House of the Dead is beloved because it was released with such impeccable timing. The videogame world was still revelling in the 3D revolution when it came out, and most every genre was enjoying a dimensional makeover and rebirth. When the zombie game suddenly attacked from out of nowhere, amidst the plethora of clean-cut, single shot shooting games and racing titles lining the arcades, the flying blood and celebration of horror violence was like coin-op heroin.

And now the Wii has made that magical, transitional arcade period available to us once again, and after the successful revival of Ghost Squad, House of the Dead seems like a natural progression. Even though the game’s first two sequels aren’t really that old (you can easily find them still tucked away in the corner of a struggling arcade) it’s hard not to get swept up in the nostalgic cheer of the pre-roaming FPS craze. The action through undead-infested, post-apocalyptic housing estates is brutality, gore and mayhem at its most entertainingly raw, which makes it very difficult to remain truly objective about this latest reincarnation.

In comparison to contemporary shooting games, the on-rails mechanics and simplistic point-and-click gameplay contains less profundity than the typically shallow depths of even the most developed shooter, but that’s really missing the point of the House games. These are a carnival of camp, b-movie aesthetics; from the dreadful script, atrocious voice acting, stilted animation (of the main characters that is – the zombies play their part superbly) and ridiculous extravagance of gore and mutilation, this is exploitation gaming at its finest. Played in a serious or self-conscious manner   any criticism levelled at House of the Dead games about their vulgarity might be just, but as it is they’re a beacon of horror-based outrageousness and therefore beneath criticism.

If Troma made games, this is what they’d look like – and I can’t think of a greater compliment to make. Think about it – if you smile like a toxic lunatic at the notion of a Troma made game, you want House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return. If you cringe at the notion, or have no idea what I’m talking about, perhaps you’re better off waiting for the next plebeian Mario game.

In many ways, HotD’s inherent perfection of genre makes this review of the Wii re-engineering of the arcade classics something of a moot point, but there are still a few technical necessities worth investigating, so stick with me. All the b-movie goodness in the world would be for naught if the conversion was a duffer, so let’s take a look at the mechanics of gameplay.

Naturally, a Wii Zapper (or eBay equivalent) is a necessity for most every shooting game, but in this case the “remote control” interface without the gun casing really robs the game of dynamism, so anyone intent on picking up House of the Dead 2&3 Return should make sure their Wii-motes are suitably equipped.

It would appear that the Wii is more than a match for House of the Dead 3’s coin-op hardware and provides a pixel-perfect port, so it goes without saying that HotD 2 is also a faithful rendition. Another snagging point with direct conversions of coin-ops, of course, is the credit system, but the system technicalities have thankfully been tweaked to incorporate a variety of upgrades and unlockables to ensure achievements go beyond watching cut scenes. As scores and checkpoints are achieved, additional options such as more credits and more bullets are added, so players can gradually increase their progress and make it beyond the same point every time they play.

While it doesn’t affect House of the Dead 2, the pump action shotgun of the third game is also, naturally, missing. But the tangible difference between the onscreen reactions of the two weapons still retains some of the dynamism of a more destructive weapon, so the game suffers very little from this inevitable lack of hardware.

Boss modes, training modes, arcade modes and original modes (which are essentially arcade modes without the achievement upgrades) allow for a bit of variety, though to be honest neither game particularly needs them – the classic system is more than enough to sate most shooter fans. When stood side by side like this, the clear leaps and bounds made by the second sequel become a lot more apparent, and most gamers will find themselves more regularly seduced by the greatly refined gameplay of HotD 3, but having the older game thrown in there for nostalgic good measure is certainly no bad thing.

For such a nostalgia trip, rather than next gen evolution, the price tag is a little high. Weighing in at an RRP of £29.99, House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return might well place itself outside the accessibility of those gamers who’re simply curious, and restrict it to hardcore fans of the originals and avid retro gamers. Dropping a tenner from the price would have ensured a huge number of Wii owners could have taken a distracting saunter down memory lane and had a bloody good time, so a point must be dropped from the overall score in lieu of that £10 note.

Otherwise, anyone who remembers enjoying a game of House of the Dead either in the arcade, on the Saturn or on the Dreamcast will find this latest re-imagining to live up to all their expectations, and get a particular thrill from a HotD 3 conversion. What would make this particularly special would be if it turned out to be a precursor to an exclusive Wii update on the series – a few rounds on House of the Dead 3 and shooter fans will undeniably be yearning for the Nintendo system to play host to the fifth game; ideally built around the console’s specific capabilities. We’ll have to wait and see, but in the meantime this compilation should provide a most amicable, blood and gore soaked distraction.

Oh yeah, and in case you’re wondering, the blood’s red, so relax.