Gruesome Games - Four More With Gore!

Time for another batch of Gruesome Games I reckon! It's been hard getting screenshots for these since all my tech decided to pack up right at the start of the month, so most of the screens are photos rather than screenshot downloads from emulators like I normally do, but they get the job done....

 I'll also take this opportunity to give a shout-out to the West Mansion site, where I found a few extra images to put up...Give their name a click to head over to a great site that's been active since 2001! Right, now that that's out of the way, let's crack on with looking at some games!

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 Splatterhouse (Arcade, PC Engine/TG) :

I've already covered a few of the Splatterhouse games on this blog, but it occurred to me last week that I've never actually covered the first two games that started off the series...so let's remedy that situation now by taking a look at the original.

Student Rick Taylor and his girlfriend Jennifer Willis get caught in a cliché....sorry, I meant a storm....and to escape this storm, decide to take refuge in the spooky old mansion known as the "Splatterhouse," so called because of rumours of heinous experiments carried out there by missing parapsychologist, Dr. West.

As they enter the mansion, the door slams shut and leaves them in darkness, the echo of the door barely having a chance to end before Jennifer's screams fill Rick's ears! The next thing he knows, he's waking in a spooky dungeon, with something stuck to his face. Something that then informs him that it is an ancient "Terror Mask" that has resurrected Rick and for some nefarious reason wants to 'help' him rescue Jennifer by giving him superhuman strength and encouraging him to splatter as many monsters as possible against the walls and floors of the mansion...

What follows is a very straight-forward jaunt through level after level of right-scrolling environments, with Rick and his not-at-all-based-on-Jason-Voorhees's-mask face-friend using anything they find at hand to bash the baddies, jump over traps and try to reach Jennifer before she becomes Dr.West's latest victim.

The enemies range from your standard zombie types, chairs and furniture, knives ....all the way to weird looking gut slugs and giant sack covered meat-beasts with a fair few other spectres and spooks thrown in for good measure. And there are a lot of them....

Although quite a short game once you know what you're doing, it is incredibly difficult! Stupidly so! I'd like to say that it's just a case of memorizing where enemies will appear and when in order to progress, but while this is mostly true, the game will still throw random enemies at you that unfairly kill you with no real way to avoid it. This will sometimes mean you end up in a death loop that'll quickly eat up your sparse life count, causing a great deal of frustration!

The game does have a checkpoint system that will stop things becoming too annoying though, and there are alternative paths you can try in most levels if you're finding a particular section too much after a while. The PC Engine version is also slightly easier, I find...and I was able to get much further in that than I did in the arcade game.

I'm not sure I'd recommend Splatterhouse to anyone these days if they weren't a fan of the horror genre though. As mentioned, the gameplay can be annoying, it's really unfair, and it basically just boils down to 'walk right, kill, jump, kill..walk right, die, repeat'......

But if you love horror movies, even just a little, the atmosphere and style of Splatterhouse will make you forget everything else, and you'll enjoy the gore that seeps from the screen as you battle your way through to Jennifer's aid. As I've mentioned previously, despite its difficulty, the series has become one of my favourites, and this is almost entirely down to the feelings it manages to capture as a love letter to the horror genre...

It's also worth remembering that the game comes from a time when such violence and horror was genuinely rare, if not completely absent in most other games, making it a horror classic by default of being such a rarity! So if you are looking for something a bit grim to spice up your Halloween gaming, you could do worse than playing this....

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Splatterhouse II (Sega Megadrive/Genesis) :

Splatterhouse II was my entry point to the series. Back in the day I owned a SNES, but my friend Ed had a Megadrive, and this was always the game I wanted to play when he would hook it up to his TV. Thanks to Ed generously donating me his old Megadrive and games a few years back, I now still have the original cart I used to play back in the day and the original system on which I played it, which still blows my mind!

This sequel sees Rick recovering from his ordeal in the first game, only to be visited by the reformed Terror Mask which shattered after Rick defeated the final boss of the original game. He was unable to save Jennifer, but the mask persuades Rick to put him on once more, promising that there is still a way to save her and only the mask can help him do so! And so Rick heads to another house and prepares to battle evil once more for another rescue attempt!

As sequels go, this really does go with the 'if it ain't broke' line....literally everything I mentioned about the first game can be said about the sequel! It's still scrolling right to fight, it's still unjustly unfair a lot of the time, and it's still best appreciated if you have a love of gore and horror!

There are a few small differences to note though. The fact that this game was a console release and not an arcade game, means that a password system has been implemented. Now if the game becomes too much, you can restart at a later date by taking a note of the password which will let you start on that level, skipping any frustrating parts you had to endure to get to that point.

Also, the spooky atmosphere and gruesome graphics have all been spiced up a bit, meaning that it's even more grim and delightfully disgusting than the first game. I remember one magazine review at the time getting a bit upset over the fact that one boss fight has you chainsawing through what look like hanging devil-baby foetuses.....

The sound is an aspect I didn't really mention when talking about the original, but in both games the random screams and spooky tunes help add to the atmosphere, with some nice evil cackles adding some more enjoyment in Splatterhouse II..

But again, I can't really recommend the game to people if they aren't horror fans. The gameplay is a bit lacking and too tricky for anyone who isn't, and while it seems a bit tamer these days, there might still be some who find the gore and violence a bit distasteful. But I repeat, if you are a fan of the genre, then this is definitely for you....there are few other games that manage to capture the feel and atmosphere as much or as well as the Splatterhouse series!

Somehow, using passwords and perseverance, Ed and I were able to beat Splatterhouse II back in the day, which is something I have yet to do replaying it this year...but I'm going to enjoy the frustrating fun of giving it another go in the run-up to Halloween!

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Zombi Mall (ZX Spectrum) :

Zombies really, really love shopping malls don't they!? Ever since George A. Romero's classic 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead, they've been popping up constantly in massive shopping complexes everywhere! I'm pretty sure I've even seen some lurking around my local Aldi store recently.....

Well, once again, in this game they've taken up residence in one such shopping centre, but outside the walls of the mall it's even worse! As a matter of fact the mall was the best place to be up until recently, with handy resources and food...but then the power cut, and the doors opened, letting a few of the brain munchers inside! And so you've been camped out on the roof for days...but now you've just seen a helicopter, and you need to find some way to get whoever is flying the thing's attention!

And so you must use your wits and ingenuity to escape the mall, by collecting items, combining them, solving puzzles and avoiding the zombies! Luckily they have a limited field of view, so will only bother you if you get too close. Of course, sometimes you will get close, causing you to lose a bit of your energy, so avoiding them as much as possible is definitely the best course of action. Also, don't do what I did in the first few minutes of playing and exit the building via the front door, or you'll be consumed by a massive horde of undead fiends and force an immediate 'Game Over!'

This 2022 release from The Mojon Twins is a fun little adventure, and I enjoyed hunting around for keys and trying to work out which items to use. If you want to try it out for yourself you can find more info and download links at the game's Itch.io page! Definitely a great one to be playing during the creepy season.....

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Resident Evil - Gaiden (Gameboy Color) :

As I've mentioned in previous years, I generally try to talk about games that are less well known as I love sharing information about games that might have passed you by. As such, game series like Silent Hill and Resident Evil have been sorely under-represented on the Blog of Stuff. This doesn't mean that I don't tend to include all of the games in these series at some point, because I do eventually....but with Resident Evil Gaiden I can cover a game that whilst being from a well known series, is still one I'm guessing a lot of fans missed!

I'm not sure if the events that take place in Gaiden were ever considered canon in the Resident Evil universe, but if they once where they certainly aren't any more! The plot has Barry Burton going on a mission to rescue Leon Kennedy after he goes missing while investigating a viral outbreak on a cruise ship...

