PlayStation

Resident Evil

Trivia

Significant work on a port to Game Boy Color was completed before Capcom pulled the plug citing quality concerns. This port was a fairly direct adaptation of the original with characters moving about in 3D on prerendered backdrops.

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A book adaptation of this game was published in 1998 by Pocket Books, written by S.D. Perry and entitled The Umbrella Conspiracy, launching a seven-book series of novels by the same author adapting from the Resident Evil games (described under the individual games' trivia sections) and inspired by their themes and premises -- of those latter, notably number 2 in the series, 1998's Caliban Cove, and #4, Underworld, published in 1999.

A separate series of novels inspired by Resident Evil has been published in Japan:

1. Biohazard: The Beginning (1997), by Hiroyuki Aniga;
2. Biohazard: The Beast of the North Sea (Biohazard Hokkai no Yôjû) (1998), by Kyu Asakura;
3. Biohazard: to the Liberty (2002), by Suiren Kimura; and
4. Biohazard: Rose Blank (2002), by Tadashi Aizawa.

Of course, the series has also inspired two movies starring Milla Jovovich: Resident Evil: Genesis and Resident Evil: Apocalypse, with which you are likely to be far more familiar, each of which also boasts novelizations of their own.

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Originally entitled "Biohazard", the game's name had to be changed to Resident Evil in US and European versions because of copyright issues - the name Biohazard was (and is) being used by an American metal band.

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Bravo Team's pilot, Dewey, was originally conceived as a thin African-American member of STARS who would've also served as the game's comic relief. He and another character named Gelzer (a giant man with cybernetic implants) were planned to appear in the game, but were discarded from the final version. The Edward Dewey in Biohazard 0 is a tall Caucasian and is a departure from the character's initial concept.

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The game series has worldwide sales of more than 24 million copies as of mid-2004.

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The American film "Night of the Living Dead" was credited as inspiration for this, the first game in the series.

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Completely redone for the Nintendo GameCube. Including better graphics, CG FMVs (rather than live-action), item placement different and other goodies. Part of Resident Evil/Biohazard exclusive GameCube deal which includes ports of Biohazard 2,3 and Code:Veronica as well as Biohazard 0.

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Along with the remake, this is the only "Biohazard"/"Resident Evil" to feature a "best-case-scenario" ending which does not elude to a possible sequel or spin-off and suggests that "everything is finally over". The reason for this is possibly because the company was uncertain how well the game would be received, so this game could stand on its own story-wise if it failed economically.

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In 2002, St. Louis Judge Stephen Limbough reviewed a videotape of four games, in order to decide whether or not parental consent would have to be granted for children to purchase M-rated games. There was much hilarity online when the original Resident Evil, one of the four games, was incorrectly identified by the court and its reports as The Resident of Evil Creek. In the end, the judge's decision said the city could regulate video games because they were not free speech protected by the First Amendment.

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This game is referenced in the Eiffel 65 song, "My Console".

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The Japanese version had a color intro but in the Western release the intro was Black & White and was censored.

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Biohazard (Resident Evil) was originally inspired by the Japanese game Sweet Home for Famicom (NES).

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When originally released in the US and Europe (for the PlayStation), the game had several cuts in its cutscenes, and some death sequences. Thankfully the PC version (excluding the UK version) restores all the missing stuff and plays like the original Japanese release.

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