YMMV / Splatterhouse

• Anti-Climax Boss: Justified in the remake. The Mask wants to take revenge on the Corrupted for an eternity of slavery, so he summons them — and instead of putting them in Dr. West's super-bodies, the Mask traps them into a relatively weak body made up of the corpses of Rick's victims, forcing them to face a humiliating (but not total) defeat.
• Awesome Music:
  • The metal soundtrack from the 2010 remake. Mastodon, Five Finger Death Punch, and The Haunted.
  • From the original series, the music during the battle against the Terror Mask in Splatterhouse 3 is a short loop, but really awesome.
  • The soundtrack of Splatterhouse 2 is quite evocative.
  • The credits theme for the first game is very sad and solemn for both the arcade and console versions. The rest of the soundtrack is pitch-perfect, covering just about every flavor of horror associated with 80's slasher/gore cinema.
  • The theme for battling the Final Boss in the second game.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: A somewhat lesser example, but the remake tends to be remembered by some people because of Jennifer appearing naked on Playboy (complete with a Playmate data sheet!), something very few videogame women have achieved, and also because of her naked pictures you can find in the game, which is rather unusual to see in a game developed by a company like Namco.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The Cthulhu-like monster in the middle of phase six. Appears in one room with a significant amount of attention, but is soon forgotten about come the next. The Terror Mask doesn't even comment on it.
• Catharsis Factor: You will hate the Deathnoid/Screaming Mimi enemies in part 2 for their nonstop shrieking and constant leaping around, so it's a good thing there are plenty of immensely satisfying ways for you to gruesomely shut them up.
• Crazy Is Cool: The Terror Mask in the remake, in spades. Particularly, how it used Rick to kill TEN THOUSAND demons, spanning time and space just to bring the Corrupted to Earth and kill them.
• Critical Dissonance: Despite near-universally mixed reviews, the remake is regarded well by fans and is usually considered by gamers to be a pretty solid, but flawed, action game.
• Crosses the Line Twice: The remake's Gorn is gleefully lampshaded by the Terror Mask repeatably, one quote in particular (paraphrasing):
  Terror Mask: See, this is the type of shit that got us an M-Rating.
• Cult Classic: Due to its controversy, the series was destined to become this in due time as it fell off the radar hard after the first installment. This makes the remake having a lot of color and heart into it that much more heartwarming.
• Demonic Spiders:
  • The Mirror Ricks in the first game are quick attackers, take three hits to destroy, and are experts at pulling off that hard-to-dodge slide move that players themselves often struggle with.
  • The fetuses in the sixth stage of the first game.
  • The Blue Homini and the Mirror Jennifers from the 2010 game. They can slice off your arm in one slice, kill you in two, or even decapitate you. And when you're unarmed they take forever to kill. And towards the end, they start coming in groups.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Biggy Man◊, the third boss of the first game; maybe because he's got CHAINSAWS FOR HANDS and because, without knowing the right tricks, he's That One Boss.
  • He became so popular with fans that when the new Splatterhouse was announced, fans begged to have Biggy Man return — so Namco Bandai made it happen.
• Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game: While the remake's story, voice acting, and atmosphere is praised, the gameplay itself leaves a lot to be desired. While it isn't by any means bad, it doesn't have a lot of variety to it and what it does present is relatively limited.
• Fan Nickname: Hell Chaos, the final boss in the first Splatterhouse game, was called Captain Mozzarella by fans due to his tattered skin's resemblance to melted cheese.
• Game-Breaker: In the remake, Rick can learn a grab move where he throws down a mook creature and rips its arm off. This will instakill non-boss foes and gives you a window of invulnerability to escape getting surrounded.
• Goddamned Bats: There are many candidates, but the ghosts who possess you and scramble your controls have surely killed many a player, especially in one area which is filled with pits and other hazards.
  • From the 2010 game comes the Aegis: a tentacled horror that never attacks on his own, but makes all other monsters invincible (except for Splatter moves and weapons), actively runs away from you and teleports away if you get too close, forcing you to use the shoulder tackle to pin him down. And since the thing LOVES to hang around exactly in the middle of enemy crowds...
• Hilarious in Hindsight: For some, Hell Chaos looks more like a half-melted Colossal Titan.
  • The painting enemies from the Diamond Camp level of Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti resemble the Horror enemies from DUSK.
• Jerkass Woobie: The remake heavily implies that the Terror Mask is one according to its own account. First, it was Made a Slave for an eternity by the Corrupted, then the Corrupted destroyed the Aztec tribe that it was worshiped by. It has reasons for being so happy to have Rick slaughtering every enemy that he comes across. Before the final boss fight, it sounds rightfully and unbelievably pissed.
• Just Here for Godzilla: According to many, Jim Cummings as the mask is the best and arguably only reason to play the 2010 game.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Original trilogy: The Terror Mask is the helpful but sinister Mask of Power who secretly plots to rule the world. Seeking the elimination of its rivals, it takes advantage of Rick's near death state by offering to help him rescue Jennifer from the monsters in exchange for wearing it, giving Rick grotesque powers. Throughout the games, the Mask continuously convinces Rick to wear him, knowing that it's his only shot at saving Jennifer, tricking him into eliminating the hordes of mutants to make his goals easier. After Rick defeats the Dark One in the third game, the Mask reveals his deceptions and fights Rick inside his own mind so that he can complete his goal.
