Halloween 2012 (Review): Here’s Looking at You, Splatterhouse 2.

I wonder how Splatterhouse 2 has managed to exist on the Virtual Console this long without me drunkenly throwing 800 points at it. Oh right, because the first one was such a massive piece of shit that no level of intoxication could convince me that typing in my credit card number with one eye shut again would be worth it. Well, that and the fact that I’d read somewhere that once the Splatterhouse series jumped ship from the Turbografx 16 to the Genesis, that the 3rd installment was by far and away the best of the bunch. So you see rather than be disappointed yet again by Part 2, it made a lot more sense to me to wait around until Part 3 appeared on the VC which as we all know now, was not to be. Still with me?

Let’s continue.

It took a conversation with my good buddy ANC the other night and him yapping about how he’d recently played part 2 and that it was actually “really cool and very stylish” to seal my curiosity deal. The 850 Wii points wasting away in my system for the last year or so was also a major contribution to my decision to give the game a shot. As a result, I’m really happy that I finally pulled the trigger and downloaded it because Splatterhouse 2 is stylish and is creepy and everything that I imagined the original would be but unfortunately wasn’t. This game is packed with zombies, chainsaws, gore, and some scantily clad broad in desperate need of being rescued. Basically everything I look for in my home entertainment come the month of October

Here: videos are worth a million words so have a look at the intro for yourself.

Oh yes, you can see how this couldn’t be further up my alley. The awesomely creepy atmosphere highlighted by those beautiful multi-scrolling foregrounds and backgrounds along with a near perfect musical score equals me having that title screen pretty much running in a constant loop late at night. Even better, when I do manage to snap out of it and stop staring to actually play the game, guess what? IT’S FUN.

Every problem that I had with the original is improved on. Obviously the presentation has undergone a major facelift what with the newly included cut scenes decorating the gameplay but the controls are far more responsive as well. Also while still just a tad linear for my taste, the level design is far more satisfying in that it includes so many nicely animated details resulting in environments that feel less like photographic stills that you’re walking in front of and more like creepy ass haunted forests and hallways that you really have no business being in.

Splatterhouse 2 was and is a very pleasant surprise so if you’re in the market for a relatively cheap download that will really put you in the mood for the Halloween season, look no further.

3.5 out of 5 Ghost Mushrooms.

Oh, and in putzing around the internet to gather images and whatnot for this post I came across this commercial for the original game from 1988. Keep in mind that that terrifying man in the Jason-like mask fashioning his 2×4 is the character that you play as.

They don’t make ‘em like this anymore: