Zombie Revenge
Developer - SEGA AM1 (later known as Wow Entertainment)
Publisher - SEGA
Directors - Kenichi Imaeda, Seiki Saito
Producer - Rikiya Nakagawa
Programmers - Hiroshi Ando (Chief Programmer, Arcade), Yasuhiro Sugahara (Chief Programmer, Dreamcast)
Designers - Taku Makino (Chief Designer, Arcade); Hitomi Hashimoto (Dreamcast)
Composers - Tetsuya Kawauchi (Sound Director), Nanae Kenda, Haruyoshi Tomita
Genre - Beat ‘Em Up (1 - 2 players)
Dreamcast Release Dates - November 25, 1999 (Japan); December 31, 1999 (North America); June 9, 2000 (Europe)
Additional Releases - SEGA Naomi Arcade (1999)
Current Average Price - $55
An arcade beat ‘em up spinoff of The House of the Dead, Zombie Revenge was ported to the Dreamcast in 1999. The game pits players against zombies and monsters using their fists, guns, and any weapons found along the way.
The game was originally called Blood Bullet: The House of the Dead Side Story, but the game was finally renamed to Zombie Revenge. The House of the Dead series’ director, Takashi Oda, was not involved in development of Zombie Revenge.
Players choose one of three main characters, AMS agents Stick Breitling, Linda Rotta, or Rikiya Busujima, and must battle through seven stages filled with zombies, monsters, and bosses. Players use melee and firearms, as well as special weapons like axes, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers.
Zombie Revenge is a pretty standard beat ‘em up, and typical to arcade ports of its era, it is a challenging game. Even on the easiest difficulty setting and with maximum credits allowed, it’s very hard to finish the arcade mode and see the game’s ending (an ending which is pretty confusing, actually - see my gameplay video below). But it’s a fun game, and the challenge is part of that fun.
The team that developed Zombie Revenge also developed Dynamite Cop!, and of the two similar games, Dynamite Cop! is easily the better.