As Barry, you'll find things a little different to how Resi games usually play. Given the limitations of the Gameboy, we obviously couldn't expect fixed-camera, 3D environments...even if Alone In The Dark did make an attempt at this a few years later, although that game shows that Capcom were probably right in taking a different approaach. That approach being a top-down perspective, where you wander around the ship looking for clues to Leon's whereabouts and try to find out what caused this latest zombie outbreak.

You'll still find some sparse ammo and occasional notes scattered around all over the place, so it has at least retained that from the main games, and although the spookiness has been lost a bit with the shift in perspective, there's still enough exploration and zombie slaying to keep things interesting!

The combat is a bit odd though...when you encounter a zombie, either by bumping into one or aiming your gun at them, you'll find yourself in a first-person mode where you're looking through your character's eyes at the approacing undead fiends. I guess this makes Gaiden the first non-lightgun game in the series where you get to stare a zombie straight in the face.....

You blast the baddies by way of a sliding reticle, which moves along a bar at the bottom of the screen. You need to time your fire button press to the moment the reticle reaches the middle of this bar. It seems an odd choice to make for the combat at first, but ultimately this is probably the only bit of the game that has any real sense of tension, as you rush to hit the zombies before they reach you. Apparently the sliding reticle element was original Resident Evil's director Shinji Mikami's recommendation, with the rest of the battle concept being inspired by creaky old fantasy game Dungeon Master!

Eventually you'll meet up with Leon, and a character called Lucia...both of which also become playable characters...but as of yet, I've not reached them as I've only just started playing the game myself as one of this year's Halloween treats! 

First impressions of the game so far are that it's a wildly different, somewhat less impressive than normal entry in the series, but still has enough of the usual Resident Evil features to feel it's worth playing. The exploration seems decent, and although I feel the combat will get repetitive quickly, there's something oddly enjoyable about seeing the zombies stumbling towards you in first-person on a Gameboy! The in-game music can get a bit grating after a while, but I love the moans from the zombies...an element that helps it keep some of the atmosphere from previous titles.

One point I should mention is that I'm playing via emulation, so I can't really comment on the how the save system would be on an actual Gameboy, but I have heard people mention that for a handheld, having a system that only allows you to save at certain points is a bit annoying..

All in all, it still seems like a game that's worth checking out, even if it is all now some sort of fever dream that Barry Burton had in his downtime after he escaped the mansion of the first game! If anything happens to change my mind after playing it on Halloween, I'll keep you posted.....

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Be sure to head over to the Countdown to Halloween hub to see what the other Cryptkeepers have in store for you today, as we get ready to enter the last week of the Countdown! Just click the badge below to find a list of links to wonderful bloggers like Maple Grove Cemetery!

Gruesome Games - 5 Homebrew Horrors!

 

For this first batch of Gruesome Games this year, I thought I'd look at some of the newer stuff available on old systems from some homebrew developers! There's a lot of great stuff still being put out by passionate people who want to see new releases on their favourite old computers and consoles, and so to make sure, create it with their own brains and fingers!

Here then are just five of the many Homebrew Horrors that are available to scratch that spooky game itch!

Halloweenie (C64) :

In this short, but very, very tricky 'runner' style game by The Reaper UK , you control a girl who has lost all her friends to various enemies, including a very familiar-looking hockey masked slasher, and so she has to try and run as the screen scrolls from right to left and escape to safety!

Various baddies and traps will attempt to stop our heroine's escape, and just one hit from any of them will spell the end of her pony-tailed pixels! So you must scurry around the screen, avoiding knives, cannonballs, bats, axes, spikes....anything the masked menace who is also chasing you can find to try and hault your progress!

Created with help from the Shoot-em-up Construction Kit by Sensible Sotware, and a few others credited on the game's itch.io page, the game has a simple set-up, but a fun one, and although you'll be tearing your hair out every time you die, you'll still find yourself going back for 'one more go' at escape.

 The graphics are cute and suitably spooky, and there's some nice music courtesy of  Andrew 'Merman' Fisher to bop along to as well!

Grab a  C64 emulator, and you can find this game by clicking here which will take you to it's itch.io page, and then you can find out if you have what it takes to successfully escape the killer's clutches before Halloween!

