Splatterhouse 2 Review (Sega Genesis, 1992)

I’m a huge fan of the Splatterhouse series. These beat ’em up games from Namco have always scratched my itches for both the genre as well as horror. The original Splatterhouse was absolutely incredible in the arcades, but the only home console port we got in English was on the Turbografx-16. Yeah, the console almost no one owned. When that died out Namco decided to continue the series, but not in the arcades. This time they went the home console exclusive route. Splatterhouse 2 was a fairly big hit on the Sega Genesis. The problem is it has been mostly forgotten. With Halloween approaching I’ve decided to take an all treats and no tricks route by talking about the game today. Splatterhouse 2 is not only the greatest game in the franchise, but it’s also one of the best beat ’em ups of all time. Let’s check it out.

Following the conclusion of the original Splatterhouse the protagonist Rick has been riddled with guilt over Jennifer’s death. He’s also suffering from nightmnares about the death mask, which is what gave him the powers to fight back against the monsters in the West mansion. This demonic artifact tracks our hero down and informs him that Jennifer can be saved, but only with its power. Rick once again puts on the mask and returns back to the house where it all started. It’s as decent of a scenario as one could expect, but more Splatterhouse is always a good thing. It’s worth noting that this time around Namco changed the appearance of the mask. It now looks more like a skull than a hockey mask. This is probably to avoid copying Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees too much.

Splatterhouse 2 plays in a nearly identical fashion to the first one. You play as Rick, a rather muscular fellow wearing the death mask. He can punch, jump, and kick. That’s the basics in a nutshell. Unlike most beat ’em ups you cannot move up nor can you move down. Splatterhouse 2 is a single plane side scroller. This means Rick’s movement is only left and right. Genre purists will be disappointed but Splatterhouse 2 is so limited. Thankfully there are enough interesting hazards and enemies that you won’t even notice. One thing I didn’t like is that there’s no dedicated button for punch and kick. Instead there’s only one input for attack. By default Rick punches, but when he ducks or jumps he’ll kick instead. This is a minor gripe overall.

It’s worth mentioning that Splatterhouse 2 really goes all in on the horror schtick. For an early 90s video game this is one of the most intensely violent and gory games of its era. It puts even Mortal Kombat to shame. Enemies for the most part are grotesque and creepy. Living up to its name these creatures often burst when killed leaving just blood and guts behind. Many of them even let out guttoral screams when dispatched. Things only get crazier when you pick up weapons. The developers went all out and made some new death animations for when different tools are used. There are other really cool little touches. For example, Rick’s life is measured with hearts. The organ, and not the symbol for love. That’s pretty clever if you ask me. It’s clear that a lot of love was put into this game.

Splatterhouse has always been focused around the weapons Rick can pick up. The original game had a near perfect arsenal. Splatterhouse 2 fares even better somehow. Almost everything has been replaced. Instead of a two by four Rick now gets a lead pipe. It’s functionally the same though. Then there’s also a large femur bone he can pick up and swing at enemies, a chainsaw, bottle of potassium that can be thrown, and more. The shotgun can also be found, and it’s just as useful as ever. The best of the new weapons however is the chainsaw. It only sticks around for one boss encounter, but this is easily the most memorable part of the game. Unfortunately that’s the case with most of the weapons; they only show up in a specific segment. Because weapons are rare it makes it more special when they do pop up.

As I mentioned earlier the level designs are seriously on point. There’s so much variety here. You’re constantly seeing new things, and unique gameplay elements introduced up until the end credits roll. My favorite was a forced scrolling sequence where you’re being chased by a kraken. The tension here could be cut with a knife. Then there’s a level where you’re passing by bodies stored in tanks, and occasionally they burst out. You never know just when it’s going to happen and actually caused me to jump once. Each stage has its own twists and it’s a treat to see what the game is going to throw at you next. With that all said some of the more ambitious elements of the original title were cut here. I’m talking about the platforming elements, and branching paths.

There’s far less focus here on jumping over pits and other ground hazards. That’s fine by me. After all those were some of the more frustrating parts of the original Splatterhouse. The branching paths however are missed. It was really cool in the last game that you couldn’t see the entire thing in one playthrough. That allure is missing in this sequel. It doesn’t seem like it would have been hard to implement so I’m not sure why its missing. Regardless I’ll take the improved level designs over branching paths any day. The fact is there are more enemy types here, more weapons, more environmental hazards, and just more of everything. As far as the level designs go Namco really knocked it out of the park in my opinion. It’s why I consider this one of the best beat ’em up games of all time.

Like its predecessor, Splatterhouse 2 is a very difficult game. I wouldn’t say it’s unfair though. There aren’t cheap deaths. Instead you have enemies coming at Rick from both directions. Some are low to the ground and can only be dispatched by ducking and attacking. Others jump which makes them tough to hit. There are also spikes on the ground, and pits to avoid. High difficulty is common for beat ’em up games, but Splatterhouse 2 takes this to another level. Rick’s life bar here is smaller than in almost every other beat ’em up. It takes just a couple of hits for you to die. Some of the boss encounters, although well designed and fun, made me want to throw my controller at the wall. Splatterhouse 2 is not a long game, but finishing it on your first run is not going to happen.

Splatterhouse 2 is a big upgrade in the graphics department. That’s true even when comparing this to the arcade release of the first game. The colors are more vibrant, the backgrounds have more detail, and everything animates with more frames. I love the use of deep purples and greens because it really reminds me of Halloween. There’s also a lot of parallax scrolling here that’s impressive even today. My only complaint is that the sprites are too large. This was a big problem back in the day because developers thought it would impress gamers. I’m sure it did, but now it just looks weird and makes the title more difficult to play. Regardless this is a beautiful game and a real high point when it comes to Sega Genesis graphics. The soundtrack is also fantastic. That’s extremely rare for a Sega Genesis title.