Even though it might not look all that "hardcore" now, Splatterhouse was actually pretty controversial upon its' arcade release. The high level of gore, as well as the main character's similarity to Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees, caused quite a stir.

Unfortunately, the buzz meant that the home versions were going to be censored. While the Japanese got a fairly uncut edition of the game, US players were "treated" to something that went so far as to even making the player's mask red, as if no one could tell the inspiration for the character anyway.

But even in its' edited form, Splatterhouse is still a fairly bloody game. There certainly aren't many games out there, before or since, that can claim to have a shotgun showdown with a mutant that has chainsaws for hands.

Sadly, your character doesn't have all that many moves or weapons to take on the baddies, and with only five levels (even though some of them have multiple paths) this is a short hop. But all of the spurting claret gussies things up just enough to elevate Splatterhouse above the realm of the average, and makes this a worthy download.