When you think of a video game that is all presentation and no gameplay, Splatterhouse 2 is a good retro example to give. Its known for its gory, grotesque style as you walk the halls and punch, kick and smash enemies into pieces. Does doing that equate to fun though? Not really. Splatterhouse 2 was developed by Now Production and released in July 1992. It's similar in gameplay to the original Splatterhouse, and was followed up Splatterhouse 3 as well as a Splatterhouse remake in 2010.
STORYTELLING/CHARACTERS | 2/10
You contol a character called Rick. The game follows on the story of the first Splatterhouse game. I'm unfamiliar with that game, but the manual makes things relatively clear. The mask talks to you, and tells you that you can still save Jennifer, so you must go to some house to do so. An atmospheric introductory scroll through an onimous field alongside lines of dialogue by the mask talking to you set the tone. With that, the game starts.
Each stage is introduced with a still image showing the stage number you are now on and a short comment by the mask on the next location. That's pretty much it in terms of story presentation.
GAMEPLAY | 7/20
Where to start? I guess I should first mention that no, this game is not fun to play. First, there is the fact that you simply don't have much you can do here. You can punch, kick, jump and use melee weapons to smash.
Second, everything you do is very slow. Fittingly, you can not sprint, just walk or 'strudge' as I would call it. This applies to dodging as well. Enemies pretty quickly start jumping over you, and you simply don't have the agility to dodge these jumps unless you know you are coming and preemptively are positioning yourself appropriately. That sucks.
Rick's agility generally sucks out the enjoyment I could have had with this game. You need to get close enough to enemies to punch them, but this means you are putting yourself in harm's way with no reliable way to dodge, so a lot of times, you take an unfair hit. I wouldn't even call it a hit, it's a mere touch. Then there are all these smaller enemies, which can easily find a way to jump at you from angles that you cannot reliably attack, meaning with a standing punch or a jumping kick. Instead, they will find the inbetween position to attack from sometimes, like the piranhas jumping out of the water in one early stage.
Boss fights are OK and certainly the highlight of this game alongside its atmosphere, but they are a minor part of the game. The major part of the game is simply not fun.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE | 7/10
No voice acting. The soundtrack fits the theme of the game. I can't say I loved it or that it was memorable, but it was certainly fitting.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN | 7/10
Splatterhouse 2 looks pretty good, but mostly due to its graphical presentation. Few games on the SNES look quite like this. The animations bring it all home. For example, there is one thing the game does in its presentation that I love, which is that when you use a melee weapon against an enemy, you either strike them from above and squish them into the ground or you hit them from the side and leave them a gooey mess on a wall.
ATMOSPHERE/IMMERSION | 9/10
Definitely the best part about this game. The game does a great job with its atmosphere. It all starts with the introductory cutscene, continues with the design of each stage and culminates with the boss fights, which are all uniquely positively disgusting.
CONTENT | 3/10
The game takes less an hour to beat, once you know what you are doing. It takes multiple hours to beat if you're a new player, and most of it is spent frustrated by the game's controls. There is little variety in gameplay, so even with that short runtime, it overstood its welcome.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN | 5/10
Strudge through levels, maybe do a little bit of platforming by jumping over obstacles, and punch your way slowly through enemies. Get hit unfairly most of the time because of the enemy's attack patterns and reach, and there you go. You got pretty frustrating levels in your game. The saving grace here is the presentation of the boss fights at the end of each stage.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION | 4/10
You can praise the game a bit for its atmosphere and grotesque presentation, an inspiration which is felt in well-presented boss fights as well. However, from a gameplay standpoint, it's a below average 2D beat 'em up.
REPLAYABILITY | 2/5
Apart from trying to beat your high score, there is no replay value here.
PLAYABILITY | 5/5
Works well at all times.
OVERALL | 51/100
Splatterhouse 2 is above average in presentation, below average in gameplay. Depending on what you favor, your experience may differ, but assuming that most gamers want fun gameplay, I'd make a guess and say you won't enjoy this game.
(This is the 72nd game in my challenge to go through many known games in chronological order starting in 1990. The spreadsheet is in my bio.)
STORYTELLING/CHARACTERS | 2/10
You contol a character called Rick. The game follows on the story of the first Splatterhouse game. I'm unfamiliar with that game, but the manual makes things relatively clear. The mask talks to you, and tells you that you can still save Jennifer, so you must go to some house to do so. An atmospheric introductory scroll through an onimous field alongside lines of dialogue by the mask talking to you set the tone. With that, the game starts.
Each stage is introduced with a still image showing the stage number you are now on and a short comment by the mask on the next location. That's pretty much it in terms of story presentation.
GAMEPLAY | 7/20
Where to start? I guess I should first mention that no, this game is not fun to play. First, there is the fact that you simply don't have much you can do here. You can punch, kick, jump and use melee weapons to smash.
Second, everything you do is very slow. Fittingly, you can not sprint, just walk or 'strudge' as I would call it. This applies to dodging as well. Enemies pretty quickly start jumping over you, and you simply don't have the agility to dodge these jumps unless you know you are coming and preemptively are positioning yourself appropriately. That sucks.
Rick's agility generally sucks out the enjoyment I could have had with this game. You need to get close enough to enemies to punch them, but this means you are putting yourself in harm's way with no reliable way to dodge, so a lot of times, you take an unfair hit. I wouldn't even call it a hit, it's a mere touch. Then there are all these smaller enemies, which can easily find a way to jump at you from angles that you cannot reliably attack, meaning with a standing punch or a jumping kick. Instead, they will find the inbetween position to attack from sometimes, like the piranhas jumping out of the water in one early stage.
Boss fights are OK and certainly the highlight of this game alongside its atmosphere, but they are a minor part of the game. The major part of the game is simply not fun.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE | 7/10
No voice acting. The soundtrack fits the theme of the game. I can't say I loved it or that it was memorable, but it was certainly fitting.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN | 7/10
Splatterhouse 2 looks pretty good, but mostly due to its graphical presentation. Few games on the SNES look quite like this. The animations bring it all home. For example, there is one thing the game does in its presentation that I love, which is that when you use a melee weapon against an enemy, you either strike them from above and squish them into the ground or you hit them from the side and leave them a gooey mess on a wall.
ATMOSPHERE/IMMERSION | 9/10
Definitely the best part about this game. The game does a great job with its atmosphere. It all starts with the introductory cutscene, continues with the design of each stage and culminates with the boss fights, which are all uniquely positively disgusting.
CONTENT | 3/10
The game takes less an hour to beat, once you know what you are doing. It takes multiple hours to beat if you're a new player, and most of it is spent frustrated by the game's controls. There is little variety in gameplay, so even with that short runtime, it overstood its welcome.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN | 5/10
Strudge through levels, maybe do a little bit of platforming by jumping over obstacles, and punch your way slowly through enemies. Get hit unfairly most of the time because of the enemy's attack patterns and reach, and there you go. You got pretty frustrating levels in your game. The saving grace here is the presentation of the boss fights at the end of each stage.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION | 4/10
You can praise the game a bit for its atmosphere and grotesque presentation, an inspiration which is felt in well-presented boss fights as well. However, from a gameplay standpoint, it's a below average 2D beat 'em up.
REPLAYABILITY | 2/5
Apart from trying to beat your high score, there is no replay value here.
PLAYABILITY | 5/5
Works well at all times.
OVERALL | 51/100
Splatterhouse 2 is above average in presentation, below average in gameplay. Depending on what you favor, your experience may differ, but assuming that most gamers want fun gameplay, I'd make a guess and say you won't enjoy this game.
(This is the 72nd game in my challenge to go through many known games in chronological order starting in 1990. The spreadsheet is in my bio.)