SEGAhad a ton of franchises back in its golden era. While the company mainly focuses onLike a Dragon,Sonic, andMonkey Balltoday, it once boasted stellar series includingStreets of Rage,Golden Axe,Crazy Taxi,Jet Set Radio, andHouse of the Dead. New entries are planned for several of these IPs, but attempting the same revival ofHouse of the Deadwould run into major roadblocks.
An arcade staple since the late 90s,House of the Deadis acontender for the greatest light gun shooter of all time, and I thought it was one of thebest horror gameswhen I played it in arcades in the 2000s.The House of the Dead 2 Remakejust released, and judging by the reviews, it’s certainly not one of thebest video game remakes ever. At the end of the day, it shouldn’t have been made at all.
No True Light Gun Experience
What made theHouse of the Deadseries absolutely incredible to play was the light gun experience. You actually had toaim and shoot the arcade light gun, Nintendo Wii remote, or PlayStation Move controller on PS3. If you ever spotted aHouse of the Deadcabinet out in the wild, you wanted that gun calibration to be pitch-perfect, and if it was, you knew you were in for a great time.
The light gun experience made the titles fun, so much so that I have beaten the original game twice in a row, once at the arcades. It’s core to the identity ofHouse of the Dead, but since video games started moving away from CRT TVs nearly 20 years ago,it’s been increasingly difficult to experience these titlesat home.
Thanks to the Wii and PlayStation Move, you could still experience great home ports ofHouse of the Dead 2through4, but once the motion control generation was over,so was the era of light gun ports. There’s no authentic way to play a light gun game on modern hardware besides an actual arcade cabinet, the PlayStation Move, which is still supported on PS5, and custom setups on PC.
Playing a light gun game without a light gun defeats the entire purpose, and theseHouse of the Deadremakes shouldn’t have been made at all. Even the one platform that can play these games properly, the PS5, didn’t have PS Move support on the launch of theHOTD 1remake. Plus, I’ve heard thePS Move support that was eventually added controlled poorly, an unfortunate downgrade from its stellar usage in the PS3 ports ofHOTD 3and4.
Stick To The Arcades, Wii, And PS3
Stay Away From These Remakes
Thankfully, hardcoreHouse of the Deadfans should be aware that these remakes are a waste of time, but newcomers looking for agreat horror game shooter on Switchmust look elsewhere. The PS3 store is still online as of writing, and you can buyexcellent versions ofHouse of the Dead 3and4, which play great with the PlayStation Move.
you’re able to play the originalHouse of the Dead 2on the Nintendo Wii or Wii U, throughThe House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return. Sadly, the original game and the newest entry,Scarlet Dawn, are exclusive to the arcades, so if you don’t have a retro arcade or a local Dave & Buster’s near you, you’ll have to play through an emulator. Still, playingHouse of the Dead 2through4at home with these versions is a much better way to experience theseSEGAarcade classics than these underwhelming remakes.
