Stage VI is where the English and Japanese stories diverge again!

Which is it, Namco- crazy Mask powers or chanting the names of old- sorry, ancien- gods?

Oh, and there's also the fact that in the West, it's just 'The Void' which is a bit vague, while the Japanese specifies the Land of the Dead (or, rather, just Land of Dead). Which would seem to confirm Jennifer really did die in the last one. Except the intro said that she isn't going to die implying she's not dead. But she turned into dust in the last game. And now I've got a massive headache so let's skip all this and get heavy, eh?

That said, this stage is very short- just a boss encounter, really. But first...



Rick approaches some kind of summoning circle in this bizarre room, chants some words...

And oh, it's Jennifer. I suppose this would be as good a time as any to rescue her, right?



BZZT. WRONG. NOPE.



Afterwards, we see this weird flesh-snake thing briefly appear...



... Then a really annoying boss encounter.

First, the hands will spew out of the portal. For the most part, you can just cower in the left-hand corner and crouch-kick them away from you, but the ones that launch from the portal really high will have to be jump-kicked. Try not to lose any hearts here, 'cause you'll need them for the next bit, the heads. There's three waves, essentially, and for all of them you're best getting yourself a little left of centre, like in the screenshot above. The first set of heads just head towards you straight, either at the top of the screen, the middle, or the bottom. Just punch them as soon as they get in range- don't let them past, as aside from the middle row, they'll loop back and probably hit you on their way back to the hole. The next set will move up and down diagonally, but if you're in the right spot, you'll be able to punch both of them just as they get into range. The final wave's the same as the first, but a lot faster. You can safely skip the ones in the middle, just take out the top and bottom rows otherwise they will hit you.



After that, the snake-thing comes back. Wait for it to start moving in a diagonal pattern... Then smack it. Done.



After that pain in the ass, Rick throws himself into the portal to rescue Jennifer.

Huh? That giant lump of flesh that came out the portal before Rick went in? Oh, nothing to worry about. Honest!





Stage VII, then. Yep, yep, blah blah blah, resurrecting the dead, yadda yadda yadda.

Important to note the Japanese version mentions 'the forbidden seal'. We'll get back to that.



Not gonna lie. This bit's tedious.

The flying ghoul faces from the Stage II boss come back, flying in formations as you descend into the void.

Recognise their pattern. Punch or avoid them. This is basically an elevator sequence so after a while they'll stop.

Can't be arsed describing the patterns. Almost falling asleep here. Just... Sort it out amongst yourselves, OK?



Once the elevator music stops (no, really, this game technically has elevator music), things get a bit more interesting!

Jennifer's trapped in the Death Crystal, so we'd better set her free. It's protected by glowing orbs that encircle it, and some will detach from the crystal to either ram you or bring forth a pillar of lightning. The best approach is to get with striking distance, punch a few of the orbs away, then hit the crystal itself. When hit, the crystal will disappear and orbs will appear on the floor- get between them, because they'll quickly turn into lightning pillars, filling the screen with safe spots inbetween. After that, the crystal reappears on the other side, so repeat the process. This isn't really that tough, but if you've taken a lot of hits getting here, this could be cutting it a bit close. Doesn't help that Rick's a huge target, as always. Just keep at it and eventually...



The Death Crystal will disappear, and Jennifer is finally back with us.

Now all we have to do is escape, right?



Er... Wait, Jennifer, where'd you go? What's going on here? Where'd all these spirits come fr-



OH GOD, WHAT IS THAT WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NO :(

Hey, it's the second and last auto-scrolling area of the game! It's a fairly slow-moving section, but Rick will slowly be pulled towards the giant blue man on the left (for fans of Splatterhouse canon, this is supposed to be The Evil One, who... Well, we'll find out a little later, yeah?) so you have to keep moving. Making things a bit trickier are the glowing orbs that move in odd ways (almost like the Egg Obas from the first game, sort-of!) and, like in the fight with the Death Crystal, will spawn pillars of lightning when they hit the ground. Your best bet is to punch them while they're in the air, keeping as far away from that massive blue bastard as possible. Amusingly, if you get right up to the right edge of the screen and hold Right, Rick will stay there... Without actually walking. Good to know, that.



Anyway, after a short while, Jennifer reappears and, using the Mask's powers, they exit The Void/Land of the Dead.

Have we seen the Mask use powers like that before? Hmm... I'm sure it's not important. To the final stage!