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Hermano (Gameboy) :

Poor Mano is missing his sadly deceased sibling, Nano, and so decides to visit his grave during the Day of the Dead. During this festival, it is said that the gates of the underworld open, allowing friends and relatives to reconnect with their departed loved ones.

Unfortunately, when the aforementioned gates open, they also unleash hundreds of lost souls, demons and monsters into the world, and one such particular nasty decides to snatch Mano just as Nano is about to re-emerge from his soily sleep, and carry him off to hell! Now you, as Nano, will have to search 6 levels of platform madness for keys to open the doors that will lead you back to your brother!

Created by Pat Morita Team for the Gameboy Competition 2023, this is a groovy little platformer that they hope to release as a more fleshed out physical release soon! Nano uses his head to bash the enemies in a style that brought back memories of Decap Attack, although Nano keeps a better grip of his bonce than Chuck did in his game...

The game can be tricky at first as you get to grips with it, but always seems fair, and there are plenty of health pickups to keep you going against the creepily-cute enemies. The bombs they randomly drop will help you clear some of the other obstacles in your way too, so hopefully it won't be too long before Nano gets to finally reconnect with his Hermano!

I've been having fun with this, and it's well worth checking out if you either have a flash cart for use on an actual Gameboy, or if you just want to use an emulator. Either way it can be found by clicking here....

I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with their modified 'finished' version soon too, so remember to keep an eye out for that if you want a proper boxed copy!

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Cursed Demons Of Wallachia (Los demonios de Valaquia) (ZX Spectrum) :

I'm always happy when I get to run around as Van Helsing and in this offering from Furillo Productions inspired by Hammer's Dracula films, that's exactly what we get to do! Old Abraham is determined to rid Drac's castle of all the horrible succubi and demons that roam the halls, and then escape before fang-face himself returns to discover his fiendish friends' fates!

To defeat the vampires, Van Helsing must first find wooden stakes that are littered around the place, and then take them to the coffins that hide the sleeping succubi. Cloves of garlic must also be found to help ward off the enemies, of which there are many, and these demons must also be killed by stomping on their heads as you progress over the platforms. Sometimes when you return to a spot that previously held a stake or a clove of garlic, a crucifix will appear, and this will restore one of your 15 lives.

Once you've collected 18 cloves, killed 18 vampires and defeated the 87 (yes, 87!) demons, you must find the bridge at the other side of the castle and make your escape!

The colourful graphics are great, and while there's a tune on the intro screen, there's only sound effects in the game and these are pretty basic.....although the scream noise that comes from the vampires when you dispose of them is pretty cool! There is one other tune that plays when you finally die though, and that is also accompanied by a visit from your arch nemesis!

It's a whole lot of fun, and if you find it all a bit too easy there's a harder version available in the downloads where you only get five lives! It's also available in English, Spanish and Portugese! Definitely worth checking this out though, and like the others you can find it over at itchi.io by clicking here.....

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Ghostly Manor (MSX 2+) :

Trifle, this game's purple-haired princess protagonist, has only gone and got herself lost in a spooky old haunted mansion! Luckily, all of the spooks in this particular place are all friendly and don't want to actually hurt her, but they can't stop themselves straying into her path as they are confined to their wanderings, and so this scares poor Trifle and makes her lose her bravery. One too many scares and she won't be able to proceed....

She is able to produce blocks with magical power though, and these will help her reach the keys she needs to open the many doors barring her way. she can also crack any blocks she's below with her head too, which also helps. But these fragile blocks can also be broken by the spooks, so she'll have to keep an eye on what they're up to as well!

The cute graphics and jolly music helps this Solomon's Key / Spherical style puzzle-platformer from 9958 Crew feel a bit more upbeat than most spooky games, and once you get into the swing of it you'll be breezing through a lot of the levels, which almost lulls you into a false sense of security until you come up against a slightly trickier one again! It's an enjoyable little game though and is recommended if you're looking for some puzzley fun!

You can find it by clicking here........

