My brother Dave is the one who got me into the RESIDENT EVIL series of games. You see, he got a Playstation before I did. I think it was Christmas 1997. He got the console, and the only two games that I remember him showing me were FINAL FANTASY VII and the director's cut version of RESIDENT EVIL. I thought RE was cool, but after seeing the commercials, and all the hype, I was more interested in FINAL FANTASY VII at that moment. In fact, I remember him letting me borrow the console around New Years, and I spent New Years '97 into '98 playing FF7.
Eventually though, I tried out RESIDENT EVIL, and I loved it. I was already into zombie movies, so a video game about the same thing? Well, that's just exactly something that seems like it was made for me. So I played RE a few times, even doing the speed runs to get the infinite ammo rocket launcher and magnum, then I gave my brother his cool toy back.
Before long I got my own Playstation. Just in time too, since RESIDENT EVIL 2 was coming out. I'm pretty sure I was fairly broke at the time, so instead of buying that one, I rented it. The cool thing about that game was that the two discs followed a different character, and depending on which one you played as first the story was different. So, I took one disc, my brother took the other, and then we traded off, twice and both of us beat both game scenarios.
I remember getting RESIDENT EVIL 3 before it came out in the US. I got my hands on an import copy of BIOHAZARD 3, and luckily I had a modded Playstation so I could play import titles. (I also had STREET FIGHTER ZERO 3, or ALPHA 3, imported well before it hit US stores.) I was a bit disappointed in 3, and didn't bother to get the US version. My brother seemed to like it though, since he bought it after trying my import version. Since the dialog was in English, and the in-game text was in Japanese, we had to resort to online walk-thrus for some of the puzzles.
Next up, was CODE VERONICA for the Dreamcast. My brother was always one of those people who got the newest machines a little after launch. Never the guy to wait in line, or pay ridiculous amounts of money on eBay. He'd just wait a month or so, and get the new machine. Since I was still on the PS, I had to borrow the DC to check the game out. I remember liking it. So when it came out for the PS2, I picked it up. So did my brother, because he was a collector. Come to think of it, I have a copy of it for Dreamcast too. (I eventually got a Dreamcast for $25 from EB when that console was abandoned by Sega.)
After that there was a bit of a split. On the Playstation 2, we got two terrible "online" versions of the game called OUTBREAK. I have both of them. They're terrible. My brother, who I thought would be the only person on the planet patient enough to play through these games in their entirety, never so much as tried them out even once. Clearly, he was smarter than I am.
Instead, Dave had a Gamecube. The RESIDENT EVIL main series was going exclusive to that machine, so finally he had something to play on it besides METROID and ZELDA.
First up was a remake of the first RESIDENT EVIL. The graphics on that version were amazing and I was psyched when I got to borrow the 'Cube and play through a much better looking version of that game that got me hooked back in late '97.
After that came RESIDENT EVIL ZERO. Again, the graphics were great, but like RE3, this one didn't grab me. I've re-played the remake once or twice, but I only played through ZERO once.
Finally, there was RESIDENT EVIL 4. I remember when that hit for the Gamecube. My brother and I sat up for a day and a half playing it. Switching off. It was a bit unusual, since we always tended to play single-player by ourselves and let the other guy borrow the game or even console for however long it took them. So playing a brand new game for the first time this way was a bit unusual. Personally, RE4 was so awesome, that it ruined the other games in the series for me. I couldn't go back to their clunky controls and bad camera angles. Dave, however, re-played the old games, even the ones from the Playstation era, every few months. Naturally, both of us bought the PS2 version of the game when it came out a few months later.
We were both disappointed by the movies, yet we both owned the first two. (In my case, both on DVD and Blu-Ray.)
RESIDENT EVIL 5 coming out was bittersweet for me. Both my brother and I were looking forward to the game. Of course, he passed away last year, before the game came out. So while I've been looking forward to the game, and was excited when I got it, it did make me incredibly sad that I can't share it with my brother. Part of the fun in these games for me was talking to him about the story or just talking about playing. There was also some fun to be had watching each other play and mocking the other guy when he got his character killed. Don't get me wrong. I was still able to enjoy RE5. I guess, as strange as it might sound to some people, I'll always associate the RESIDENT EVIL series with him. In fact, I chose RESIDENT EVIL 5 over STREET FIGHTER IV, which I'll get eventually, because I think if my brother was to choose between the two he would've gone with RE.
