Weird, Never-released Nes Horror Jrpg No One Knew About 2 Years Ago...

Splatterhouse was a sidescrolling beat 'em up series that first appeared in Japanese arcades in 1988. It and subsequent Splatterhouse games were novel for their gory horror approach to a genre we more readily associate with street fighting or Ninja Turtles. The series is mostly forgotten to all except a small diehard community, but it turns out Namco had bigger and more ambitious plans for it that never officially materialised.

Namco did release one Splatterhouse spin-off in the form of 1989's platformer Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, a watered down and "cutesy" take on the more mature (but still quite tongue-in-cheek) beat 'em up outings. It can nowadays be played via the Namco Museum Archives.

But there was another unreleased Famicom Splatterhouse game. That was proven in October when a fully playable ROM of something called Splatterhouse: World was dumped on 4chan. Taking the form of a ye olde 8-bit JRPG, it's a truly fascinating artefact, not least because there are very few horror-themed JRPGs from that era: Capcom's Sweet Home is the only other one that comes to mind.

While the October dump was a huge moment, seemingly undeniable proof of Splatterhouse: World's existence can be traced back to May 2024, according to this dedicated Splatterhouse fan website. That was when a Japanese researcher and blogger posted about a promotional VHS in their possession depicting something called Splatterworld: Rick to Kyofu no Daiou. According to that source, the Namco promo video was sent to retailers in December 1992, and featured material for products slated for a March 1993 release.

In other words, Splatterhouse: World was very close to release before it was—for still unknown reasons—cancelled. Here's what it looks like in action:

Yes, its format is very familiar: a player-character roams a topdown world, ambushed every minute or so by random encounters resulting in turn-based combat. But instead of the picturesque green fields and forests of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, we have uber-grim graveyards. The sprites are noticeably chunkier than in other contemporary JRPGs, in a style similar to Mother or Earthbound Beginnings, and the 8-bit approach to spooky horror music is fun to hear as well.

When the ROM appeared in October there was one obvious obstacle: this Japanese RPG, which was never officially confirmed to be planned for release outside of Japan, is probably impenetrable for anyone without a working knowledge of Japanese. But in record time, a

Source: PC Gamer