Resident Evil (1996 video game)

Resident Evil
International cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz
Developer(s)Capcom[a]
Publisher(s)
Capcom
Director(s)Shinji Mikami
Producer(s)
Designer(s)
  • Takahiro Arimitsu
  • Isao Ōishi
Programmer(s)Yasuhiro Anpo
Writer(s)
  • Kenichi Iwao
  • Yasuyuki Saga
Composer(s)
(Director's Cut Dual Shock Ver.)
SeriesResident Evil
Platform(s)
Release
March 22, 1996[5]
  • PlayStation
    • JP: March 22, 1996
    • NA: April 1, 1996
    • PAL: August 16, 1996
    Director's Cut
    • JP: September 25, 1997
    • NA: September 30, 1997
    • PAL: December 10, 1997
    Director's Cut Dual Shock Ver.
    • JP: August 6, 1998
    • NA: September 14, 1998
    Windows
    Sega Saturn
    • JP: July 25, 1997
    • EU: September 11, 1997[2]
    • NA: October 1, 1997
    Nintendo DS
    • JP: January 19, 2006
    • NA: February 7, 2006
    • AU: March 30, 2006[3]
    • EU: March 31, 2006[4]
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Resident Evil[c] is a 1996 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. It is the first game in Capcom's Resident Evil franchise. Set in the fictional Arklay mountain region in the Midwest, players control Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, members of the elite task force S.T.A.R.S., who must escape a mansion infested with zombies and other monsters.

Resident Evil was conceived by the producer Tokuro Fujiwara as a remake of his 1989 horror game Sweet Home (1989). It was directed by Shinji Mikami. It went through several redesigns, first as Super NES game in 1993, then a fully 3D first-person PlayStation game in 1994 and finally a third-person game. Gameplay consists of action, exploration, puzzle solving and inventory management. Resident Evil established many conventions seen later in the series, and in other survival horror games, including the inventory system, save system, and use of a vitals-monitoring system instead of a health counter.

Resident Evil was praised for its graphics, gameplay, sound, and atmosphere, although it received some criticism for its dialogue and voice acting. It was an international best-seller, and became the highest-selling PlayStation game at the time. By December 1997, it had sold about 4 million copies worldwide and had grossed more than $200,000,000 (equivalent to $389,000,000 in 2023).

Resident Evil is often cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. It is credited with defining the survival horror genre and with returning zombies to popular culture, leading to a renewed interest in zombie films by the 2000s. It created a franchise including video games, films, comics, novels, and other merchandise. It has been ported to Sega Saturn, Windows and Nintendo DS. A sequel, Resident Evil 2, was released in 1998. In 2002, the game's remake, alongside its prequel, Resident Evil Zero, were both released for GameCube (and subsequently on other platforms) in March and November 2002, respectively.

  1. ^ "Releases and Masterings". PC Gamer. September 17, 1997. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
    "New games continue to hit the shelves every day. Now available:...Resident Evil..."
  2. ^ "sega-europe.online". December 2, 1998. Archived from the original on December 2, 1998. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Jastrzab, Jeremy (March 27, 2006). "Updated Australian Release Lists, 27/03/2006". PALGN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2006. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  4. ^ Miller, Ross (January 18, 2006). "Resident Evil not entirely anti-Revolution". Engadget. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  5. ^ "Bio Hazard". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 403. p. 15.
  6. ^ "Products". Nex Entertainment Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ "VGMdb Forums - View Single Post - TYCY-5511: BIO HAZARD SOUND TRACK REMIX". Vgmdb.net. November 14, 2011. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  8. ^ "VGMdb Forums - View Single Post - TYCY-5511: BIO HAZARD SOUND TRACK REMIX". Vgmdb.net. November 20, 2011. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2013.


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