It had three show-stealing arcade installments, and strong home ports of each — okay, so the Saturn version was hurting bad for stronger hardware, and I hear the third game on Xbox was a bit iffy. Anyway, it made one innovative foray into keyboarding practice software — well, typing zombies to death in a contest of words-per-minute was a little strange when you had a Dreamcast lightgun lying next to you, still hot from II. Don’t forget, there was the theatrical release… that no one saw, but that the trailers assured took place on a tropical island and had nothing at all to do with any video game in the known universe.That about sums up Sega’s House of the Dead line, which a few years ago, after so much half-assed horror-filmesque effort, seemed to have vanished without a trace. It certainly was no slouch for sales, because whether I have figures on hand or not, I know how many of my dollars went into the Jeep-sized coin-op arcade cabinets. As with the Jurassic Park machine, the second I set foot in a video-operated recreational environment, I was drawn to the a big black box with a screen with the high cause of shooting zombies inside it.

So how is it that the Wii was bequeathed a compilation of House of the Dead II & III and I didn’t know about it? Damned unceremoniously, that’s how. I’m not sure I’m getting out enough, but since there’s not even an image from the sellers here for the thing, the release seems like a weak jab destined to quietly fade into undeath. Take this advice from me and get it while you can. I know I will.

Posted on February 23rd, 2008 by katie