Splatterworld: Rick to Kyoufu no Daiou (English Patched) NES ROM

English Translation info:

Author: Aeon Genesis
Latest Release Dec. 3, 2025
Current Version 1.00

Translation Readme:

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0.1 Content Warning
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Splatterworld includes depictions of various dictators from history (yes, including that one) as entities that the player can summon. They are not part of the story, but they are part of the gameplay. Speaking for myself I feel it is important, for historical reasons, to present the game as it originally was, rather than to try to change it; therefore these figures names and appearances are unaltered. That said, nobody on the team condones these figures, what they did, or what they stand for. I want to be upfront about these figures' presence in the game and our approach to their inclusion, so that players can approach it forewarned.

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1.About Splatterworld
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Splatterworld is several things.

First, it is a cutesy RPG spinoff of Namco's Splatterhouse property. It's a sequel to the Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti cutesy platformer on the Famicom, which was never released outside of Japan. It's a parody of horror films and loves to poke fun at them.

It's also a prototype. The game was never commercially released, and was only made available online on Halloween night this year (2025.) Naturally, I jumped right on it.

The game is fully playable from end-to-end. There are a few notable bugs, but nothing game-breaking or that you'd probably notice during a casual run. There are also a few things that could be polished: there's no separate boss battle music and music frequently restarts. But for the most part what we have here is a full-sized Splatterhouse RPG for the NES/Famicom!

The translation is also complete and with no known issues. Enjoy!

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2.Patch History
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December 3, 2025 - Initial v1.00 Release

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3.Patch Credits
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THE SPLATTERWORLD CORE TEAM
Gideon Zhi - Project leader, lead romhacker, assembly work
Rahan - Translation

And of course, a very special thanks to the rest of the community who helped out!

In no particular order:
-- Garrett Gilchrist, for the title screen, walkthrough, and ASM hints
-- Calico, for tips on NES ROM expansion
-- Kris Knigge, for translation and localization
-- Bodb, for translation and localization
-- blueskyrunner, for Everdrive tips
-- MoriyaMug, for translation
-- Ness, for general tips and testing

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4.Known Issues
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There are no known issues.

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5.Optional Extra Patches (Not in readme note: "included")
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As of this writing the following optional extra patches are available:

* RUN BUTTON: Moves the in-game menu to the Start button. Hold the B button to run.

See below for application instructions. More optional extra patches may or may not be made available at a later date.

After patching and with the optional run button hack, it should have the following checksum information:
CRC32: 6AB9E947
MD5-SUM: 0F6F34E942F9F96F9EAC7BFF51D53D5E
SHA-256: 357B3364AF9D4F8BF8ED4EED8269259A911A3D8F41199B9687E4CBD63E9E55C3

About the ROM files:

On October 31, 2025, a complete ROM of Splatterworld was anonymously released on 4chan. It was quickly archived by fans and was initially playable only in the FCEUX emulator because it used a rare Namco mapper. The leak made the full game accessible for preservation and future translation work.

These are 3 roms I found with different CRCs, from what I assume is the exact same thing with maybe different headers.
Bottomline is, as of the time of writing this, that all 3 roms work on FCEUX (or FCEUmm RetroArch Core) and nowhere else. So keep that in mind.
Also they are in Japanese. I've read of efforts to translate this game already in the works. Whatever that will pan out or not time will tell. At least text insertion was immediately achieved on day one (it is NES after all).

Splatterworld the secret game nobody knew!

The existence of Splatterworld first became publicly supported in 2021 through a Namco Museum of Art video that briefly referenced an unreleased sequel to Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti and showed several pieces of artwork. No title or gameplay details were provided at that time.

On May 31, 2024, Famicom researcher Orochi reported receiving a promotional VHS tape from a collector of in-store game videos. The tape had been distributed to wholesalers in December 1992 and contained a promotional video for Splatterworld, confirming the title, footage, characters, and a scheduled release date of March 19, 1993. The content indicated that the game was far along in development before cancellation, likely due to the rapid shift of the market to the Super Famicom and reduced retailer demand for new Famicom titles.

Characters and Gameplay:

Splatterworld: Rick to Kyoufu no Daiou is an unreleased role-playing game for the Famicom and a planned sequel to Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti. The story begins with Rick and Jennifer in a graveyard, where Jennifer is abducted by a pumpkin monster and Rick is given the Hell Mask by a mysterious man later identified as Dr. West. After rescuing Jennifer, Rick discovers that nearby towns have been overrun by zombies as part of Dr. West’s plan to spread them worldwide.

The game uses a turn-based RPG system with commands for physical attacks, items, paranormal abilities, and a feature called Channeling that allows Rick to temporarily use the powers of defeated enemies. Party members who fall in battle revive as zombies with limited actions until restored. The playable cast includes Rick, Jennifer, Greddy, and Melton, and the game features both returning and new enemy types.