Unreleased 1993 Splatterhouse JRPG 'Splatter World' finally playable after 32 years with English translation patch

A long-lost JRPG cutesy spin-off of Splatterhouse, known as Splatterworld: Rick to Kyofu no Daiou, which was supposed to be released in 1993 and vanished without much explanation, is now playable thanks to a fan translation.

Splatterworld was initially teased on a VHS tape distributed to Japanese retailers in December 1992. The game was scheduled for a March 1993 release. Splatterworld’s existence had been no more than a rumor among retro video game circles.

Surprisingly, a prototype ROM of Splatterworld surfaced on 4chan on October 31, 2025. Now, just a month later, Splatterworld has been translated into English by a dedicated romhacking group, Aeon Genesis.

Aeon Genesis posted on Romhacking.net, stating, “Just shy of five weeks after the initial ROM dump became available, we now have a complete translation patch for the game.”

For context, Splatterhouse debuted as a side-scrolling beat 'em up brawling game soaked in gore in 1988. The core franchise faded into obscurity. Namco released a chibi platformer called Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti for the Famicom in Japan. However, it received a Western localization in 2020 as part of the Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1.

Splatterworld’s existence wasn’t a total mystery. Initially, the existence of Splatterworld became public via a Namco Museum Art video that briefly mentioned an unreleased sequel to Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti.

Later, a Japanese Famicom researcher, Orochi-Leomon, shared footage of the JRPG from the 1992 VHS on their blog, sourced from a collector of in-store promotion tapes.

For retro fans eager to take a look at the original Japanese ROM, it’s archived and available on the West Mansion Splatterhouse fan page. In contrast, the Aeon Genesis fan translation patch is available on their website and Romhacking.net. 

The original reason for Splatterworld’s removal from retail distribution never came to light. However, the ROM’s revival reveals that Splatterworld consisted of a mechanic that allowed players to summon three infamous dictators from history (including that one).

The strange part is that these dictators have no relation to Splatterworld’s story whatsoever, but are included as a part of the JRPG’s gameplay.

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