Splatterworld: Rick to Kyoufu no Daiou

This game was never completed and/or given a public release. As a result of this, keep in mind that the developers might have used or deleted some of the content featured here, had the game actually been released.

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

Splatterworld: Rick and the Great King of Terror is an RPG spinoff in the Splatterhouse series.

While seemingly finished, the game's release (scheduled for March 19, 1993) was scrapped supposedly due to a combination of low preorder sales and the increasing popularity of the Super Famicom. Namco would stop developing Famicom games later in '93, and Splatterworld's existence would remain unknown to the general public until the release of the Namco Museum in 2021 and of the dump on YouTube of a pre-release VHS video meant for retailers back in the day. The game remained virtually forgotten all these years...

...Until October 31, 2025, when a ROM of a near-complete build was posted on 4chan's /vr/ board.

Download Splatterworld: Rick to Kyoufu no Daiou File: Splatterworld Rick to Kyoufu no Daiou (Japan) (Proto).zip (280 KB) (info)

Debug Menu#

Enable Game Genie code GAXUEIPE, then press Start on the title screen. The menu options are as follows:

In the scene menu, you can select a scene with left and right. After pressing A to confirm your selection, you will start the game at a point determined by what scene you selected. Scene numbers skip around a lot. There are 23 scenes to select from.

In the party menu, you can cycle through party combinations with left and right. Pressing A takes you to the scene menu. After selecting a scene, you start the game at the scene you selected with your designated party. No matter what scene you select, each party member will have their starting stats and starting equipment, ベム (Bem) has no official starting equipment during regular gameplay, the debugger makes him starts with the カマ (Sickle) Weapon and the ネズミのきも (Rat's Liver) Charm. Weirdly, the party menu is the only one where hitting the B button takes you back to the main menu.

In the sound menu, you select a sound or a music track with left and right, and play it with A.

The characters menu lets you view the game's CHR ROM. Left and right cycle through CHR banks. Select lets you toggle between two different arrangements of tiles.

The "93 01 27" numbers at the bottom are possibly a build date, which in this case would be January 27, 1993.

SRAM Test#

This is one of a select few Namco games which perform an expansion port interface check to determine if an SRAM test should be done. The test only appears to pass or reinitialise SRAM when its size is 8KiB (full $6000-$7FFF range).

Unused Content#

Unused Weapon#

Item #1A ろうそく (Candle) is an exact duplicate of Item #19 ろうそく (Candle), but unused. It is a weapon for ジェニファー (Jennifer) and ダミやん (Damian). ベム (Bem) is supposed to be able to equip all the same equipment as ジェニファー (Jennifer) but for some reasons cannot equip these two ろうそく (Candle).

Unused Souls#

Soul #0B きばアリ (Fang-Ant). There is a きばアリ (Fang-Ant) enemy but it doesn't drop any Soul. The graphics for the Soul in combat recycles that of cat based Souls, clearly a placeholder. There is no art for a potential Ant Soul in the CHR banks of the game.

Soul #0C キッククロウ (Kick-Crow). Instead of dropping this Soul, the キッククロウ (Kick-Crow) enemy drops トリ (Bird).

Both the トリ (Bird) and キッククロウ (Kick-Crow) Souls are otherwise identical if not for the fact that トリ (Bird) deals more than double the damage of キッククロウ (Kick-Crow).

Unused Special Channeling#

You can use Game Genie code EYEUAOSZ to skip conditions three and four of the combo check, allowing you to activate these combos in game by placing their respective spirits on リック (Rick).

The following content may induce seizures and has been hidden by default. Click to reveal:

カエルのうた (Frog Song), it checks against the どくガエル (Poison Frog) and シンハ゜(Sympathizer) Souls with the 3rd Soul required for the combo being unknown. The sprites used for the animation are most likely placeholder, note that there exists small frog sprites in the CHR Banks which are used for the カエルレイン (Frog Rain) spell, it is possible that this Special Channeling was repurposed into that spell or left unused because it was deemed too similar.

The following content may induce seizures and has been hidden by default. Click to reveal:

おんな3にん (3 Women), it checks against the ウーマン (Woman) and ソルジャー (Soldier) Souls with the 3rd Soul required for the combo being unknown. ソルジャー (Soldier) isn't a woman, it could be a placeholder. Note that there exists a Special Channeling in the game called びじょ (Beautiful Women) which uses the Souls of three women, this version may be an earlier draft.