Retro|Spective 021R: Resident Evil

[Asura]

your thinking of the resident evil ps1 joypad. Had a gun grip.

No, though I thought someone would say that It was definitely a gun specifically for this game. It had a d-pad on the back. Like I remember first seeing the Guncon2 and thinking "oh, they've done the same as that Resident Evil gun".

EDIT: This might be a nightmare to find/not talked about online much because (1) the game is already a bit obscure and (2) the US version of the game had all the lightgun functionality stripped from it, because it was coming out in the wake of the Columbine Massacre.

[SuperDanX]

No, though I thought someone would say that It was definitely a gun specifically for this game. It had a d-pad on the back. Like I remember first seeing the Guncon2 and thinking "oh, they've done the same as that Resident Evil gun".

EDIT: This might be a nightmare to find/not talked about online much because (1) the game is already a bit obscure and (2) the US version of the game had all the lightgun functionality stripped from it, because it was coming out in the wake of the Columbine Massacre.

okay I’m not convinced but I’d like to see it if someone can find it.

[Asura]

okay I’m not convinced but I’d like to see it if someone can find it.

This is bordering on a Mandela Effect, because I can picture it in my head, but can't find any evidence of it. The strange bit is how I very strongly remember the "m92f" bit in the name. I'm wondering, now, if there was a magazine preview of it or something, and it was never actually released - and I'm conflating my memories if it with the games that followed it on PS2, which had the benefit of the PS2 gun which also had a d-pad.

EDIT: I'm also seeing that the arcade follow-up to Survivor, which was based on Code Veronica, had a swivel gun where you could move etc. based on the gun's movement. It may well be a Mandela Effect, in that I saw a bunch of similar things at the time and I'm mis-remembering the peripheral. It's weird I can picture it though.

FURTHER EDIT: Okay, I think I've got the source of the problem; it seems there were a bunch of Airsoft promotional guns released around the time. I suspect one of the magazines I had printed a picture of one alongside the game, and my indie used to sell some airsoft stuff so it was likely they had one (I remember it being expensive; certainly I never owned it) and I must have just fused all those things into one messy memory.

[wakka]

Thanks for doing the follow up research. I actually spent more time trying to find this yesterday evening as well

I couldn't find it of course (because as you say I don't think it exists), but what I did find was a bunch of Resident Evil airsoft guns. Maybe your indie had a Beretta airsoft with the STARS etc regalia on it. Because that seems to be very much a thing.

So what was the best way to play Survivor? Because you had to move with the d-pad right? Did you just have to wield the G-Con in one hand and hold half the normal pad with the other?

[Atticus]

I've never heard of Survivor, or I confuse it with Umbrella Chronicles ... neither of which I have played.

[Asura]

So what was the best way to play Survivor? Because you had to move with the d-pad right? Did you just have to wield the G-Con in one hand and hold half the normal pad with the other?

It turns out that you used the buttons on the side of the gun to rotate left/right; the sequels did more as they had the G-Con 2 (which does have a d-pad).

[wakka]

Ah OK. Yeah I remember the G-Con 2 d-pad. Always used the 'up' on that as the foot pedal on TC2.

Damn this whole thing has given me a serious hankering for some lightgun action. I'd like to try the Gun Survivor games now.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 05 - Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Intended to be RE3, the game found itself moved to the Dreamcast and branded as a spin-off despite acting as a direct sequel to the events of the prior trilogy. Chris and Claire Redfield took on the lead roles with the game using the added console power to drop the pre-rendered backdrops and switch to 3D settings. The game played the same as prior entries but aimed in places to be more cinematic and despite sluggish sales due to its host system, it was universally acclaimed.







Where does Code Veronica line up in your view of the franchise?

[Colin]

I absolutely adored Code Veronica, and it felt like a game that Dreamcast owners could justifiably feel very pleased about having exclusively on their system. I still can't believe the DC was a comparative flop, still one of my all time favourite consoles.

[Atticus]

I played the Japanese version of CV but the language barrier and unRE-like vibe made me bounce off it. I feel like I missed out on something good and I don't think I could go back and play it now as it's probably dated pretty badly.

[wakka]

I played through Code Veronica for the first time recently and loved it (loads of impressions from me in the 'What have you played recently retro' thread) - so give it a try, Atticus. I would say it'd be damn near impossible to play through in Japanese though, so not surprised you bounced off it!

CV is a really good game and I think is very evidently the true Resi 3. It feels designed for veterans of 1, 2 and Nemesis, extending the item puzzle gameplay to its logical conclusion, and featuring a longer quest with a great number of explorable areas than the previous games. It's the chunkiest of every traditional Resi, at about 15 hours.

Where it slightly falls down is its pacing. The designers chose to merge the traditional 'two scenarios' style, so you play as Claire for a long time, then switch to Chris, then back to Claire - but as part of the same campaign. It's a nice idea in theory, but in practise it kills the pacing of the game. I think it would have been better if they had stuck to the structure used in previous games, where you could play through the game twice as different characters, and have a different experience each time.

It's a lot of fun though. I really like it.

[Atticus]

I played through Code Veronica for the first time recently and loved it (loads of impressions from me in the 'What have you played recently retro' thread) - so give it a try, Atticus.

Gah, full price at prez ... next time it's on sale I'll give it a try.

[Asura]

Can you get it on Steam? I might play it when my Steam Deck eventually arrives

[Dogg Thang]

I totally loved CV, although I haven't replayed it since back in the day so my memory of it is a lot hazier than some other RE games. I do remember feeling that it pushed things ever so slightly crazier but still had that RE core and was a proper sequel rather than a spin-off, like the name suggests. It was a big deal back in the day to have it on the DC.

[Asura]

I totally loved CV, although I haven't replayed it since back in the day so my memory of it is a lot hazier than some other RE games. I do remember feeling that it pushed things ever so slightly crazier but still had that RE core and was a proper sequel rather than a spin-off, like the name suggests. It was a big deal back in the day to have it on the DC.

I remember some kind of mansion, with a kid who was a pirate, or something? Or at least wearing regency-era clothes.