A weird, never-released NES horror JRPG no one knew about 2 years ago is now translated and fully playable

Splatterhouse was a sidescrolling beat 'em up series that first appeared in Japanese arcades in 1988. It and subsequent Splatterhouse games were novel for their gory horror approach to a genre we more readily associate with street fighting or Ninja Turtles. The series is mostly forgotten to all except a small diehard community, but it turns out Namco had bigger and more ambitious plans for it that never officially materialised.

Namco did release one Splatterhouse spin-off in the form of 1989's platformer Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, a watered down and "cutesy" take on the more mature (but still quite tongue-in-cheek) beat 'em up outings. It can nowadays be played via the Namco Museum Archives.

But there was another unreleased Famicom Splatterhouse game. That was proven in October when a fully playable ROM of something called Splatterhouse: World was dumped on 4chan. Taking the form of a ye olde 8-bit JRPG, it's a truly fascinating artefact, not least because there are very few horror-themed JRPGs from that era: Capcom's Sweet Home is the only other one that comes to mind.

While the October dump was a huge moment, seemingly undeniable proof of Splatterhouse: World's existence can be traced back to May 2024, according to this dedicated Splatterhouse fan website. That was when a Japanese researcher and blogger posted about a promotional VHS in their possession depicting something called Splatterworld: Rick to Kyofu no Daiou. According to that source, the Namco promo video was sent to retailers in December 1992, and featured material for products slated for a March 1993 release.

In other words, Splatterhouse: World was very close to release before it was—for still unknown reasons—cancelled. Here's what it looks like in action:

Yes, its format is very familiar: a player-character roams a topdown world, ambushed every minute or so by random encounters resulting in turn-based combat. But instead of the picturesque green fields and forests of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, we have uber-grim graveyards. The sprites are noticeably chunkier than in other contemporary JRPGs, in a style similar to Mother or Earthbound Beginnings, and the 8-bit approach to spooky horror music is fun to hear as well.

When the ROM appeared in October there was one obvious obstacle: this Japanese RPG, which was never officially confirmed to be planned for release outside of Japan, is probably impenetrable for anyone without a working knowledge of Japanese. But in record time, a fan translation has been completed with the title Splatterworld, courtesy of Aeon Genesis. Given the ROM only appeared on October 31, that's impressive.

That means a fully playable, unreleased Famicom game is now playable in English, which is the kind of thing retro enthusiasts dream of. The ROM is archived on the West Mansion fan page, and will need to be patched with the Aeon Genesis translation at the link above if you want to play it for yourself.