Guy in a Mask

The Splatterhouse series originally started off as an arcade game before being ported to the TurboGraphx-16.  Two sequels were released on the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive), and a final fourth game for Xbox360 and PS3.  Looking at screenshots for the various entries in the franchise, it's easy to see where the IP draws its inspiration from...namely a plethora of slasher flicks that came out during the 80s and 90s.  The series protagonist, Rick, starts off looking like Jason Voorhees; right down to the white hockey mask and imposing stature.  If there is one film franchise that influenced Splatterhouse the most though, it would have to be "Evil Dead".  I'll elaborate on that a bit in a moment, but for now lets look at Splatterhouse in more detail.

The first two Splatterhouse games are 2D side-scrolling action titles distilled down to rawest form of gameplay.  The player can walk, jump, crouch, punch, and kick, as well as use weapons found in the environment (such as 2x4s, meat cleavers, shotguns and simple throwing implements).  In the original arcade game it's also possible to get an axe though, somewhat counterintuitively, this is the only time such a weapon appears in the entire series.  The levels themselves are set in and around a large mansion; quite literally a house of horrors.  The first game begins with Rick and his girlfriend, Jennifer, taking refuge from a storm inside a seemingly abandoned country estate.  In classic horror movie fashion, the couple are soon ambushed by a collection of monstrous inhabitants that dwell within.  Jennifer is kidnaped and Rick is incapacitated (or possibly killed) only to be revived a short time later with a mysterious mask fused to his face.  From here he must do battle with a variety of foes including ghouls, zombies, "boreworms", and poltergeists.  Eventually, Rick finds Jennifer.  Unfortunately, their happy reunions is cut tragically short when she transforms into a grotesque abomination determined to murder Rick with weirdly long retractable claws.  Having no other option, players must defeat the monster at which point it reverts back into the form of Jennifer only to disintegrate or evaporate moments later (which one depends on whether it is the home console version or arcade game respectively).  Rick, determined to get revenge, enters the fleshy innermost sanctum of the house.  After fighting through a bunch of half-formed bubble-like creatures, he finds and destroys the source of evil - a giant beating heart.  Once outside though he has one last showdown with a huge fleshy golem that partially rises out of the earth beneath his feet.  The first game then ends with the mask shattering into pieces while the mansion burns down in the background.

The second game takes place three months after the original.  Haunted by nightmares and a sense of guilt, Rick (at the behest of the now reformed and apparently sentient mask) returns to the location of the house under the belief that Jennifer may actually still be alive.  Counter to reason, the mansion and its denizens have reformed on an island in the center of a lake.  Gameplay is mostly the same although the story is much more hopeful in that down in the depths under the titular Splatterhouse, Rick finds Jennifer and brings her back out.  The two then take a ride on a motorboat and make it to shore after shooing away one of the lake's more hostile inhabitants.  Like the original, there's a final showdown against some sort of floating flesh monster before the house sinks into the water as the sun rises.  Like the film Evil Dead 2, Splatterhouse II feels as much like remake as a sequel.  In particular, I like the addition of the very thematically appropriate chainsaw as well as the new bosses and monsters.  Much like the third movie in the Evil Dead series, Army of Darkness, Splatterhouse III deviates from the formula of the previous two entries...in a good way, of course.  

A non-linear beat'em up in the same vein as Streets of Rage (Bareknuckle) or Double Dragon might sound like an odd choice of genre shift, but it actually does a lot to keep the gameplay fresh and engaging.  The mask plays a much more prominent role this time out, as well as getting yet another redesign.  In the original the mask was white, but changed to red in the American console port so as to avoid copyright infringement.  In the sequel, the sports theme is dropped in favor of a more skull-like appearance, though the Japanese version features a more elegant design.  In the third entry the developers split the difference and created a mask that is neither beautiful nor terrifying...and yet still possess a disturbing quality to it.  Unlike the brief time skip between the first and second game, Splatterhouse III takes place around half-a-decade in the future.  Rick has become a successful businessman and Jennifer has given birth to a son, David.  For some reason this family of three decided to buy and move into a big house out in the countryside.  What follows is a home invasion story of the supernatural variety.  Players are tasked with fighting through a series of monster infested rooms in order to rescue Rick's wife and son before a sequence of countdown timers run out.  Because of this it's actually possible to get four different endings:  

• Neither of Rick's family members survive
• Jennifer survives, but David doesn't
• David survives, but Jennifer doesn't
• Both family members survive

Regardless, the final battle this time is against the personification of the mask itself, revealing itself to be the mastermind behind all these terrible events.

I have to admit that, despite not being a fan of gore, the initial three Splatterhouse games made a lasting impression on me.  I can still hear the shrieks of the leaping "mimis", still see the red horror that disguises itself as a teddy bear in Davids bedroom, and still remember the Biggy-man who has saws for hands.  Oh, and about the remake...I never played it, nor any of the quirky spinoffs.  Supposedly, the voice acting in the remake is quite good, but the laconic prose of the earlier games set a mood that isn't well suited to verbosity.  Trying to introduce a proper antagonist to the franchise simply distracted from what's great about the series.  The heavy metal soundtrack didn't really work for me either compared to the eerie tunes from previous three games.  As is often the case in the horror genre, simple is the most effective.