Lost Classics: The Splatterhouse series (Turbografx 16, Genesis, Arcade)

Before Resident Evil and Silent Hill made us scared of the dark, Namco’s Splatterhouse was the main cause of our sleepless nights. The TG-16 version of the original was one of the first games to receive a warning label, and for good reason.

Splatterhouse was the saga of Rick, his quest to save his girlfriend, the West Mansion, and the Terror Mask. Rick was fused with an ancient artifact which gave him the power to defeat the bizzare and disturbing enemies which roamed the floors of the mansion. Enemies exploded into a bloody mass as they were beaten to a pulp, and all sorts of weapons such as meat cleavers and axes could be used. It was bloody good fun, definitely not for kids though. It’s a wonder why Namco hasn’t already thrown this on one of their Namco Museum compilations, although with TG-16 games being on the Wii, it’s a good chance we could see this on the virtual console.