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![Splatterworld: Rick vs. the King of Terror (Famicom) Playthrough [English]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f3D_ERm8cow/mqdefault.jpg "Splatterworld: Rick vs. the King of Terror (Famicom) Playthrough [English]
A playthrough of Namcots unreleased JRPG for the Nintendo Famicom, Splatterworld: Rikku to Kyoufu no Daiou (スプラッターワルド リックと恐怖の大王, lit. Splatterworld: Rick and the King of Terror).
Splatterworld, the Famicom-exclusive follow-up to 1989s Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (https://youtu.be/5T9d5aaV-nQ), was developed by Now Production. Though the game was essentially finished and promotional media had already been circulated, it was canceled shortly before its slated Q1 1993 release date.
Coming out of nowhere, a near-final build of the ROM was posted to 4chan on Halloween 2025. A month later, AeonGenesis released an English translation patch, and thats what youre seeing in this video. You can find the patch at https://aeongenesis.net/projects/splatterworld
The game begins with a throwback to Wanpaku Graffitis showdown with the Pumpkin King before opening up and sending Rick and Jennifer on an homage-laden quest to save the world from Dr. Wests mad ambitions.
As cartoony as the graphics are, they dont blunt the impact of Splatterworlds horror underpinnings. Thematically, it goes to some dark places, it doesnt shy away from being grotesque, and it carries a few unexpectedly poignant messages in its narrative. You get to see the creation of one of Splatterhouses signature squishy baby flesh bag enemies. Freddy Kruegers mommy issues lead him to save orphans by wielding the power of epic guitar solos. The triple-threat tag team of Napoleon, Nero, and Hitler can be summoned to lay waste to enemies in battle, but their support comes at great cost to your own survivability. The game subverts horror and RPG tropes in all sorts of clever ways, and its more thoughtfully written than its humble NES presentation lets on.
The battle system is especially cool in how it allows you to channel spirits to fight in your place. Some are weak on their own but become powerhouses when paired with like-minded souls. Some will abandon you at the first opportunity, while others might become overly attached and will refuse to leave unless you force them away with a spell. The riskiest of them have self-serving motives that lead them to disregard your commands as they forcibly possess your body to exert their own will.
I can only imagine that Namco realized that the Famicom was no longer a viable platform for big releases in 1993, and that it was more palatable to cut their losses than to risk shelling out for the manufacturing and marketing costs. Its not like they couldve sold it outside of Japan, either. The content wouldve made it a non-starter under Nintendo of America and Europes family-friendly guidelines.
Whatever the reason, it sucks that Splatterworld never got a chance, because its a quality game. I wouldve adored this back in the early/mid 90s! Still, Im happy to see it given a second life in 2025. It looks and sounds ancient (because it is), but the game holds up in all the ways that count.
Its not every day that you get the chance to experience a new game that was produced back in the day, so dont miss out on this one. Its excellent.
(And so is the translation patch. Kudos to the folks who made it!)
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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