Zombie Revenge

Zombie Revenge
Arcade flyer featuring the game's playable characters
Developer(s)Sega
Data East
Publisher(s)Sega
SeriesThe House of the Dead
Platform(s)Arcade, Dreamcast
ReleaseArcade
1999
Dreamcast
  • JP: November 25, 1999
  • NA: January 25, 2000[1]
  • EU: June 9, 2000
Genre(s)Beat 'em up, shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemSega NAOMI

Zombie Revenge[a] is a beat 'em up video game released for arcades and Dreamcast in 1999. Armed with their fists, feet, and whatever weapons they should find along the way, players are tasked with ridding an unnamed city of zombies. Originally titled Blood Bullet: The House of the Dead Side Story, the game was renamed Zombies Nightmare before Sega decided on the name Zombie Revenge.

This game serves as a spin-off to Sega's popular The House of the Dead series of light gun games and contains numerous references to its parent series. A port of the game for the PlayStation 2 was to be released by Acclaim Entertainment and ported by Acclaim Studios Teesside, but was eventually canceled.[2]

Plot and gameplay

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A top-secret government plan to utilize the dead for military purposes called U.D.S., Undead Soldier is thrown into darkness by some unknown entity. A year later, the city becomes ravaged by zombies. Three of the best AMS agents are sent in: Stick Breitling, Linda Rotta and Rikiya Busujima. They are sent out to eliminate the enemy and track down the mysterious leader of this attack, known only as "Zed". After battling through the city, they eventually confront Zed, who reveals that Stick's father was involved in project U.D.S. Zed wants revenge for his parents, who were murdered as part of the project. He despises all humans and wishes to turn them all into zombies by spreading the virus. Zed unleashes a powerful U.D.S. inside of him that he calls the God of Destruction, that he plans to use to destroy the rest of the humans, before the three agents defeat him and save humanity.

Players battle zombies and bosses in each level through hand-to-hand combat, guns, or other weapons. Each player chooses one of the three characters with different attributes and various levels of proficiency in hand-to-hand combat and guns. The Dreamcast version of the game adds a Battle Mode in which two players can fight each other in one-on-one combat.

As a spin-off, the game contains various references to the original The House of the Dead game. Zombies sound and look the same as they did in the first game, and the main protagonists from both the original series and Revenge are AMS agents. At the start of the game, computer icons of Thomas Rogan and "G" can be seen on Linda's desktop. The Curien Mansion seen in the first House of the Dead appears as its own stage, called "The House of the Dead" and the music from the first stage is used. The final boss of Revenge is called Black Magician Type 01. The game's credits sequence are also similar, going back through the game's stages to the beginning of the game.

Reception

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Upon release, the Dreamcast version received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[3] Chris Charla of NextGen said of the game, "It looks great, it plays OK, but you'll be done with it forever in four hours. Find a video store and rent it."[19] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 32 out of 40.[10]

Also in Japan, Game Machine listed the arcade version in their April 15, 1999 issue as the third most-successful arcade game of the month.[20]

In one review, Four-Eyed Dragon of GamePro said of the Dreamcast version, "For those who didn't get enough beat-em-up action from Dynamite Cop, Zombie Revenge is worth renting. Otherwise, the boredom of the lobotomized hit-and-kick action will wear down any brawler."[21][d] Uncle Dust said in another review that the same console version "has its high-octane action and graphics, which translates into mindless fun for a while. But the frustrations of the game, including its limited replay value and annoying sound and controls, keep this game from being a 'must-own' for all action addicts, and just makes it a 'should-rent,' if you're bored and [you] have a friend who also likes carnage."[22][e]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: ゾンビ・リベンジ, Hepburn: Zonbi Ribenji
  2. ^ Four critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Dreamcast version all scores each of 8/10.
  3. ^ In GameFan' viewpoint of the Dreamcast version, three critics gave it each a score of 95, 83, and 89.
  4. ^ GamePro gave the Dreamcast version 3.5/5 for graphics, two 2.5/5 scores for sound and fun factor, and 3/5 for control in one review.
  5. ^ GamePro gave the Dreamcast version 4.5/5 for graphics, 2.5/5 for sound, 3/5 for control, and 3.5/5 for fun factor in another review.

References

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  1. ^ White, Matt (January 25, 2000). "Zombie Revenge Ships". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  2. ^ Zdyrko, Dave; Dunham, Jeremy (April 21, 2001). "Zombie Revenge - PlayStation 2 Preview". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Zombie Revenge". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  4. ^ Williamson, Colin. "Zombie Revenge (ARC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  5. ^ Frankle, Gavin. "Zombie Revenge (DC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  6. ^ Torres, Ricardo (January 25, 2000). "Zombie Revenge (DC)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  7. ^ Edge staff (January 2000). "Zombie Revenge (DC) [JP Import]" (PDF). Edge. No. 80. Future Publishing. pp. 90–91. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  8. ^ Johnston, Chris; Smith, Shawn; Hsu, Dan "Shoe"; Chou, Che (February 2000). "Zombie Revenge (DC)" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 127. Ziff Davis. p. 176. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  9. ^ Hudak, Chris (February 9, 2000). "Zombie Revenge (DC)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on July 21, 2002. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "ドリームキャスト - ZOMBIE REVENGE (ゾンビリベンジ)". Famitsu. Vol. 915. June 30, 2006. p. 37. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  11. ^ Hawkins, Beaux (July 1999). "Zombie Revenge (ARC)". Game Informer. No. 75. FuncoLand. p. 73.
  12. ^ "Zombie Revenge (DC)". Game Informer. No. 82. FuncoLand. February 2000. Archived from the original on June 5, 2000. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  13. ^ Weitzner, Jason "Fury" (February 2000). "Zombie Revenge". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 2. Shinno Media. p. 42. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  14. ^ Rodriguez, Tyrone "Cerberus"; Ngo, George "Eggo"; Mylonas, Eric "ECM" (February 2000). "Zombie Revenge". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 2. Shinno Media. p. 13. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  15. ^ Zombie Duke (February 2000). "Zombie Revenge Review (DC)". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  16. ^ Mielke, James (November 30, 1999). "Zombie Revenge Review [Import] (DC)". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  17. ^ Jetzep (February 22, 2000). "Zombie Revenge". PlanetDreamcast. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  18. ^ Justice, Brandon (January 21, 2000). "Zombie Revenge (DC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Charla, Chris (March 2000). "Zombie Revenge". NextGen. No. 63. Imagine Media. p. 88. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  20. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 585. Amusement Press, Inc. April 15, 1999. p. 17.
  21. ^ Four-Eyed Dragon (January 2000). "Zombie Revenge (DC)" (PDF). GamePro. No. 136. IDG. p. 110. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  22. ^ Uncle Dust (2000). "Zombie Revenge Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG. Archived from the original on December 22, 2004. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
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