SEGA games to play this Halloween

SEGA does a ton of genres in video games, so it is no surprise they have quite the catalog of horror games for you to feast on this upcoming Halloween. So turn off the lights, its time to spot light some must play games for this Halloween.

The House of the Dead series

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If shooting up zombies on Halloween didn’t convince you, how about calling this series the best zombie video game series? It is a light gun game series that has spanned 4 official titles, 1 prequel, 5 spin offs, and even had two bad Hollywood films based on the IP. You know you hit it big when you have a bad Hollywood movie.

What are they like?

Depending on the game, you play as different characters. One of the main roles throughout the series is G, a character that has appeared in each House of the Dead game, either as playable or part of the story. The game has you trying to stop Dr. Curien and his creations. Some of the cool things is that for the main series, each of the bosses is named after a Major Arcana tarot card.

The series also features some of the most strangest spin-offs ever. First is The Typing of the Dead, that takes the on rails light gun shooting aspect of the games and has you kill zombies with a keyboard. It is basically an awesome game that teaches you to type. Take that, Mavis Beacon. There is also another educational game released only for Japan, called English of the Dead. Teaching the Japanese how to speak English while blasting zombies. Nothing wrong here. Then the House of the Dead EX, a casual mini-game collection that features apple picking and rocking zombies.

Where do I find these games?

Depending on the title. The main series is all released for arcade, while the first one only made it home for the Saturn and Windows PC. House of the Dead 2 is on Dreamcast, Windows PC and  in the double pack called House of the Dead 2 & 3 returns, 3 is also on the original Xbox. The House of the Dead prequel, Overkill is exclusive on the Wii. Best bet is playing the double pack and prequel this Halloween.

You can also pick up the English of the Dead on the DS, which is exclusive for Japan and Typing of the Dead on PC or Dreamcast. Zombies Revenge (another side game) is also on Dreamcast. Too much zombies, so little time.

If you had to try one of the games in the series, I would suggest playing The House of the Dead 2, with a light gun. Best experience.

Deep Fear

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Back in the 90’s, claiming that your survivor horror game was superior to Resident Evil was rare and I think SEGA pulled it off with Deep Fear. At least better than Resident Evil, the first game.

What is it like?

If you are a fan of films like The Abyss, you will most likely enjoy the setting of this game. The game takes place deep in the Pacific Ocean in a fueling & research facility called ‘Big Table’. You play as John Mayor, ERS member (Emergency Rescue Service) and ex-Navy Seal (aka badass). After a ship known as The Sea Fox crashes into the Navel Area (known as a high risk area), they send ERS (your team) to rescue an important doctor. What awaits for you are hostile flesh loving mutants.

The gameplay in the title was a lot like Resident Evil, with pre-rendered backgrounds and fixed camera angles. What was better was that you could move while aiming, something that the series has not been able to do yet. Adding to the gameplay and stuff to worry about, oxygen also plays a vital role in your survival.

Where do I find this game?

Finding the game will take some work, since it is a SEGA Saturn exclusive and was never released in North America. You could find it on Ebay, but most likely will be near impossible to find it in yard sales (at least in North America).

Condemned series

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A first person horror title that focuses on melee combat? Where do I sign up?  SEGA teams up with Monolith Productions to bring you a psychological thriller that will leave you wanting more. One of the best horror games released in this current generation and 100 times more scary than Resident Evil 5 would want to be.

What are they like?

The game has you play as Ethan Thomas, a SCU investigator with a knack for finding clues. In the start of the first game you get framed by a serial killer, who uses your service weapon to kill two police officers.

The first game has you exploring the slumps of Metro City, looking for clues, while you try to catch the serial killer responsible for your framing. The city is full of ‘the condemned’, drug addicts turned psychopaths. The gameplay splits a player from forensic investigation gameplay; having the player examine bodies or clues and melee combat that has a combo system. The melee combat is similar to that used in Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Imagine focusing on examining a body and a crazy, ugly homeless psychopath jumps at you swinging. Scary stuff.

Where do I find these games?

If you have an Xbox 360, you will be able to find both games on that console. While Playstation 3 only has Condemned 2: Bloodshot and Windows PC only got the first game, Condemned: Criminal Origins released for it.

Enemy Zero

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WARP was a company lead by the awesome Kenji Eno and are responsible for some unique games, including the D series (which I would have put instead of this game, but they were published by Accliam and not SEGA) and Real Sound.

WARP is also known for mocking Sony by not releasing their games on the Playstation platform, even though they where announced, later becoming Saturn exclusives. If this doesn’t get your SEGA fanboy heart racing, nothing else will.

Fun fact: Fumito Ueda, director of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus was an animator for Enemy Zero. Wonder what Sony would think of this.

What is it like?

The game features a character that looks exactly like Laura Harris from the D series, but in this game the lead character is called Laura Lewis and is aboard a space ship named AKI, a biological research craft. Laura wakes up with lost memories, with invisible enemies.

Enemy Zero uses a combination of real time exploration and FMV, just like the D series. In this game, you have to hunt down invisible enemies with the use of sound. You put out different pitch and it helps you know the distance and direction the enemies are. Guns can only be shot once then charged, which made no sense as to why people in the future would have such lame weapons.

Guns also have horrible range, meaning you have to know your timing, which makes the game a bit more frustrading If the enemy reaches you, you will get an annoying game over screen.

Where do I find this game?

The game was released on the SEGA Saturn world wide, but has become a bit rare to come by. Luckily for PC users, there was also a Windows PC port, which could be found on all those pirate sites and even some used copies around used shops. Very unique game.

Other: Decap Attack on the SEGA Genesis. Also ported via the Sonic’s Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection and Sega Genesis Collection.

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