Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is the perfect game to speedrun this Halloween

destructoid.com:

‘Tis the season to bust out all of your grodiest games and get to bloody work. One of October’s haunting hallmarks is Namco’s Splatterhouse series, from the 1988 arcade classic to the overlooked 2010 reboot. Don’t let one of the series’ most charming entries pass you by, though. Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is a chibi-style take on the gore-soaked side-scroller, and it’s the perfect game to blaze through at devilishly fast speeds this Halloween. 

Whether you’re just getting into speedrunning or looking for something new to tackle, it’s important to find the right starting point. Wanpaku Graffiti is a short and sweet game with just the right amount of challenge and memorization. It’s pretty easy overall, but it’s one of those games that can end just as quickly with a few hasty mistakes. The world record currently sits at 17m13s, and even the lowest-ranked time doesn’t creep too far above 20 minutes. Even more importantly, I’ve spent a ghoulish amount of time turning 20-minute sessions into hours.

There’s not much out there that scares me in terms of media nowadays. The Splatterhouse games, however, have very scary soundtracks. That’s not the case with Wanpaku Graffiti, so you won’t have to worry about being shaken to your very core each run. Hell, within the first minute alone, you’re treated to a spirited, copyright-dodging rendition of the “Thriller” dance with a rock-tossing Drac lead. Sections like this, which have Rick defeating a certain number of enemies before moving on, are pretty much the only parts of any run that drag. 

It only takes a few playthroughs to lock down some of the most important time-savers. You’ll quickly learn where all of the possessed books emerge in the first boss battle. You’ll be able