For the purest experience, many modern gamers choose to emulate the Dreamcast or Arcade versions via emulators like Flycast or MAME. This requires owning the game ROM legally (ripped from your own disc or cartridge).

If you cannot get HOD2 working, buy on Steam. While it is a different game visually, the spiritual successor exists. Or, hunt down The Typing of the Dead (the original 2001 spinoff), which literally uses the House of the Dead 2 engine and levels—but you kill zombies by typing "ANTIDOTE" instead of shooting them.

Set two years after the Curien Mansion incident, the game follows AMS agents James Taylor and Gary Stewart as they investigate a zombie outbreak in Venice, Italy. The stakes are higher, the monsters are grotesquerie, and the bosses are legendary. Who can forget the towering (Zeal and Kuarl), the aquatic horror of The Lovers , or the deranged final boss, The Emperor ?

Use a save editor to unlock AMS agents (James, Gary, Amy, Harry) and all routes. No more grinding for the "Magician" boss fight.