Stage VIII is where we finally get the hell out of here. This time the house falls apart rather than burn to the ground.

Western Rick is nonchalant about this whole 'house is collapsing' lark.

Japanese Rick, on the other hand, is more 'Get a jog on, it's all gone Backdraft in 'ere!'

Splatterhouse 2 is clearly making up for the lack of elevators in the last game. Elevator #3, folks!



As the house is falling to bits, slates will fall from the top of the screen in a pre-set pattern. On top of that, you start the ride with one Ghoul who can't be killed, only stunned, and he's later joined by a friend. The trick to this one is simple- stay in the centre. There are only two points in this section where a slate falls right down the centre of the screen, and one of those two times, it's telegraphed by slates falling either side of it. After the second slate's fallen in the middle, just stay there and keep the Ghouls at bay until the elevator stops.



Next up, Rick and Jen get on a boat to escape, and...



Yo, Hell Tentacles, how you doin', buddy? Been missin' you since Stage IV, pal!



Unlike last time, we can actually finish Hell Tentacles off here. It'll attack by launching needles at Rick, and you need to punch or kick them out of the air to get them to drop. Once you do, you can pick them up and throw them back! Don't toss 'em back straight away, though- for a start, you have to wait until he opens his eye, his weak spot. Second, you can't just throw the needle from a standing position, you need to jump up and throw it on the way down to nail him. He'll throw needles at you both at set intervals and immediately after you attack him, although the way the timing is, it's hard to get into a set pattern that won't result in you eventually hitting a needle with a needle he's thrown in mid-air. Just keep at it, and he'll eventually give up and die (and if you've continued from the start of this stage, the points bonus you get should be enough to give you an extra life).



Finally, Rick and Jen reach an island. Looks like the nightmare's over...



... Until the skies darken and the music changes. Is it a boss fight? I think it's a boss fight.



Oh. Hi there.

In case you didn't see it coming, that giant thing that escaped from the Void/Land of the Dead?

Well... It's our final boss. Hideous Pantheon, A disgusting lump of flesh.

... Let's kill it!



This entire battle boils down to recognise the pattern. The Pantheon starts on the far right of the screen, launching a series of heads at you, much like those tossed out by the portal on Stage VI. They're fast, but there's a pattern here for you to exploit. Duck, and wait for three heads to get thrown at you on the floor (kick them, obviously!) then move in quickly and punch the Pantheon. It'll move over to the left side and start launching dog heads at you- if you're quick enough, you just need to hit the dog head launched across the floor then close in and punch it. It'll move back to the right and repeat the pattern, so do the same and we move onto the next, far more annoying pattern.



You'll hear the Pantheon groan as it launches five dog heads from the top of the screen- two that fan out far, three that stick close together- then the Pantheon will come from the top and, after a moment, flit wildly between the left and right sides of the screen, launching more dog heads and projectiles at you. It seems like you're basically screwed, but there's two strategies performed from the same part of the screen that are easy to get the gist of, but a bit harder to pull off. You need to position yourself just a little left of the centre of the screen, and you have two options. First, punch the left dog head of the first wave, and the middle dog head of the second, then move left and jump-kick behind you to hit the Pantheon, or wait until the second wave appears, jump between the left and middle dog head and kick behind you as you fall. Both these methods have risks- the first has to be exact, as otherwise the left dog head of the second wave will hit you, and the second can lead you to land on one of the dog heads- but with practice, you can get the first method down pretty solid, with the second as a last resort. It can be done! Just stick at it!

Hit it four times in this state, and the final form is revealed!



It's a grotesque bat- a small, fast-moving target.

Fitting for the game to end on an enemy like this, we've seen so many of 'em like this...

Luckily this isn't too hard, as long as you know what you're doing. Hit it and it'll bounce off and rest at the top of the screen for a second, before flying to the side of the screen, bouncing off the screen's side then heading for you. Hit and repeat, but watch out- after certain hits, it'll mix things up. After the second hit, it'll attack you from the opposite direction, so turn around, hit it, then turn around again as it'll be coming the other way! After the fourth hit, it won't pause and it'll come straight back for you, so whack it! Finally, after the sixth hit, it'll switch sides again, so turn around and bop that sucker.

Oh, and one more thing... Leave it too late and it'll reform into the Pantheon and continue from Phase 2.

Don't let that happen. Hit this thing enough times, and...



... This game's just full of anti-climaxes, ain't it?

Finally, a happy ending! Well, sort-of.