The House of the Dead is a horror rail shooter complete with over-the-top gory zombies and bloodshed. The game was originally a popular arcade shooter (Sega 1996), with a contract going to Melbourne-based studio Tantalus for a Sega Saturn conversion, released in 1998.
Special agent Thomas Rogan and his partner “G” must rescue a group of hostages—including Rogan’s fiancée Sophie Richards—from the Curien Mansion, home to the mad scientist Dr. Roy Curien. The Dr has discovered a means of resurrecting the dead into monsters who swarm the mansion amongst other experimental monstrosities.
This release inherits the same rail shooter mechanic and can be played in 1 or 2-player mode. With the option to use the Sega Saturn’s stun gun, the player must shoot any enemies before being attacked while avoiding harm to any hostages. Items that grant health or different upgrades can also be found or are rewarded when hostages are rescued. The game also has several points where the player can actively affect the course of the game through their actions. For instance, if a player saves a hostage who is about to be thrown from a bridge, that hostage can open a different route through the game.
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This Sega Saturn port contains two extra modes called Saturn Mode and Boss Mode. Saturn Mode plays like the arcade game, but offers the player different characters to choose from who have varying attributes like reload time and amount of health. The Boss Mode allows the player to fight one boss of their choosing or all of the game’s four boss monsters consecutively.
In the 90s Tantalus worked on other Sega coin-op-to-Saturn conversions, including Manx TT SuperBike. House of the Dead was received comparatively poorly to Manx TT SuperBike, as the production was rushed and the information provided for the port was minimal. The Saturn’s hardware limitations also meant the quality of the graphics were compatatively simpler than the original arcade’s.
A remake of the game was also released for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia across 2022–2023. The remake was made from the ground up in Unity, the original arcade game source code having been lost.
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