The game follows Eriko Christy, a high school student who explores a horror-themed amusement park to find her missing friends.

The player explores six haunted house attractions based on fictional horror films, detecting and neutralizing hidden traps and enemies which can harm or frighten Eriko and her friends.

It received mixed reviews, with praise for its original concept, dark humor, camp style, and horror B movie qualities, but criticism for its game design, controls, and playability.

In Illbleed, the player explores six stages, each an amusement park attraction themed after a different fictional horror film, and complete objectives unique to each one.

[1] The player begins by controlling the protagonist, Eriko Christy, but as they progress they rescue and recruit more playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Its creator, the horror film producer Michael Reynolds, offers a reward of $100 million to anyone who can successfully reach the end of the park.

This initiates a new game plus mode, wherein Eriko meets Michael Reynolds, discovers he is her father, and defeats him in a final battle.

The team began working on Illbleed after completing their first Dreamcast game, Blue Stinger (1999),[6] which was published by Sega in Japan.

[9][10] At the time, horror media was undergoing a renaissance as a result of the success of films such as Ring (1998) and Spiral (1998) in Japan, and Scream (1996) in the United States.

[6][9] Nishigaki, a film aficionado, cited the directorial styles of James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Hayao Miyazaki, and Akira Kurosawa as influences.

[6] Crazy Games self-published Illbleed in Japan on March 29, 2001 for the Dreamcast,[16] two months after Sega announced it was discontinuing the platform.

[19] Many critics praised its willingness to stray from the typical survival horror gameplay of the time,[3][22][30][27] by forgoing combat and puzzle-solving segments in favor of trap detection and avoidance.

[3][31] Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) wrote that Illbleed "picks up the dying survival horror torch, douses it in gasoline, and throws it into your treehouse, laughing all the while".

[27] GameSpy agreed, saying the genre needed some kind of innovation, and felt that Illbleed's new gameplay elements and unique humor made it original.

[3] GamePro said that the game "scores major points for twisted originality, even if unfocused and clunky execution keeps it from turning horror on its gory, severed ear.

[3][1][22][29] GameSpot called the offbeat presentation Illbleed's most redeeming quality, writing that "gratuitous use of luscious, spurting blood sets its B movie tone perfectly".

Critics said the stiff jump mechanics, the stark difference between walking and running, and the camera system all contributed to frustration.

[4] Edge described the room-to-room exploration as a repetitive "minesweeping" exercise of tagging traps, but felt it worked generally well except for a lack of checkpoints.

"[1] Producer Shinya Nishigaki said of the reception: "Illbleed requires a high degree of intelligence to play [...] It was just an entire mix of entertainment that many people couldn't understand.