Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is sort of the Kid Dracula of the Splatterhouse franchise, in that it's a cutesy parody of the franchise to which it belongs; with Kid Dracula being a lighthearted send-up of the Castlevania series. Wanpaku Graffiti gives Splatterhouse the "super deformed" treatment, which considerably dampens the series' trademark graphic violence and horror. In truth, that change in tone was welcome, as the other Splatterhouse games are quite dark and even mean-spirited feeling at times.
Wanpaku Graffiti was originally a Famicom title, which makes it the only 8-bit entry in the Splatterhouse series, and it released in between the original game and its direct sequel. In regards to the game's plot, it could be viewed as a non-canon parody, which I imagine is the intended way to interpret it. The game opens with Jennifer kneeling in front of a grave, which is promptly struck by lightning. We then see Rick emerge from said grave, revealing that he had been deceased. Then another nearby grave is struck by lightning, and we see a pumpkin-headed ghoul fly out, snatch Jennifer and zip off, leaving Rick to give chase. After battling through several stages and finally confronting the Pumpkin King, Rick saves Jennifer and the game ends. Well, it seems like it, only for a director and camera crew to come into frame, revealing that the events of Wanpaku Graffiti were all staged and Rick and Jennifer are merely actors. Then, as a final twist, after the film crew has departed, we see the "prop" Terror Mask begin to menacingly float and behave like it does in the core Splatterhouse games.
Gameplay wise, Wanpaku Graffiti is sort of an action-platformer, as opposed to the other games being beat-em-ups. Rick moves from left to right, chopping down foes with a massive cleaver. Most enemies go down in a single attack, which has the game moving at a very brisk pace, as you're just mowing down everything in your path and zooming through stage after stage. The other Splatterhouse games feature various weapons that Rick can pick up throughout the levels, but Wanpaku Graffiti confines you to that cleaver, or an extremely lethal shotgun, which is a rare power-up, but very helpful when you can get your hands on one.
You will have to carefully jump over obstacles and enemy attacks, otherwise your health will deplete incredibly quickly. This actually is one of my biggest complaints with Wanpaku Graffiti. The game doesn't feature any sort of invincibility frame mechanic when you take damage, which many games include so that you can get out of harm's way and regroup. In Wanpaku Graffiti, if you misjudge a jump and land on spikes or a moving baddie, your health will drain to zero before you can even respond. This is further exacerbated by the game's imprecise, slippery platforming, which frequently caused me to miscalculate a jump and take damage that I otherwise shouldn't have.
Fortunately for me, I played Wanpaku Graffiti via the Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 collection, which allowed for utilizing save states. I abused the save states to such an obscene degree, but they helped me get through this challenging, and often frustrating game. If you don't want to use save states, the game does still feature a password system, which was a component back in its original 1989 release. I'm thankful for the Namco Museum Archives for including Wanpaku Graffiti, as this release is actually the first time that this game has ever been released in the US. Unfortunately, they didn't bother to fully translate or localize the dialogue in Wanpaku Graffiti. There are bits of English sprinkled throughout, but then at the end of the game when the movie director is speaking to Rick, the entirety of his dialogue is still in Japanese. You can tell that they just slapped this game in the collection and called it a day. But, nevertheless, we can finally legally enjoy Wanpaku Graffiti on a modern console.
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is fine, but truly nothing special. If you enjoy lighthearted horror games, like Ghosts 'n Goblins, you might find something enjoyable in this game. Or if you're just a devotee of the Splatterhouse franchise, and you want to experience every game in the series, Wanpaku Graffiti will be a brief, bite-sized little diversion before you get back to the blood-soaked gameplay of the core series. I think Wanpaku Graffiti is far from a must play, and ultimately a game that will only appeal to some players.
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