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House of the Dead 2, Pokemon Yellow, Duke Nukem Game Boy By Chip and Jonathan Carter Tribune Media Services HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2, FOR DREAMCAST � If the gruesome graphics and eerie images from the first version of this game burned into your brain and are still keeping you awake at night, you might want to avoid this brilliant sequel. Otherwise, the House is open, baby � come on in for an awesome zombie-zapping adventure. This one's easily our top-recommended Halloween pick for those old enough to handle the violence and gore � and there are plenty of both. You play as any of four special agents investigating reports that stir up uneasy images of the incident at the old Curien mansion. Just a little over a year ago, that house was the site of an evil experiment by a mad scientist who was reanimating corpses in an effort to create an undead army to rule the world. Your job, of course, is to blast the growing zombie army to bits, infiltrate their ranks and destroy their leader. But there's also another important job. Along the way, you'll find civilians trapped in various situations. Take out the attacking zombies in time to save them and you'll find the game follows different paths. In fact, there are plenty of decisions you'll make in this one that will result in different outcomes � like one of those books where you pick an action and then turn to a different page depending on your choice. This is a terrific arcade shooter � the two-player mode is even more fun ... and it's a lot less scary if you're playing with a friend. JONATHAN SAYS : House is like a great horror movie. It's cheesy and scary at the same time. A+. CHIP SAYS : This one scared the crap out of me. Warning: the body count and splatter levels are pretty high � don't go in the house if you've got a weak stomach � or have to clean up after someone who does. A+. OVERALL RATING: A+ � RENT IT FOR MATURE GAMERS. POKEMON YELLOW, FOR GAME BOY COLOR � Pokemon's back, and you know you got to have the Yellow one. The big difference between this and the red and blue versions is that you have a built-in assistant: Your pal Pikachu follows you everywhere you go, ready to give any opposition a real shock at a moment's notice. You'll also notice a lot more characters from the cartoon � now that it's a hit, Nintendo's added them to the gaming side of the Pokemon experience. That annoying Gary's back again, but this time he starts out with an Eevee he purloined from the professor. Depending on how your meetings with him go, he'll evolve that into a Vaporeon, a Jolteon, or a Flareon. The Rocket Team's here, too � Jessie and James are more fumbling and bumbling than dangerous, but you'll have to put up with their nonsense just like Ash does in the cartoon. You'll also find some new attacks. Pikachu's added a tail whip, double team, slam, thunderbolt and light screen to his original arsenal. Other than that, this is pretty much the same thing you've seen before. Same areas, same Pokemon ... but you know, like they say, you got to catch them all. JONATHAN SAYS : Just when you think Pokemon's done for � except for the trading cards � here comes Yellow. Sure there's not that much new, but there is enough to make this one a must-have. A+. CHIP SAYS : Yeah, whatever. I still don't get it. B. OVERALL RATING: A+ � BUY IT FOR AGES 7 TO 15. DUKE NUKEM, FOR GAME BOY COLOR � You might want to call this one "Duke Light". If you're expecting the same blazing action and wicked witticisms that have made the Nukem series so popular, you'll need to look elsewhere � just can't be done in 8-bits on the small screen. However, if you're looking for a good 2-D shooter that you can carry around in your pocket, look no further. This one actually apes the plot of an earlier Nukem game (we can't quite recall which one � there are so many!). The Zorgonites have zapped Duke to their home planet via a teleport beam, and intend to use his brain to power a war machine, which they�ll use to invade Earth. Unfortunately, they want to remove it from his headfirst. They forgot about Duke's exploding molar, though. He pulls it from his head, blows his way out of the holding cell, grabs a gun and starts blasting. You'll work your way through dozens of 2-D levels, blasting enemies and climbing ladders to find clues and items that'll help you get to the next level. The graphics are pretty good for an 8-bit machine. Duke's shock of blond hair and trademark shades make him recognizable, if still a bit fuzzy. And the levels themselves are rendered in pretty good detail. You get an amazing number of enemies � we counted 33. Granted, you'll rarely see more than two in any given level, but at least they're different from place to place. There's also an astonishing array of weaponry, including shotguns, machine guns, rocket launchers and flamethrowers. And in some levels, Duke gets some help moving around via a tank and a rocket ship. JONATHAN SAYS : I got tired of 2-D shooters years ago, but this one at least keeps my interest up by giving me lots of different enemies and weapons ... not that you can always tell them apart given the 8-bit graphics. B-. CHIP SAYS : Given the limitations of the system, this is a very good game. It would probably go down a little easier if it didn't have the Nukem name on it, though � that always makes me expect so much more. B+. OVERALL RATING: B � BUY IT FOR AGES 8 AND UP. TIPS AND TRICKS Try these great codes for the scary thriller Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver: Pause the game and press and hold R1 or L1. As you're doing that, press down, O, up, left, up, left to refill your health meter, right, right, left, triangle, down, right to refill your magic, or up, up, down, right, right, left, O, right, left, down to give you all your character's abilities at once. The codes will be in force when you resume game play. Chip & Jonathan Carter are a father/son gaming team who've been twiddling their thumbs professionally since 1990. For more tips, tricks, reviews and news, check us out on-line at http://vgames.webpoint.com/vid/ecol/mainpage . Or e-mail us at [email protected] . Got a question? An inside tip you'd like to share? Write to Chip and Jonathan Carter in care of this newspaper. While they cannot respond individually, they will answer questions of general interest in their column. (C) 1999 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA