The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

Ports. By the end of the year, you’ll be able to fill a warehouse with Wii titles transplanted from other platforms. But if there’s one kind of port you won’t hear us bitching about, it’s arcade light-gun shooters. For obvious reasons, they just work.And without pricey peripherals or a small fortune worth of quarters. Need an example: The ridiculous Ghost Squad on Wii =Good!The once cherished Time Crisis on PS3 =Ugh.

So, how could we have a problem with an arcade-perfect version of House of the Dead 2 and 3, with extra stuff throw in, for under $30? The functionality is perfect on the Wii, and even likely to be enhanced by a Wii Zapper. Or better still:Nyko’s Perfect Shot.We mean no offense to Nintendo’s Official fake gun, but the new reload system is a simple as flicking the remote off screen. You don't even need to fire, and for us, that's far better suited forthis sleek,one-handed doohickey. And that's tosay nothingof arcade authenticity.

If your were wondering why the original House of the Dead isn’t on the bill, we were informed that it looked a little too gray to port over to a system already getting kicked around for its visual performance. Once you see HotD2 you’ll get why. It may bethe favorite of the series, but as a port of the Dreamcast version (itself a port of an older arcade iteration), it’s no looker. Though for most, playing a game they love the way it was meant to be enjoyed will suffice.