  • 2010 remake:
    • The Terror Mask is the cheerfully obnoxious Mask that's gradually revealed to have masterminded the events of the game. A former protector of a civilization that was wiped out by the Overlord, resulting in the Mask getting enslaved, he decides to form a plot to summon it so he could kill it permanently. To this end, he instigates Dr. West's Start of Darkness, having him experiment on numerous people to supply him with sacrifices, and has him and Rick meet up, resulting in West kidnapping his girlfriend Jenny and Rick being mortally wounded, with the Mask convincing Rick to wear him. Instructing Rick on how to use his powers, he has him slaughter as many mutants as possible so that he could summon the Overlord, eventually succeeding in doing so and revealing that he purposely chose a weak vessel, a mountain of corpses, to make the job easier. In the end, the Overlord is killed, with the Mask allowing Rick to be reunited with Jenny, with it implied that her seeming possession by the Overlord is another step of his master plan.
    • The "Biggy Man" proves to be more intelligent than his appearance would imply. Noted by Dr. West to be "Primitive, but cunning", managing to once trap West in one of its traps, he's shown to run a factory in the Bad Future, becoming tasked with stopping Rick and the Terror Mask. Using multiple traps he made himself throughout the factory, he eventually ambushes them in an elevator and gives them a long, brutal fight, using the brief blackouts to teleport around and sneak attack Rick, even managing to avoid the finishing moves twice, as well as using its chainsaw arms to their fullest advantage. The fight cumulates into a one-on-one chainsaw duel, with the Biggy Man holding its own despite his loss of one arm.
• Narm:
  • DAVID IS ONLY MEMORY
  • From the remake: "No Rick, FUCK YOU." 200 years, and you're telling us you can't come up with a better comeback?
  • Some of the monsters in 2 (most notably the lake monster) scream like Michael Jackson when they get hit. Very goofy for such a violent game.
• Narm Charm: The new version goes for an incredibly schlocky B-movie feel, complete with a couple of narmy Big Nos from Jen.
  • Phase Nine is narrated by a particularly solemn and tragic chapter of Dr. West's journal, while Rick punches his way through the series' most obscene and over the top Womb Level. Hearing him claim My heart is dead as Rick tears out the literal beating heart of the mansion perfectly encapsulates the remake's visceral yet earnest tone.
• Nausea Fuel: The games (especially the 2nd one) don't hold back with the gross imagery, so obviously not recommended for people with weak stomachs.
• Nightmare Retardant: Given that this is a series where there’s ALWAYS something terrifyingly gruesome on screen, it can come across as a Mood Whiplash when you encounter the Jokers in the first game because, unlike the rest of the enemies in the series, these are cute ghost girls who only drop skulls on you and giggle adorably whenever you get hit and hitting them only makes them disappear, which comes across as JARRING given the bloody mess you’ve been making up to that point. Someone at Namco must’ve noticed since no enemy like this has appeared since.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: This was one of the main reasons why the game got pulled from American arcades, due to its violence before Mortal Kombat took the scene.
• Player Punch: Frequently, especially in the third game where Jennifer and/or David will die if you don't complete a level in time. Or in the first game, after you're forced to kill the possessed Jennifer, one enemy came back and points its finger to Rick as if taunting him to come and get them in the Womb level. Way to piss off Rick and the player...
• Signature Scene: In the original games, the "Mindless Beast" Jennifer from 3 if you fail to rescue her (which is likely on the first try). In the remake, it would be the fight against the Biggy Man.
• So Okay, It's Average: The 2010 game is generally considered this, due to a number of gameplay factors (lack of variety overall and not really being complete, judging by the cut dialogue and loading times). The script and story received praise, however. It's also quite the love letter to the franchise, and has all three precursors of the main series as unlockables.
• Spiritual Licensee: A nobody protagonist gets bonded to a supernatural entity with a mind of its own that grants him superpowers and feeds off of its enemies. Are we talking about Rick and the Terror Mask, or Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote? It helps that Rick's voice actor in the 2010 reboot voiced the symbiote's original host once.
• That One Boss: Biggy Man of the original game. Most people won't fault you for saving both shotguns in his stage for the boss fight. The remake lampshades the Biggy Man's status, although he isn't nearly as tough.
  • The house's uterus at the end of the womb level constantly spawns little bubble-monsters for you to worry about, and if you're not careful they can land on top of you while you're punching the boss itself. To make matters worse, the spawns are completely randomized, so you can never predict how they'll turn up or what to do.
• That One Level: The womb of the mansion has you fighting dozens and dozens of little pink monster fetuses that hatch and try to latch onto you. Unlike the other levels, their spawning is completely randomized, and unlike the Body Eaters/Boreworms, it's difficult to predict their movement or keep track of several at a time. This becomes even worse during the boss battle, listed above.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley:
  • The photo-realistic pictures used in Splatterhouse 3 falls right into this. ESPECIALLY "Mindless Beast" Jennifer, whose bulging eyes are too far apart from each other.
  • The titular doll that bled in phase two of the remake, complete with a chilling "Mama!".
• The Woobie: An entire family of them.
  • When you get down to it, Rick's life really sucks. His girlfriend is turned into a hideous beast that he is forced to kill in the first game, then she along with his son's lives are threatened in the third game. The remake ends with Jennifer getting possessed as well. Only in the second and third game does Rick get any sort of relief, and in the latter case good luck completing the levels on time to do so.
  • Jennifer gets kidnapped and mutated into a monster. During her fight, she frequently transforms back and forth between this and her human form, and the process is clearly painful. She's Dragged Off to Hell upon death and resides there for months before Rick rescues her in the sequel. She gets infected by a Bore Worm in 3 and has a good chance of becoming the nightmare-inducing "Mindless Beast" Jennifer. Even if you rescue her, she and Rick might lose their son David if you're too slow in rescuing him. All in all, Jennifer might be even worse off than Rick.
  • David is just a kid when his home gets invaded by monsters. And as mentioned above, he and/or his mother can get killed during the course of the game.

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