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Shadow Hunter (Amstrad CPC) : 

Ghostly pests have invaded the Sandy Candy sweet factory, and so young Jack Slimer, Ghost Hunter extraordinare, has been hired to get rid of the ghastly ghouls! 32 levels over 4 floors must be cleared of the paranormal pests before Jack can call it a day and put his feet up back home with a nice cup-a-soup!

And so you as Jack, must jump around the platforms blasting the ghosts with your totally-not-Egon-Spengler-designed Proton blaster, and once they've all been collected, activate the totally-nothing-at-all-to-do-with-Ghostbusters type trap and proceed to the next area.

Levers must be pulled in some sections to allow access to other platforms, and occasional spinning blades or lava pools will also need to be avoided. There's also a timer ticking down that means you won't want to spend too long thinking about things....

Another fun game with nice graphics and some jolly tunes then, and another one that I recommend you give a go if you're looking for something to play this spooky season! Mananuk have done a great job with this, and you can find it here where you'll also find links to an actual physical copy for your Amstrad collection too!

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So there you go! Five groovy gruesome games to get you started on your Halloween gaming sessions! Keep an eye out for more later in the month, but in the meantime, don't forget to take a look at what the other Cryptkeepers, like Action Figure Barbecue, are up to for the Countdown to Halloween! You can find a list of all the participants by clicking the badge below, which will take you to the Countdown Hub!

Gruesome Games - Yokai Monk (ZX Spectrum)

 

Yokai Monk (ZX Spectrum)

Things have taken a turn for the worse up at the old monastery. The local Yokai have gotten a bit restless and decided to invade the place! Spirits and demons have crept into every corner, and are causing all sorts of havoc....

Luckily, one young monk has been perfecting a specific power over the last few months. A power that will be very handy against the creepy critters, and essentially make them solve the problem themselves! Meditating in the corner of a dark cell, the young monk chanted to himself..."The confinement is only for the body, never for the spirit, EACH ENEMY IS A WEAPON."

WANDERING SPIRIT TECHNIQUE!

With this special power, Shen Li, for that is the name of the young apprentice, can leave his physical body and move into the astral plane, where he can float around in spirit form. This allows him to reach the various Yokai, and leap into their bodies! Now that the creatures are possessed by Shen Li, he can manoeuvre them around and make them run into traps, eat each other alive, etc. and solve the monastery's putrid pest problem!

And so when you start the game, you can either use a joystick or the Q, A, O, P, and SPACE keys to take control of Shen Li's spirit, and puzzle through the levels, finding the best ways to dispose of the demons. Floating into a creature will possess it, and you can leave the body again by pressing DOWN. There are spikes to impale them, boxes to be dropped on their heads and various other enviromental hazards that will finish them off. The FIRE button will only come into effect when you find an ONI, a specific type of Yokai and the only one who can shoot. 

I've been enjoying this one since it came out a few days ago! I love the mechanic of possessing the baddies and making them hurt each other, and a few of the levels I've played so far have had me scratching my head for a minute or two as I try to work out which enemies to move where. If you get stuck on a particular puzzle, there's a handy restart feature which will put everything back to the start of the level when you press R...

The controls work well, but can be a bit fiddly at first. And another issue I was having was that if I stopped moving for a few seconds to think about what to do, the level would automatically reset itself, thinking I was stuck. But once I worked out that this was happening, it wasn't to difficult to keep moving so it didn't happen again.

There's a small but nice selection of Yokai to look at that give the game a nice Japanese flavour, with Karakasa umbrellas and Ogama toads among them...And another thing I'm loving is the great 128k soundtrack by Mr. Rancio! It adds to the atmosphere and had me tapping my toes as I fought off the foes...

Yokai Monk was programmed and designed by Ariel Endaraues, and can be downloaded from their itch.io page by clicking here! While the game is free, you can donate as much as you like to help fund further games and projects!

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Other bloggers, such as the wonderful AEIOU...and Sometimes Why, are also taking part in the Countdown to Halloween, and you can find them all at the hub by clicking the badge below!