After playing Capcom’s zombie shooter, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, which combines zombie shooting with all the fun of mouse clicking, I was worried that a lightgun-type interface was impossible on the Wii. But contrary to the cranky predictions and naysaying regarding the topic in last month’s Wii Mid-Term Report Card, I’m happy to say that Sega has proved that it can be done with House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return.

House of the Dead 2 and 3, two classic on-rails arcade shooters, make a surprisingly successful transition to the Wii, looking arcade perfect. But the real story is the controls. Somehow, Sega made the Wiimote feel like a real lightgun. Shooting is intuitive, and all you have to do to reload is point the Wiimote off-screen. Blasting zombies with The Wife-To-Be was crazy fun and felt like a trip to the arcade, which is always awesome. Not only that, but thanks to a new crosshair (which can be turned off, for you purists), targeting is dead on, and more accurate than any arcade shooter I’ve ever played. I don’t know how Sega did it (maybe they’re the first 3rd party to actually put some effort into Wiimote controls), but they did.

Shortcomings: arcade shooters ain’t the deepest of games, and this is no exception. But at $29.99, you really can’t go wrong. Plus, the game gets Irony Bonus Points for the worst voice acting and inane dialogue this side of “All Your Base Are Belong To Us.” Now, c’mon Sega. Get The Lost World and Star Wars Trilogy shooters out ASAP.

Grade: B+

Spread the word!