Stage VI is affectionately called The Womb and is the hardest stage in the game.



There's not much to this stage- it's just one fleshy corridor, a straight line to the end- but it's auto-scrolling and the only enemies you'll find here are the most aggravating in the game, the Egg Obas. These mutant eggs constantly spawn from both the floor and the ceiling, then they'll float around before they hit the floor, giving birth to little white creatures called Obas (see, this is why we call it The Womb) that squeal upon spawning then try and mate with Rick's back. If one latches on, just like the Body Eaters you've got to waggle the joystick and smack the buttons to get them off, and you'll want to do that fast because the more time you waste getting one Oba off, the more you'll allow to spawn around you, and if you're surrounded, you're as good as dead.

There's no pattern to the spawning of the Egg Obas, so you can't really memorise it. Instead, this stage will test how good you are at controlling Rick, because you'll have to use every trick you've got- the mid-air kick, the mid-air punch, the slide kick- to keep the masses at bay. Focus on taking out the Egg Obas so they don't spawn Obas at all, (unless you want a high score, as the Obas are worth more points) There are one or two things you can memorise, though- while the bubbles spawn at random, they have a few movement patterns in the air which you can identify to make taking them out easier, and the Obas themselves can only hop forward a certain way, so you can machine-gun=punch as they approach to ensure they land right into your fist. Really, though, this is a case of just staying on top of everything that's on screen, and the first time you reach here, you are going to die, especially if Mutant Jennifer gave you a bloody good seeing to on the last stage.

Persevere, though. Escape is so close!



Eventually you'll reach the boss, sometimes referred to as Mother, a giant heart lodged into a wall of flesh. Mother won't attack you directly- instead, it'll just keep spawning Egg Obas, usually just behind the heart (but sometimes on the ceiling above you). You can speed things up a little bit by slamming into the heart with a slide kick as soon as it comes into view and before it starts creating Egg Obas, but once they start appearing, get in close and machine-gun-punch that thing as fast as you can. If you're close enough, you'll take out most of the Egg Obas as they're spawning, so you won't have to deal with them. The ones that spawn from the ceiling can be a problem, though- take them out as quick as you can so you can get back to pummelling the heart at close range. If you let too many Obas spawn, you'll have a hard time finishing the boss off. Hope you've got a heart or two spare.



Once it dies, though, back off- the heart will explode messily, and it'll hurt you if you're too close!

And you thought the chandelier in the poltergeist fight was the last 'gotcha!' boss moment. You fool.



With its heart destroyed, the mansion bursts into flames and Rick must make his escape in Stage VII.



As the fire rages on in the background, you've got a small obstacle course to make your way through. You'll mostly be hopping over burning logs (the margin of error here is pretty small, so make your jumps high and true!) and, as you cross over a bridge, flaming ghouls (apparently Deadmen set on fire- the Deadmen in the ruins of West Mansion at the start of Splatterhouse 2 are all horribly burned, so they might've survived, just about) will rain from the sky and jump in set patterns. There's nothing to this section, really, except when two burning logs roll by together- you need to nail that jump bang-on otherwise you won't make it. Other than that, this is textbook stuff- jump over the logs, wait until it's safe to pass under the flaming Deadmen, and try not to get hit.

On the outskirts of the mansion, Rick stumbles upon an odd, unmarked grave.

Eh? A strange orb of light comes out of the Terror Mask and hits the grave, and then...



This is the final boss of the game, Hell Chaos- a giant, rotting corpse.

Is it the mutated cadaver of Dr. West, previous owner of the house? It is a mystery.

... Let's kill it!



Hell Chaos is a pretty simple boss. When its head pops out of the ground, it'll give out an inhuman roar then throw out some rocks- they'll fall from the top of the screen, so try and get out of their way and get close enough to the head to punch it. Mash that attack button and keep smacking it until it retreats. Once it goes back into the ground, its stringy, bacon-like hands will rise up from the bottom of the screen to try and grab you- you can just about see the finger-tips at the bottom of the screen before they lurch upwards, so keep tabs on them and make sure you're well out of the way. After a few moments of this, the head will rise up again on the opposite side of the screen, and the strategy remains the same- smack it good! After a few rounds of this, it'll start combining the rocks with the arms as soon as it appears- this is the hardest part of the fight as you have to keep track of both of them, even if it's just for a moment. Keep at it, be sure to manoeuvre as best you can, and you'll know you're done when the head goes underground, you get an insane score bonus and an extra life (pointless at this stage in the game, I know).



A spirit rises from the hole left by Hell Chaos, and disappears into nothing...

The horror is over.

Alone. All alone...