Splatterhouse 3

The game features six levels, many taking place in the mansion. Instead of the side-scrolling action of the previous games, Splatterhouse 3 features non-linear exploration throughout several different rooms, forcing Rick to often backtrack as he tries to find the exit. Players are given a map of each level. Each level must be cleared in a certain amount of time.

Although this does not affect gameplay, running out of time results in changes in the plot, creating four possible endings. By running out of time, for example, Jennifer will be killed in the second level. New to Splatterhouse is the Power Meter, which can be filled by collecting Eldritch Orbs found throughout levels and occasionally are dropped by defeated enemies. Once the bar is filled by at least one orb, the player can transform Rick into a hulking and more monstrous version of himself with the Terror Mask being seemingly fused to his head.

The game takes place about five years after the events of Splatterhouse 2. Rick and Jennifer have since married and have a son named David. Rick has also become successful on Wall Street and has bought a mansion in Connecticut, putting the memories of the Terror Mask behind him. Meanwhile, the Mask feels the ancient energy that it recalls from ages past and begins to speak to Rick.

Rick must don the mask for the third time and fight the monsters that have invaded his mansion. Rick first fights to save Jennifer, who has been kidnapped by an entity known as the Evil One, but it is revealed this was only a distraction while the Evil One took David.

In his review of Splatterhouse 3, Russ Ceccola of Fangoria wrote that, "The appeal of the Splatterhouse games is the bloody violence. Its graphics are explicit and gross, but in an over-the-top way"; Ceccola concluded: "Splatterhouse 3 adds more play elements in the form of a map, time limits and multiple endings, but it all boils down to cartoon violence taken to the extreme." AllGame editor Geoffrey Douglas Smith praised Splatterhouse 3, stating that the game "stands at the top of the beat-'em-up heap on Genesis. A fun and gory ride with plenty of enemies to pummel and a solid game engine makes this a blast to play."