Welcome one and all to the second and hopefully even more awesome month of Educate Yourself: Destructoid’s Classic Game of Your Month Club. If you don’t know what’s going down go here and read up on all the wonders that are the Educate Yourself. So as I said in April’s wrap up post the club didn’t quite meet all it’s goals and that is mostly my fault but that doesn’t mean we can’t come roaring back this month with more awesome than you’ve ever experienced. Awesomeness well over 9,000. How, you ask. Well let’s start with this months game.



Splatterhouse (TurboGrafx-16)

I’ve have literally never played this game at all. This is a pretty big rarity as at some point I’ve usually at least touched a game and played it a bit but between Splatterhouse being insanely violent, my parents and the lack of any of my friends owning a TurboGrafx-16 I never really got the chance to play one of the original games of gore and violence. So that’s one reason I chose it for this month.

There are a few other reasons though, least of which is the fact that the series and its hero Rick are coming back in a big, ultra gory, super pretty way. I’d feel ashamed if I picked up the new game without the slightest idea of where it came from or why I should even care. I seriously doubt they’ll make it so you have to play the first three games in the series to understand this new one but that doesn’t make the previous games any less important. With the glut of new games heading out that are based on retro games (EGM has 35 in this months issue) it’s never been more important to know the origins of gaming classics. Another reason playing Splatterhouse is timely is because, thanks to the recent release of GTAIV, violence in video games is once again at the forefront of media. What better to way to smash down the idea that games cause violence then by diving into the first ever game to have a parental warning. Celebrating gaming’s brutal and bloody heritage while not going off and killing an entire school only helps to prove that isn’t the games causing all this trouble, it’s the media. It’s also a good chance to look back and see if the game is only well known for its blood and gore. A marker in history but not a great game? We shall see.

There is one more reason too. Look at the picture above. That bad guy has chainsaws for arms. Fucking chainsaws for fucking arms. If that doesn’t shout must play to you I don’t know what would.

Where to Get It
Wii VC – 600 points (I would link you but Nintendo doesn’t actually have it listed as a downloadable game on their Wii website. Guess it doesn’t go with the whole family friendly feel. I just downloaded it though so I know it is there.)
Ebay - $10-$20
Amazon - $23 - $84
Not Here

What to Write About
I’m not going to list the basics here like I did last time but just some random ideas.

Violence in games - first well known violent game is a great spring board for any discussion.
Good beyond the violence – Plenty of games have notoriety, that doesn’t make them great games though
Why is a 2x4 such an awesome weapon?
Greatest horror game heroes – Where does Rick stand?
Rick? Really, that’s the best they could do?
Jason vs. Rick – This showdown had to happen at some point.

Forums
Talk About it.

This month I promise a spot on FAILCAST and an organized night of playing during FNF. Going to get to work on it right now in fact.