 |
|||
HOME
|
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti | Splatterhouse | Splatterhouse 2 | Splatterhouse 3 Here is the fourth - and last - article covering the Japanese Splatterhouse plotline.
Splatterhouse Part 3
Year: 5 years after "the hideous tragedy"; 1993 (if it was said it had been five years from Part 2, it could be either '93 or '94, since Part 2 can possibly take place at '89, riding with the notion the first game happened in '88. But since there was no tragedy in Part 2, quite the opposite...).
The plot: one of the very few differences from the western releases in Part 3 is in the fact that the "Forbidden Seal" is ignored altogether in the Western canon (it wasn't even mentioned, so at least they kept it consistent). However it is apparently a big deal to the Japanese side of things.
From the "Story" section in the Mega Drive manual:
"It's been five years since the hideous tragedy. A son was born for Rick and Jennifer, named David. And it seemed like the peace for these days would be unending.
As for the Wicked God clan whose seal was solved by Rick and Jennifer, the advent of the Ultimate Wicked God (The Evil One) as a complete revival was their goal, and they had been acting behind the scenes repeatedly.
There are two keys for the revival of the Evil One: a human and the time to become that medium. David who is the son of Rick and Jennifer was choosen as the medium. As for the time, the 'night of the lunar eclipse' when the full moon drops the shadow in the altar of the Evil One was choosen. Rick returned home at the 'night of the lunar eclipse' and his house was filled with wicked beings, and Jennifer and David were nowhere to be found. Rick then stood vacantly and exhausted.
He thought "I can't help it...", when then the abominable Mask appeared to Rick for the third time.
'Now I will lend you my power. To crush my arch-enemy...'"
With the Mask again, Rick goes back to the house (as you can see at the manual he is outside when he dons the mask for the third time) in order to save Jennifer and David. All of the Japanese version's text is in English as well, and as far as I know, no changes were made in the translation.
Not unlike Part 2's manual, the Stages also have commentary that might or might not have pertaining plot points to them. Instead of Rick however in this instalment, the commentary is done by either the Mask or the Evil One himself. Curiously enough the manual calls the Mask "Kamen", the Japanese word for it, as opposed to using the Katakana for Mask when it is doing the talking.
Also, they vary calling the Evil One as "Wicked Deity"/"Devil" or "Ultimate Wicked Deity/Devil" (the latter seems to imply that he is in full power with the Demon Stone, albeit in the prologue he is referred as such as well and his servant as "Wicked Gods"). Evil One itself is labelled as "Ultimate Wicked Deity" in his battle, though, but in other parts like when he is narrating some of the event stages there is no "Ultimate" applied to him. It can be kinda confusing, since they talk about the monsters found in the game as Wicked Gods as well, a Wicked God clan to be more specific, and sometimes they use that to reffer to them and sometimes to refer to Evil One himself. I did my best to try to differentiate them, so here goes nothing.
Stage 1: Mansion 1st Floor
"Jennifer and Rick were abducted by the Wicked Gods. Rick relutanctly dons the abominable Mask in order to save his beloved family, and sets foot on his turned-hellish home."
Stage 2: Mansion 2nd Floor
Mask: "The Evil One's servant can insert a parasite [in living beings]. It gnaws on the inner body of the human and makes them a monster from the inside. Nothing can be done besides defeating the monster who planted the seed in order to save Jennifer."
Stage 3: Mansion 3rd Floor
Mask: "David is the 'key'. He is the 'key' as the medium who solves the 'Seal of the Demon Stone' where the Powers of Darkness were concealed. If the power of the Demon Stone is released, the land will once again be covered in darkness. It's neccessary to take him to the Evil One's altar to enter the temple of the different dimension where the Demon Stone is sealed at the 'night of the lunar eclipse'." David's voice is faintly heard - he has to be helped before the Evil One's hands reach him.
Stage 4: Mansion Basement
Evil One: "The moon is covered by the darkness and in name of our gods the door can now be opened. Power is being recovered, and [I can] become the king of this land again. Become the 'key', child, and open the door of this humiliation!" Rick heads to the Basement. The Ceremony of Resurrection has probably started...
Stage 5: Temple of the Demon Stone (The Dark Stone)
Evil One: "Only I am the king of the Wicked Gods. I'm the one true ruler. Demon Stone! Give the power to release me!" David was rescued safely, but the Power of the Demon Stone was released and accomplished the revival of the Evil One (T/n: now already called "Ultimate Wicked Deity"). In order to prevent the further increase of power, the evil has to be destroyed.
Stage 6: The Last Decisive Battle (The Mask)
Rick is surprised at the Mask's hidden plot. In the ground/earth of a different dimension the final battle begins.
