Thoughts on the original Resident Evil?

[brunoafh]

I'm interested in gathering RB's thoughts on the original Resident Evil (PS1/Saturn version, not the GC remake). It seems to be a very polarizing game, even amongst the retro crowd. Personally it's in my top 5 favorite games of all time, but I know quite a few people that don't care for it at all for various reasons, for legitimate reasons.

What do you love/hate about it?

[Xeogred]

I love it. I don't have nostalgia goggles on either since I played it all the way through just a few years ago, I think before RE5 came out is when I went on the huge RE binge that I had. Back in the day I always played RE2 at a friends, but never touched the original. I remember playing REmake and RE1 back to back, and I loved them both for what they were.

I've never had any issues with the tank controls. I've said it a lot here, but I wish static camera's weren't completely dead. I loved this style.

Dialogue and voice acting were downright hilarious and legendary. It's the 90's baby, gotta love it. Any other Capcom PSX game from back then too was just as dangerously cheesy in this department (Dino Crisis comes to mind).

Love the complex level design, it's definitely a lot different than the RE's that followed I'd say, which weren't as complicated. The mansion is just insane, but from there... most of the area's in RE2, RE3, CV, and Zero, were a bit simpler, and they just seemed to have more area's instead of a big super complicated one. So I think that makes RE1 a bit unique in comparison to the others.

I think I've personally seen more people pass off RE3 as the lesser game of the old ones, which I don't agree with myself. I mean, probably not my favorite of the old ones, but not a bad game at all. The Nemesis was awesome and I just loved the vibe of being in that huge destroyed city with nowhere to run, you weren't safe anywhere (kind of gave me a similar vibe to City 17 in HL2).

RE2 is probably my favorite... I think. It's kind of easier and damn short when you know what to do, but if felt more refined for the most part, and I loved the whole "descent" vibe with that game... totally Metroid there, you just keep going further and further underground passing through sewers and tunnels only to end up in crazy labs, etc. Epic atmosphere, and the G-virus was amazingly cool.

[sgt.flanders]

It definitely hasn't aged well over the years that's for sure, but even so I still like it. It's a lot like a B-Movie, so bad it's good.

[Gamerforlife]

I'll tell you something funny. RE was one of the earliest games I remember renting when I got a playstation in my possession. I didn't play more than a few minutes of the game before returning it and never, every played it again after that. However, in just those few minutes I spent with the game, I already knew I was playing something that was a game changer. There have been certain games I've played in my life where I just had this feeling. Somehow I knew I was playing something important. I felt the same way when I first played Grand Theft Auto III. Hell, I knew GTA III was something special the first time I read a preview article on it

Anyway, RE 2 is the one I actually did end up putting lots of time into and unlocking everything. Thus, began my love of Leon and Ada, whom I was happy to see again in RE 4. RE 2 is really the only pre-RE 4 game in the series I have played to completion. It's really what I think of when people talk about pre-RE 4 era Resident Evil. Though I did put a lot of time into the Dino Crisis games too. The first time I played RE 2 I was blown away by the graphics and the movie like start of the game. That's a game I'll always remember. However, I love Dino Crisis more. Shame that series took a nosedive with its third installment. I like to think of Peter Jackson's King Kong on the 360 as the REAL Dino Crisis 3

[Curlypaul]

I like the static camera too, it means that you can walk into a fresh room and not see all of it, so there could be something lurking that you can't see yet.

I also liked the awkward controls, I remember them adding to the sense of panic as I got swamped by zombies or unexpectedly bumped into a hunter.

The music is cool too, really adds to the atmosphere. Great game. Wish I could erase my memory of it and play it again for the first time. Damn you've made me want to go home and play some RE now!

[noiseredux]

I would not put it in my Top 5, or even 10 or whatever... be I do love it. I first played it when I was about 16. I was on Summer vacation and borrowed the game from my friend. I'd wait until my parents went to bed and then hook up the PS1 to the big(ger) screen in the living room. I just remember being really freaked out by that game. It seemed genuinely scary to me back then.

I think what I love so much about it now is that it's one of the best examples I can think of of a game coming really close to being an interactive horror b-movie. The bad dialogue, the cheap scares, the use of a single set to save budget, etc. I think for someone like me -- with my movie tastes being what they are -- the original RE accomplished something rare. It's just kind of perfect within its own growing pains. Ultimately all those other survival horror games that followed would try to fix up the blemishes of RE, but it was that stuff that really made the experience unique to me.

[Xeogred]

Anyway, RE 2 is the one I actually did end up putting lots of time into and unlocking everything. Thus, began my love of Leon and Ada, whom I was happy to see again in RE 4. RE 2 is really the only pre-RE 4 game in the series I have played to completion. It's really what I think of when people talk about pre-RE 4 era Resident Evil. Though I did put a lot of time into the Dino Crisis games too. The first time I played RE 2 I was blown away by the graphics and the movie like start of the game. That's a game I'll always remember. However, I love Dino Crisis more. Shame that series took a nosedive with its third installment. I like to think of Peter Jackson's King Kong on the 360 as the REAL Dino Crisis 3

I see no reason why you wouldn't love RE1, RE3, CV, and maybe even Zero, if you loved RE2 and Dino Crisis.

Also, Wesker's role was probably the best / coolest in the original game. Far more realistic and intriguing than what he became, yikes. Nice twist there in the beginning.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I probably first played Resident Evil on an N64 of all things. My friend had one with RE2 though I don't have any real defined memories of actually playing it. We usually played ExciteBike 64.

I did later on play the first one on PS1. I don't remember if it was a demo or what. I remember I didn't really care for it.

Playing and looking at it now. I still don't care that much for it. I appreciate it, and the dialog is certainly entertaining. I don't have much fun with it though.

Now Dino Crisis... I remember begging my parents for that game. When they didn't buy it I tried renting it, and they wouldn't let me. It was my moms doing though not my dad's. He let me play Doom late at night with him a lot so I don't think he really cared.

I eventually got it years later toward the end of the PS2's core life. I love that game so much. I'm such a sucker for dinosaurs.

I've never beaten it though.

[nyarlathotep88]

I think it is a very well done game, and it is effective at what it tries to do. A tense game that can also be scary. The setting is great, and the corny dialog has its funny moments However, I cannot really get into it as I do not like the camera and the 3rd person setup.

That is just my opinion tho

[SuperAnthony64]

I love the original Resident Evil. Never played the original as a kid (REmake at 14) but when I did it brought me back to my childhood gaming. I can see why people went crazy over these games back in the 90's.

Its a shame that these controls are gone forever in the Resident Evil universe but hopefully they dont turn the main series into a Run N Gun TPS with in your face muscle men that curse while shooting bug people.