Eventually though, I tried out RESIDENT EVIL, and I loved it. I was already into zombie movies, so a video game about the same thing? Well, that's just exactly something that seems like it was made for me. So I played RE a few times, even doing the speed runs to get the infinite ammo rocket launcher and magnum, then I gave my brother his cool toy back.
Before long I got my own Playstation. Just in time too, since RESIDENT EVIL 2 was coming out. I'm pretty sure I was fairly broke at the time, so instead of buying that one, I rented it. The cool thing about that game was that the two discs followed a different character, and depending on which one you played as first the story was different. So, I took one disc, my brother took the other, and then we traded off, twice and both of us beat both game scenarios.
I remember getting RESIDENT EVIL 3 before it came out in the US. I got my hands on an import copy of BIOHAZARD 3, and luckily I had a modded Playstation so I could play import titles. (I also had STREET FIGHTER ZERO 3, or ALPHA 3, imported well before it hit US stores.) I was a bit disappointed in 3, and didn't bother to get the US version. My brother seemed to like it though, since he bought it after trying my import version. Since the dialog was in English, and the in-game text was in Japanese, we had to resort to online walk-thrus for some of the puzzles.
Next up, was CODE VERONICA for the Dreamcast. My brother was always one of those people who got the newest machines a little after launch. Never the guy to wait in line, or pay ridiculous amounts of money on eBay. He'd just wait a month or so, and get the new machine. Since I was still on the PS, I had to borrow the DC to check the game out. I remember liking it. So when it came out for the PS2, I picked it up. So did my brother, because he was a collector. Come to think of it, I have a copy of it for Dreamcast too. (I eventually got a Dreamcast for $25 from EB when that console was abandoned by Sega.)
After that there was a bit of a split. On the Playstation 2, we got two terrible "online" versions of the game called OUTBREAK. I have both of them. They're terrible. My brother, who I thought would be the only person on the planet patient enough to play through these games in their entirety, never so much as tried them out even once. Clearly, he was smarter than I am.
Instead, Dave had a Gamecube. The RESIDENT EVIL main series was going exclusive to that machine, so finally he had something to play on it besides METROID and ZELDA.
First up was a remake of the first RESIDENT EVIL. The graphics on that version were amazing and I was psyched when I got to borrow the 'Cube and play through a much better looking version of that game that got me hooked back in late '97.
After that came RESIDENT EVIL ZERO. Again, the graphics were great, but like RE3, this one didn't grab me. I've re-played the remake once or twice, but I only played through ZERO once.
Finally, there was RESIDENT EVIL 4. I remember when that hit for the Gamecube. My brother and I sat up for a day and a half playing it. Switching off. It was a bit unusual, since we always tended to play single-player by ourselves and let the other guy borrow the game or even console for however long it took them. So playing a brand new game for the first time this way was a bit unusual. Personally, RE4 was so awesome, that it ruined the other games in the series for me. I couldn't go back to their clunky controls and bad camera angles. Dave, however, re-played the old games, even the ones from the Playstation era, every few months. Naturally, both of us bought the PS2 version of the game when it came out a few months later.
We were both disappointed by the movies, yet we both owned the first two. (In my case, both on DVD and Blu-Ray.)
RESIDENT EVIL 5 coming out was bittersweet for me. Both my brother and I were looking forward to the game. Of course, he passed away last year, before the game came out. So while I've been looking forward to the game, and was excited when I got it, it did make me incredibly sad that I can't share it with my brother. Part of the fun in these games for me was talking to him about the story or just talking about playing. There was also some fun to be had watching each other play and mocking the other guy when he got his character killed. Don't get me wrong. I was still able to enjoy RE5. I guess, as strange as it might sound to some people, I'll always associate the RESIDENT EVIL series with him. In fact, I chose RESIDENT EVIL 5 over STREET FIGHTER IV, which I'll get eventually, because I think if my brother was to choose between the two he would've gone with RE.
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