SmileBit is an offshoot of Sega which has turned out solid hits such as the critically acclaimed Sega Rally 2 to the much enjoyed but apparently little played, Jet Set Radio. Typing of the Dead seems loosely based in the House of the Dead storyline and even references the "Curien cast of 1998" which will bring a chuckle to those familiar with the traditional light gun House of the Dead games.

The seriousness of the previous games in the House of the Dead series is quickly thrown out the window when the game's title screen boots up. There is just something about the way the traditional evil announcer says "Typing... of ... the DEAD!" that will most likely make you laugh. Soon after you hit the Enter key on your keyboard, you WILL be laughing at the intentionally horrible voice acting and absurd sight gags. For instance, in previous Sega gun games on the Saturn, the on screen character used a gun that looked exactly like the Sega Stunner light gun. In Virtual On, the mechs have an inconspicuous Sega Saturn or Dreamcast on their backs. In Typing of the Dead, however, your on screen personas just flat out wear a Dreamcast on their backs connected to a giant battery with a keyboard strapped in front of them.

Typing of the Dead requires you to have the Dreamcast keyboard peripheral which may seem obvious to some, but I'll guarantee that some people bought it without knowing that tasty little tidbit. I already had the keyboard for some odd reason before hand, so I felt obligated to buy this game. I can't say that I'm disappointed either. It is the perfect little goofy diversion that actually tricks you into learning. Let's face it, if you master this game, unless you already were, you are going to be a better typist. In a twisted sort of way, I suppose this is Sega's attempt to sneak into the education market or something. Either way, it's a unique enough experience to warrant a try.

The storyline of the game follows your hero, James in his quest to discover what "Goldman" has up his nefarious sleeve. This game is embarrassingly voice acted. At some points I really questioned whether or not they used real people to do the voice work. Some scenes were so stiffly spoken, that I swore a computer was saying the lines. This, of course, adds to the humor and charm of the game. It's not a case of poor translation, it's simply a case of being cheesy for the sake of being cheesy and it works for this title.

Typing of Dead actually features more gameplay that you might think initially. Sure, the crux of the game is you hammering away at the keyboard as fast as you see the words on the screen, but there is actually enough diversity to curtail a boring experience, as well as create a decent amount of challenge. For instance, the word boxes do not just sit there on the screen in a static location, they appear wherever the brain sucker shows up and even wildly flails around the screen with a speedy zombie hopper. It pretty tough to keep up in the later levels. My favorite boss encounter employs a nifty "Answer the Question" mechanic, which flashes a query on screen and then gives you three choices to choose from. There are also power ups and multiple paths to take throughout the game, giving you a longer gameplay experience if you choose to go through all of the branches in your trek to see all three endings to the game.

The early levels of the game start you with a light warm up consisting mostly of small words, familiar acronyms and short syllables. As you work your way through though, the small words turn into more difficult words to even words from a different national origin, which will easily throw you off your game. Some of the phrases you encounter will simply stop you in your tracks due to the absurdity of the phrase itself. For instance, I delayed a moment too long to see if the words I saw were actually "chest wig". I laughed when I keyed in "I hate mimes" and I pondered the thoughts of the developers who included "lick my lips" into the mix.

Typing of the Dead features a mixed bag of graphics. The enemies look incredible, yet some of the backdrop textures look blocky and smeary. The player characters look a little rough with noticeable joint breaks but most of the background structures look amazing. For the most part, I'd have to say it's inconsistently consistent. What is good is always good, and what is bad doesn't get any better. The sound isn't half bad as far as quality goes. The music is familiar to fans of the series but isn't anything that will make you run out to buy the soundtrack. The sound effects are well done with terrible voice acting.

Overall, the game is a fun diversion from the normal stuff we play on a daily basis. I waited until the game was on discount since I did not feel that this title was going to keep my attention like a lot of other big name titles would, and I was right. As fun as it is typing in "prostate" to blast a zombie skull into jelly, it eventually gets tiring. I go back to it every do often for a little fun, but it just won't make most people want to run out and buy a Dreamcast just to play it. If you have the equipment already, this game is an obvious choice to rescue from the bargain bins, but I wouldn't go too far out of my way to grab it.