Splatterhouse 2

Splatterhouse 2 is a sidescrolling beat 'em up video game released in 1992 on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis home video game console published by Namco. It is the sequel to Splatterhouse. Three months have gone by since the events of the first game. The Terror Mask, which has reformed after breaking at the climax of the first game, appears to Rick and repeatedly tempts him to 'go back to the house', telling him that Jennifer 'doesn't have to die'. It closes by telling Rick 'You need me'. Rick succeeds in rescuing Jennifer, and the House sinks into the bottom of the river.

Splatterhouse 2 features gameplay very similar to the first game. The player controls Rick through eight different stages, each two-dimensional. Rick's attacks remain largely unchanged, able to punch, kick, jump kick, and slide kick, as well as use several weapons scattered throughout the levels. Each level features a boss at the end, often a grotesque monster. New additions to the gameplay include a difficulty setting and a password system for the English version (Japanese version lacks a password feature), taken from Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti.

In the western versions of the game, the design of the Terror Mask is skull-like. In the Japanese version, the mask is white with black stripes over each eye, causing it to loosely resemble a kabuki mask. Due to the translation when the game was localized, some elements are clearer in the Japanese version. In it, the Mask instructs Rick to 'find the hidden house' and that Jennifer is in 'the land of the dead'. In the western version, the Mask instructs Rick to 'go back to the house' and does not specify where Jennifer is. This has caused some confusion among players that have not played the original Japanese version, with several believing that the intact mansion in the second game is the West Mansion from the original Splatterhouse, when in fact the charred ruins that make up the first stage are what is left of West Mansion (these ruins can also be clearly seen in the opening of the game, before the screen scrolls over to reveal the other mansion, aka the 'hidden house').