DREAMCAST Action Educational 2000

The Typing of the Dead

Reviewed by Marcus Webb & Elena Castillo · Updated June 2025

Smilebit's remarkable Dreamcast reinvention of House of the Dead 2 — all firearms replaced with keyboards, all zombies requiring typed words and phrases to kill. The Typing of the Dead is simultaneously an excellent horror shooter and a legitimate typing tutor, famous for bizarre and random word prompts and two-player co-op keyboard action.

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💡 The Typing of the Dead — Key Facts

→ The Typing of the Dead was developed by Smilebit and published by Sega
→ Released in 2000 on DREAMCAST
→ Genre: Action, Educational
→ We rate it 8.8/10 — highly recommended
→ Smilebit's remarkable Dreamcast reinvention of House of the Dead 2 — all firearms replaced with keyboards, all zombies requiring typed words and phrases to kill. The Typing of the Dead is simultaneously an excellent horror shooter and a legitimate typing tutor, famous for bizarre and random word prompts and two-player co-op keyboard action.

Overview

Smilebit looked at House of the Dead 2 — a competent zombie rail-shooter — and asked: what if the gun was a keyboard?

The answer to that question is The Typing of the Dead: one of the most original game concepts of the late 1990s, a product that is simultaneously a functional typing tutor and a complete horror shooter, preserved exactly as it was except for the input method.

The Mechanical Replacement

House of the Dead 2 has protagonists with guns who shoot zombies. The Typing of the Dead has protagonists with keyboards strapped to their backs (Dreamcast units providing the power) who type words to destroy zombies. The rail-shooter structure, the zombie designs, the boss battles, the branching paths, the bad voice acting (‘Ah! My Jennifer!’) — all unchanged.

The word that appears over a zombie is the key to the floor: type it before the zombie attacks and the attack doesn’t land. Fail to type it in time and the zombie damages you. Multiple words for multiple zombies create priority decisions: which zombie is closest? Which attack is worst? Type the shorter word fast or the longer word carefully?

The Bad Voice Acting

House of the Dead 2’s English localization produced some of the most famously bad voice acting in video game history. ‘Goldman’s Judgment Day,’ the protagonist’s dramatic exclamations, the survivor’s shrieks — all preserved in The Typing of the Dead.

The juxtaposition of terrible horror B-movie dialogue with competitive keyboard typing practice creates something unintentionally perfect: the horror content is ridiculous enough to be comfortable to type around, which makes The Typing of the Dead more accessible as a typing trainer than a tool without horror content would be.

The Words

The word selection is what players remember. Mundane vocabulary next to completely surreal phrases, with no apparent organizing principle. Typing ‘electromagnetic field’ at high speed to prevent a zombie from biting you creates an experience no conventional typing program achieves.

The words are fixed per zombie per encounter. Second playthroughs encounter the same words in the same places — meaning speed mastery comes from memorizing word-zombie associations. This is, technically, exactly how typing education works. Smilebit did it with zombies.

Our Review

8.8

Excellent / 10

🎮

Gameplay

★★★★★

🎨

Graphics

★★★★★

🎵

Audio

★★★★★

🔄

Replay

★★★★★

Gameplay

The Typing of the Dead is a rail-shooter with all shooting mechanics replaced by typing. Zombies advance toward the player with word prompts appearing above them; typing the word destroys the zombie before it attacks. Multiple zombies create multiple simultaneous typing targets. The game features Drills (typing exercises between chapters), Versus Mode (competitive typing against another player with a second keyboard), and the full House of the Dead 2 campaign with all arcade content converted to typing. Boss battles require typing long sentences. The Dreamcast keyboard peripheral is required hardware.

Graphics

The full House of the Dead 2 visual presentation — zombie designs, horror settings, FMV sequences — is unchanged except for the character model swap (protagonists now carry Dreamcast keyboard backpacks) and the word overlay system.

Audio

House of the Dead 2's memorable bad voice acting ('Ah! My Jennifer!') is entirely preserved. The soundtrack and horror atmosphere provide an incongruous but entertaining backdrop to competitive typing practice.

Replayability

Speed typing mastery, multiple difficulty settings, two-player versus mode, and the game's complete content replay encourage returning. The word selection for each zombie encounter is fixed per run, encouraging memorization for speed improvement.

Historical Significance

The Typing of the Dead (1999 Japan, 2000 West) is one of the most original game concepts of its era — taking a competent horror shooter and replacing its entire mechanic with typing, turning an entertainment product into a skill-building tool without sacrificing entertainment. The Dreamcast version required the keyboard accessory. A PC version was released and is more commonly played today. A sequel, Typing of the Dead: Overkill (2013), revived the concept on PC with modern House of the Dead content.

✅ Pros

+ Brilliant mechanical concept — typing as zombie destruction
+ Full House of the Dead 2 content converted entirely
+ Two-player competitive typing versus mode
+ Legitimately improves typing speed through entertainment
+ Preserved original game's bad voice acting for full experience

❌ Cons

- Requires Dreamcast keyboard peripheral (uncommon)
- Word selection sometimes bizarre and random
- Horror content not suitable for younger players used in typing education
- PC version is the more accessible modern option

Also Known As

Typing of the Deadタイピングオブザデッド

The Typing of the Dead FAQ

How does The Typing of the Dead work?

The Typing of the Dead replaces House of the Dead 2's gun mechanic entirely with typing. As zombies approach on the rail-shooter's fixed path, each has a word or phrase displayed above them. The player must correctly type the word before the zombie reaches and damages them. Multiple simultaneous zombies create multiple simultaneous typing targets — the player must choose which target is most urgent (closest, highest-damage attack incoming) and type that word first. Longer words take more time to type but often have worse attack consequences. Boss battles require typing complete sentences. The typing speed and accuracy requirements scale with difficulty setting.

What are the most memorable word prompts in Typing of the Dead?

The Typing of the Dead is famous for its bizarre and seemingly random word selection for zombie prompts. Players encounter words and phrases that range from mundane ('apple', 'keyboard') to completely surreal ('ominous bloop', 'boogaloo') to specific ('electromagnetic field', 'existential crisis'). The randomness and variety became a beloved part of the game's identity — players sharing their most absurd prompts was part of the game's community discussion. The prompts are fixed per encounter, meaning second playthroughs encounter the same words, but the initial randomness of first encounters is part of the experience.

What hardware is required to play The Typing of the Dead on Dreamcast?

The Dreamcast version of The Typing of the Dead requires the Dreamcast keyboard peripheral — a standard USB-style keyboard with a Dreamcast controller connector. The keyboard was sold separately as an accessory for the Dreamcast. Two-player mode requires two keyboards. The Dreamcast keyboard is less common than standard controller accessories. A PC version of The Typing of the Dead is more commonly played today — it uses any standard keyboard and is the most accessible version of the game. The PC version includes the same content as the Dreamcast original.

Is The Typing of the Dead available on modern platforms?

The PC version of The Typing of the Dead is available on Steam. The original Dreamcast version is not available digitally but can be played through original Dreamcast hardware with the keyboard accessory, or through Dreamcast emulation. The sequel, The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (2013), based on House of the Dead: Overkill, is available on Steam with additional DLC word packs including Shakespeare-themed vocabulary and profanity DLC. The Overkill version introduced the concept to players who hadn't encountered the Dreamcast original.