Splatterhouse
Image: Namco

Update [Thu 31st Oct, 2024 10:00 GMT]: The first demo has been released for Monster Bath Games' fan port of Namco's arcade Splatterhouse to the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis.

The demo contains the first two levels from the arcade title recreated on the 16-bit console and is currently playable on the emulator BlastEm as well as SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive via Everdrive or other compatible devices.

As the developer notes, however, the port was designed to work with 60HZ NTSC systems, so PAL consoles may exhibit some strangeness with the timing and screen size for the time being — though a fix is currently in the works for this.

You can grab it now from itch.io for free, if you want to give the demo a try.

Original Article [Mon 30th Sep, 2024 11:00 BST]: After 36 years, Namco's gory 1988 arcade beat 'em up Splatterhouse is finally coming to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis port, via an unofficial fan port.

Monster Bath Games, the developer of games like Deathwish Enforcers and Guardgrave, recently announced over the weekend that it had taken a 2-week break from working on its own titles to experiment with creating a fanmade port of an arcade title to Sega Mega Drive / Genesis using @earok's Scorpion Engine. For this, it decided to opt for Splatterhouse, a game that was previously ported to the PC Engine/Turbo Grafx-16 and FM-Towns computer in the early 90s.

This game skipped the Sega console at the time, with only its sequels Splatterhouse 2 and Splatterhouse 3 getting an official release for the iconic 16-bit console.

So far, the developer has posted a three-minute video showing a look at the opening basement level and the first boss fight with a hanging zombie and a pile of leeches, and it's all looking extremely promising from what we can see. It features music from the YM2612 chiptune artist @laurent_crouzet and was assembled with the help of @GabrielPyron & @masterlinkueibr, who offered technical advice and support.

According to Monster Bath Games, the plan is to develop the fanmade port into a finished fangame that people can play, with the developer stating the following online:

"I'm going to try to do one section a week until it is completed. Some levels have 1 section, some have a bunch like the mansion which branches off a few times. Once I get level 2 completed I'll start posting playable builds. As of now it's 3 minutes long with the intro."

As outlined elsewhere in the responses to the video, there's no intention to develop a simultaneous Amiga port, despite the Scorpion Engine also being equipped for development for that machine. The reason given for this is that the developer would have to "recolor all of the art assets again" and also doesn't have "a fully functioning Amiga to test on anymore."

We'll try and keep you posted on how the Mega Drive / Genesis port is coming along and will let you know exactly when you'll be able to play it.

[source x.com]