The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

A great value for the money. It’s a fantastic multiplayer game, and even if you’re just duel-wielding by your lonesome, blowing zombies apart is incredibly fun.

A brilliant Zapper title with plenty to offer. [May 2008, p.52]

A classic slice of arcade action. While it's a crying shame the first and fourth games are absent, Return is still a brilliant Zapper title with plenty to offer.

If pointing at the screen and shooting is missing in your life and you are craving a killing Zombie romp, these classics now available on the Nintendo Wii seem the perfect choice to fill this void.

This has two perfect ports, both of which are fun, but a new game would have been much better. [May 2008, p.88]

These games look fairly dated and the bonus content here is a little thin. Shooter fans who’ve already had their fill of "Umbrella Chronicles" and "Ghost Squad" might find this worth checking out.

It's great to have more Zapper action but we reckon Sega could have put a bit more effort into this one. [Issue#21, p.68]

But if you enjoy a good light-gun game like I do, this is one house call that's hard to pass up. [Apr 2008, p.87]

If you'd have told me back then that in 2008 (nine years later) I'd be able to buy both, arcade perfect, on a Nintendo console with a two-handed controller for under $30, I'd have figured you for a loon. [Apr 2008, p.62]

A decent low budget ported package and another enjoyable light gun game for the Wii; which hopefully paves the way for the series to make another return sometime in the future.

Newcomers who have never explored a House of the Dead title will get much more out of this disc than seasoned zombie slayers, but, again, only patient gamers need apply.

Fast, Fun, Cheesy, and over too soon. The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return is a great throwback to classic arcade shooting. A great rental for light gun enthusiasts.

Dead good, but no "Ghost Squad." [May 2008, p.110]

All this time on, and the House of the Dead games are still more than worth a play. However, if you have previous versions of them already, you may be best steering clear as this compilation offers practically the same experience only with a couple of extra modes.

It's an absolute must for any fan of the genre, and whether you think it is value for money or not is purely down to how much you enjoy shooting zombies in the face, again.

One of the best light gun games ever made. High-intensity zombie blasting is still decent fun and the cheesy dialogue is better than ever. Still, for two very short retro games, one must have the genre close at heart to make the asking price worth it. Also, the first HOTD should have been included no matter how dated it might look. [May 2008]

Overall, the whole package will provide hours of entertainment to gamers who know what they are getting.

Shooting zombies is always fun, but there are better horrors and shooters around. [May 2008, p.81]

A decent compilation, but we would have liked to have seen more included on the disk to keep players coming back.

Not only is Return a port of two games nearly a decade old each, but a technically and visually superior version of this package already existed six years ago. SEGA has nailed IR control though, so the door is wide open for a stellar, Wii-exclusive original light gun game at this point. C’mon guys, let’s see it.

Fans of the originals or die-hard light-gun aficionados will enjoy the trip down memory lane, while the rest of us are better off with The Umbrella Chronicles or heading to the local arcade for some Lethal Enforcers II.

While both games show their age and are over very quickly, shooting gallery games are somewhat timeless in their simplicity. They're solid examples of the genre, and shooting zombies in the head is really its own reward.

The "dogs of the AMS" make their move to the Wii in this fun but brief port of the on-rails arcade shooters.

Those parents who bought the Wii for there kids may get a kick out of it, and it is only $29.99, but it is old and dated and we deserve something much newer.

If you didn’t throw away enough coins with the original versions, this double pack can spare you the trip to the arcade. But even if that’s the case, we recommend the Zapper and a fried at hand. Anyway, it’s notorious the out of date nature of this port. [Apr 2008]

There's no doubting that this is the very best way to play either game outside of an arcade - mainly by virtue of the fantastic controls, and that you don't have to fork out for expensive extra hardware to play them.

Without any of the really cool extra stuff that we saw in Ghost Squad for the Wii, such as the leaderboards that encourage extended play, this collection feels a little lazy.

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return are almost the same as the older games. The only difference is the Wiimote. The game is fun for about an hour. After that we expect you will quickly find yourself a new game to enjoy. If you are able to live with that, it is worth the try.

It's great fun in the two-player mode and, like any other lightgun game, is a good laugh for post-pub blasting. It's just a shame that Sega didn't make more of an effort with this release.

I still had a good time gunning down hordes of undead, but I can't emphasize enough how disappointing it is to get really close to the end of the game, only to be sent back to the beginning because you've run out of your allotted amount of continues.

For better or worse, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return is a faithful representation of the arcade classics, and players interested in reliving these titles again and again can grab a copy at a $30 price point.

Unfortunately, with the not-so-accurate Wii-mote aiming and lack of any real reason to play this game for more than five hours, the $30 price tag starts to look a little steep.

We hope that Sega has already received enough feedback from players, and can embark on a new project, original, with good production values e lasting appeal. But, please, no Virtua Cop Return, ok?

It seems the only reason Sega released this compilation was to experiment with the Wii remote.