Splatterworld: Rick to Kyoufu no Daiou (“Rick vs. The King of Terror”) is an interesting oddity. The trend of taking action games and turning them into RPGs was not a new one, but would definitely have been a first for the Splatterhouse series, if it had actually been released. It was scheduled to be released on March 19th, 1993. Instead, despite being nearly one hundred percent complete, it was quietly dropped from Namco’s 1993 release schedule. For years, few outside of Japan knew that it even existed at some point. But by the early 2020s, information about it began trickling out to the world.
First, key artwork from it appeared in the Namco Museum of Art Splatterhouse video (number six in the series) in 2021. Then, in May of 2024, an official Namco promotional VHS tape showing an extended preview of the game was discovered by Japanese Famicom researcher Orochi, and was subsequently uploaded to YouTube, providing the world with its first look at Splatterworld in action. This tape had been sent to Japanese retailers in December of 1992, showcasing games intended for a March 1993 release. The version of Splatterworld shown on that tape was an earlier build than what would have been the final release. Finally, on Halloween 2025, an anonymous individual posted the prototype ROM to 4chan. Word spread quickly, and shortly afterward, the translation group Aeon Genesis began the process of translating the entire game into English. A little over a month later, the translation was completed, and was made widely available. It’s estimated that the game is about 98% complete, with only a little polishing needed.
Splatterworld is at heart a traditional JRPG. Due to it being set in the Splatterhouse universe, it’s very different from the swords and sorcery settings that games like Dragon Quest take place in. Instead, it takes place in the “current” time. You’ll encounter monsters that wouldn’t be out of place in the main Splatterhouse series, but you’ll also encounter soldiers, robots and aliens as well. You can purchase a variety of weapons to defeat the hordes with, everything from axes, chainsaws, bats, clubs, whips and even a guitar. Of course, there are also your typical assortment of potions and other healing & restoration items. The commands in the game, while initially not familiar, are pretty standard once you realize what each one is. Items and Flee, are pretty self-explanatory, but a command like Sprit Power, for example, is just Spells (of which there are many), and Horror is Currency. Two of the other main menu commands, Channeling and Soul, essentially cover Summons. Soul tells you what individual soul or spirit you have, and Channeling summons the Soul that’s currently equipped. Souls are enemy drops, and each character can only hold one at a time.
The Souls are mainly just versions of the enemies you’ve defeated that you can use to attack the other enemies. There are several that are representations of historical figures, however. Among them are Van Gogh, Picasso, Cleopatra, Ramses, Nero, Napoleon and (believe it or not) Hitler. All of them do various amounts of damage when used.
One of the more interesting aspects of Splatterworld are the way that character deaths are handled. Instead of simply being dead until they can be revived at a later date, any characters that are killed are automatically revived after a few turns as zombies. If you have even just one zombie in your party and attempt to talk to an NPC, they won’t tell you anything. Until the zombie is brought back to life, you won’t be able to proceed in your quest. If your entire party is zombified, there is one plus: you won’t have any random encounters. It is possible to be dealt another death blow after becoming zombified, though. If that happens, the zombified character will be in the final stage of death, the body bag. If all members of the party end up in body bags, it’s game over. There are items and spells that can cure both zombie and body bag status. In towns, you can visit the NPC character that lets you save your games, Paracelsus, who will also cure both statuses. Another NPC in towns, Agrippa, will restore your hit points and magic points.
Splatterworld starts off simply enough: the first thing you see is a prophecy about the end of the world from someone called “Nostradingus.” Then, once again, you’re put in Rick Taylor’s shoes. The very first part of the game is a loose retelling of the events of Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, essentially making Splatterworld the sequel. However, this time Rick is given the Terror Mask by an ominous stranger. Once you’ve saved Jennifer from the Pumpkin King (who tells you that Jennifer is a descendant of Nostradingus), you head back to town, only to discover that the whole town has been overrun by zombies. Eventually the culprit behind the zombie outbreak and the resurrection of the Pumpkin King is revealed (via TV broadcast, no less) to be none other than Dr. West, who also gave Rick the Terror Mask. As the game progresses, you gain new party members. Jennifer is in the party from the moment you defeat the Pumpkin King. Later comes Grady, a traveling guitarist who’s searching for his mother; Melton, a human that was mutated into a Toxic Avenger-type of character by ooze in the drainage pool he fell into; Damiyan, a young boy that has occult powers; and even an enemy character, a Bem.
You must complete tasks in each town or area you come to. The town of Flyberg is your first real challenge, culminating in a fight with Brundle, who uses his invention, the Transpod, to turn into a half fly, half human creature (a direct reference to the 1986 horror film The Fly). You eventually end up having to clear an entire island, Thorn Island, of monsters, in the process defeating a character named Carmilla (no relation to the Castlevania character of the same name) in her mansion. At one point, you find that the military has been called in to defeat Dr. West, but they’re not doing very well. Later on, you find yourself in a UFO, fighting aliens (including a parody of the xenomorph from the Alien film series). All of the various tasks you complete as the game progresses inevitably leads you to the final confrontation with Dr. West at his base, West Labs. After West is finally defeated, West Labs explodes and Rick is finally able to remove the Terror Mask, which is seen laying in a field of flowers until a hand in a purple glove reaches down and picks it up. From there, the credits roll.
Splatterworld is an excellent looking game, which should not be a surprise given how late in the Famicom’s life it was developed. The music, while not particularly memorable, never really gets annoying. The English translation by Aeon Genesis is done very well, despite only taking a little over a month to complete. As one of the very few horror RPGs on the Famicom, it’s a shame it was canceled before it saw the light of day, but at least it’s now available for everyone to enjoy.
Links
Aeon Genesis – Splatterworld – Download the English translation here
