paid so well, you can see the meat underneath the torn flesh. One gripe is that there are mainly two to three enemies on-screen at once, this is standard for these types of games, but a little more would have been so much better, adding more splatter to the menu. Another gripe is that the blood is not red, but green, this isn't a real big nuisance, but with all the disturbing content, you'd figure that red blood would be a no-brainer, that's the ratings board for you.

This is a beat-'em up at one of it's finest, combat should come familiar to people who have played the games in the series prior to this one. It basically consists of Rick, bashing, smashing and tearing apart his enemies left and right throughout. Sounds repetitive, but it is refined so well, you hardly notice it, you'll be punching monsters to death like there's no tomorrow. Combos are also available for you to dish-out on opponent's and certain methods work better against different foes, for example using a baseball bat to crush a monster's skull is more effective than jump-kicking it until it has perished in a pool of blood. A unique feature that this game also contains is multiple-paths, so it's non-linear, the rooms carry different items and searching through each will find you something that can get you through the other areas easier. But be cautious, taking up too much time wandering around will result in a bad outcome, usually meaning the death of a loved one. But once you beat the game, feel free to explore these rooms, this also adds to the replay value of the game. The boss battles themselves are stellar for the most part, some are very difficult to beat at times, considering how many lives you've lost up until you encounter them. My favorite being the teddy bear boss fight, now you might be saying to yourself, a teddy bear? In a game chock-full of blood and guts? Yes, you get to fight a teddy bear, that is until you realize that it has been possessed and it springs forth arms with razor-sharp claws ready to slice you in half. It's a fun and unique boss battle, pretty fast-paced too. Weapons are also available for you to use here as well, these include, you guessed it, stuff that consists of bashing and hacking. Meat cleavers, axes, baseball bats and even cinder blocks await you in the mansion for crazy amounts of blood-letting.

Controls are perfectly fine and are placed well enough for you to get the hang of it early-on. Then again it's nothing too complex, just simple punching and kicking moves. Sound effects are also not bad here also, all the sounds of blood-splashing, flesh-slashing and ooze-spurting are all wet and squishy, just like they should be. And when weapons hit their targets, like a two-by-four against a skull, the sound is exquisite as is the splatter effect that follows which delivers the death-blow. The bosses have cool and scary 'death-cries', after you defeat the first boss and see him tremble on the floor, you will know exactly what I mean. And now onto the music, I love the score for this game, it's really spooky and sets the mood extremely well, the opening music in particular is amazing. However, I do dislike the music during the 'continue-game' sequences right after you have been slain, it sounds too generic from the other themes included in the title.

Overall, 'Splatterhouse 3' delivers on all the punching, Horror-themes and gore you could ask for on a 16-bit cartridge. It expands on the ideas of the original titles and offers a fun beat-'em up experience. Sure, you've played dozens of games like this before, but none with the setting and creepiness this one offers, so if you can find it, give it a try. And if you happen to own it, pop it in the old Genesis and give it a go once again, and you'll see that slaughtering monsters in a side-scroller is just as fun as it was all those years ago. I wish they would make a fourth installment to this series on a powerful new console, with all the trilogy as unlockables, that would be a great thing.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/07