Splatterhouse/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the 4-way joystick to make Rick walk left and right, crouch and pick up weapons.
 * Attack Button: Use this button to make Rick punch, kick if he's crouching, and use weapons.
 * Jump Button: Use this button to make Rick jump.
 * 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a 1 or 2 player game.

Rick
This Jason Voorhees lookalike is the protagonist of the game.

Zombies
They are the most common enemies in the game, and appear on the first, second, third, fourth and fifth stages. The red ones will die after a single hit, but the green ones take two.

Tortured Corpses
They appear to be part of the background on the first and second stages - but when Rick gets close to them, they attack by spitting out puddles of vomit that must be avoided. They cannot be killed.

Bats
They appear on the first and fourth stages, and attack by dive-bombing Rick from the ceilings. One hit will kill them.

Big Headed Zombies
They will continue to attack Rick after their bodies have been destroyed — as their heads will fly after him until they either take a hit or fly into the ceiling on the first, second and fifth stages.

Bore Worms
They attack like piranhas en masse, and are usually found in rooms full of rotting meat (they are the bosses of the first stage and fill two rooms on the fourth and fifth stages). One hit will kill them.

Hanging Corpses
They appear on the second and third stages. In the second stage several of them try to drop down from the ceiling on top of Rick, while in the third stage they attack by spitting projectile vomit at Rick. One hit will usually kill them.

Sludge Monsters
They inhabit the sewers on the second, third and fifth stages, and attack by rising from the water suddenly — sometimes several at a time. One hit will kill them.

Spiked Balls
They float along in the sewers on the second, third and fifth stages. They cannot be destroyed and must be avoided.

Possessed Bottles, Candles and Cans
They fall from the ceiling in the second stage's boss room just before the actual attack begins, and can be knocked away with a punch or kick.

Possessed Chairs
This is the first thing that attacks Rick in the second stage's boss room and takes five hits to kill. Several others appear in the fifth stage, but at this point Rick should have a weapon and be able to take each chair out with one hit.

Possessed Knives
They are are the next things that attack Rick in the second stage's boss room. At first, one attacks him, then two more attack him simultaneously. They take three hits each and are fairly easy to kill, once you have established a pattern.

The Possessed Picture
This is the last thing the poltergeist will possess and use to attack Rick in the second stage's boss room. It flies around the room very quickly and tries to ram Rick, but several well-aimed punches and kicks will knock it out of the air.

Zombie Dogs
They appear on the third and fifth stages, and attack by devouring the remains of the Zombies that Rick has blasted with the shotgun. Two hits will kill them.

Monstrous Hands
They attack by smashing through the wooden bridge on the third stage and dragging Rick into the sewer below. They can be avoided, but not killed.

Birds
They appear on the third stage, and attack by dive-bombing Rick from the ceiling in a manner similar to that of the Bats. One hit will kill them.

Biggy Man
The boss of the third stage, who attacks with his dual chainsaws. Several shotgun blasts will take him down.

Mutant Slugs
They appear on the third and fourth stages, and attack by spitting projectile vomit at Rick in a manner similar to that of the Tortured and Hanging Corpses. Several low kicks will kill them.

Blades
They slowly rotate in a clockwise direction on the floor on the fourth stage. They cannot be destroyed and must be avoided.

Mirror Ricks
They appear on the fourth stage, attack by bursting out of certain mirrors, and have exactly the same moves as Rick. Three hits will take them down.

Evil Cross
The boss of the fourth stage and the main reason why the game was only released in Japan. Several hits will kill it — just be wary of the flying heads that circle around it and occasionally fly off on their own to attack Rick.

Flying Heads
They circle around Evil Cross, and occasionally fly off on their own to attack Rick. One hit will kill them.

Disembodied Hands
They attack by trying to jump up and slap Rick in the fifth stage, and also taunt him from a distance. One hit will kill them. It is rumoured that Namco patterned them after Ash's possessed hand from the film Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, but this has never been confirmed.

Spirits
They appear on the fifth stage and carry skulls that they try to drop on Rick's head. A jump kick will usually kill them.

Picture Faces
They rip themselves off their canvases and chase Rick in the fifth stage. One hit will kill them.

The Necromancer
He floats through one part of the fifth stage, raising the dead with a motion of his hands and a strange Japanese chant — even the zombies that Rick has already knocked down. Several jump kicks will kill him.

The Necromancer's Zombies
These two types of zombies are constantly reanimated by the Necromancer. As long as the Necromancer is still alive, they will return to life regardless of how many times Rick knocks them down. Once the Necromancer has been defeated, they go to their final rest.

Mutant Jennifer
The boss of the fifth stage. She is fairly difficult to defeat — and you should watch out for her extra-long claws.

Bubble Monsters
They appear on the sixth stage, and the screen will fill up with them if they are not dealt with promptly. One hit will kill them, but if one latches onto Rick, you should shake it off as soon as you can - as they will drain his energy very quickly.

The Heart
The boss of the sixth stage, and the Bubble Monsters' spawning point. This is probably the most difficult boss to defeat, as it keeps spawning Bubble Monsters during the fight.

Fire Demons
They appear on the seventh stage, and attack by jumping towards Rick in set patterns. They cannot be killed.

Flaming Logs
They attack by rolling towards Rick in the seventh stage. They must be avoided as they cannot be destroyed.

The Decaying Head
The final boss of the game. He will rise out of the ground, and attempt to grab Rick with his rotting hands. He also throws rocks up into the air, which can injure Rick if they land on him. Once he has been defeated, a mysterious face will rise out of the ground. Nobody knows what it is, or where it came from, but it has been speculated that it is the spirit of Dr. West, which has finally been freed from wherever it had been imprisoned.

Weapons

 * Cleaver: Hacks off the heads of weaker enemies and inflicts a good amount of damage on stronger ones.
 * Stick: Smashes weaker enemies against the walls and does a decent amount of damage to stronger ones.
 * Wrench: A one-time-use projectile weapon, which only appears at the beginning of the second stage. As with the other projectile weapons found in the game, it is powerful, but you will not get much use out of it.
 * Shotgun: The most powerful weapon in the game, which only appears on the third stage. Picking it up gives you eight shots, and one shot of it will blast any enemy to pieces (except for Biggy Man). It can also take out an entire row of enemies when they are lined up and reach across the entire distance of the screen.
 * Rock: Another one-time-use projectile weapon, which only appears in the middle of the third stage.
 * Spear: Yet another one-time-use projectile weapon, several of which only appear at the beginning of the fourth stage. They will impale any enemy they hit and immediately kill them.
 * Axe: Only appears at the end of the fourth stage. It is similar to the Cleaver and must be used to take care of the Evil Cross and its Flying Heads.