Differences between the English and Japanese releases: The bits in the manual. The Japanese sources never cite "Connecticut" or a "temple in Mexico", nor Rick making a career in Wall Street. I'm not sure what part does the temple in Mexico play in the Western canon either. If Connecticut is close to Mexico then I'm guessing they were trying to tie the Temple of the Demon Stone stages there, and Rick'd be able to travel there by foot. But it's not, so that doesn't work. As well, nothing of the Forbidden Seal is mentioned in the Western canon, since it was removed in Splatterhouse Part 2. As far as I know, the dialogue is very much the same for both versions, and Namcot even prevented getting into censoring trouble by putting "Wicked Deity" as "Evil One" and "Demon Stone" as "Dark Stone", even if right off the bat in the game you face dismembered zombies with red blood, and disturbing imagery isn't short in amount in this game ('course, Splatterhouse still takes the cake in that regard). Figures. They surely saved some bucks in localization if anything by doing it straight as an English game, and to think upcoming "survival horror" games would follow the trend of having English dialogues. Vanguardism right there, folks.
Other differences are minimal terminology. For instance, the Eldtrich Orbs are called "Power Stone" in the Japanese version. The hearts that recover health are called "Demon Heart". The "bible" is called "Book of Life". "Mutant Rick" is plain "Power-Up Rick". All of Rick's moves, including Power-Up Rick, are named as well. They are as follows.
Normal Rick
Jab Body Smash Uppercut Body Slam Power Slam Jumping Kick Spin Kick Head Crush
Power-Up Rick
Hammer Punch Power Slow (?) Jumping Kick Tentacle Spear Hell's Driver Hi-Tower Claw Drill Claw
I don't think there are any other differences, so onto the bestiary. Besides the name of the regular enemies, only the name of the first boss is found in the Mega Drive manual. As you could expect, the rest were taken from Wikipedia (including their descriptions), which the boss names were most likely taken from a gamebook for Part 3.
Enemies
Bonedead (or Borndead, although I think Bone is more likely)
Zombie. Souls that were given to bodies without a head. It attacks with arms with severed wrists. The most brittle enemies.
Dead Ripper
Attacks with a sharp blade-like nail. The Red Dead Ripper also uses a sliding kick.
Andras
Demonology afficcionados will surely recognize the name. It says it's a demon with a skin like that of a bare bird. It pierces Rick's defenses with a Sliding Kick and attacking with it's tongue(?) (I remember a bite, but it's been too long since I've played Part 3).
Chagul (this seemed the best romanization available. The katakanas read Cha-Gu-Ru)
Demon with an abnormally developed head. It's very tough, but not very strong.
Deadman Fat
Ugly fat monster who appeared in the previous game. It rushes while biting.
Hell Hound
Has the shape of a hideous dog. It attacks with a sharp tentacle that spits venom.
Blonob (BU-RO-NO-BU)
A ghost-like enemy with a tattered lump of flesh under the cloak. When it's in spirit form, it's invincible.
Ectoplasm
It appears when Rick is pushed down, and takes away the weapon he was carrying, although it doesn't attack him and can't be destroyed either. It's possible to recover the weapon by finding the room where the Ectoplasm has dropped it.
Bosses
Hell Guardian
A guard for the Evil One. Although it is gigantic, it is light and it's movements are fast. It attacks with it's nail and vomiting venom. It later becomes a midboss.
Giant Eater (Boreworm)
A "cunning leech" demon, it attacks with it's own head and by spitting Body Eaters. Inside of it's body are innumerable maggots. It also has an eerie laughter.
Ma-kku-su Bear (Max Bear)
It's described as the evil spirit that had taken David's form and then possessed the stuffed animal. It'll show it's true body after it's suffered enough damage, and then attack with it's nails and by rushing.
Tattsu Verumu
It firstly has the form of a translucent egg, and after enough damage it transforms into a green catterpillar-like demon and discharges electricity from it's entire body and also attacks with it's mouth.
Kyuukyoku Jashin (Ultimate Evil Deity) (Evil One)
The wicked God that appeared in the previous game. Obtaining the power of the Demon Stone he was completely revived. He shots powerful thunders and optical bullets. A huge face also comes out of his chest albeit seldomly.
Hell Mask
The final boss. It possesses the remaining flesh of the Evil One that was defeated. It has varied attacks such as the flames and duplication.
It was one hell of a ride, folks (no pun intended). Thanks for the support, and I hope this helped shed a little more light in Splatterhouse's plot, even if just the Japanese version.
- Rodrigo Shin (with additional translation work by Brick McBurly) |
||
