I've been threatening to do an update to my Resident Evil list for a while now and, in lieu of just writing about Elden bloody Ring again, I've decided that it is time to get some new thoughts and a slightly new order down onto paper, as it were. About half of this is all new text while a few entries are slightly tweaked versions of what I wrote a few years ago but, in the case of those games, my opinion hasn't changed at all.

I might drop a few more of these 'best of order' lists into these newsletters in the future, throw me a few ideas for series of games that you think would be a good fit.

The Resident Evil List 2022 Update Special.

Resident Evil 6

Nothing has changed. This is still an absolute stinker. A towering monument to Capcom's hubris. A game that perfectly encapsulates the lowest point in the 'Resident Evil cycle', which we will definitely talk about more throughout this article. It is a game that shows a continued fundamental misunderstanding of why previous games were so beloved, taking cues from the dreadful but hugely successful movies and being swept up in the trend of the time (which was the Xbox Live Co-Op shooter).

The only part of Resident Evil 6 that is truly impressive is in the way that it contains three completely separate, quite different and all entirely rubbish campaigns. They managed to fuck everything up three times in one game. There's not even one that is "a little good". They're all trash. They jettisoned everything survival horror to make a Co-Op action shooter, which although blasphemous might've been acceptable if it was any good as a shooter. It isn't. In fact, it is probably a worse third-person shooter than it is anything else.

Dreadful. The only reason this game wouldn't get a one star review is because of the admittedly impressive production values.

Resident Evil 5

Right, time to explain the 'Resident Evil cycle'. Essentially, the series will hit these incredible high points - at times revolutionary high points - and then it will slowly erode the things that made those games so good. It's appears to be in search of a much greater mass market appeal (which is baffling given that they sell millions and millions anyway, but here we are) but also coincide with that previously winning formula being stretched really thin or - in some cases - completely missing the point of what made the games so good and beloved to begin with. Eventually, they hit a low point and the series is forced to reinvent itself, which it usually does in spectacular fashion. The cycle repeats once again.

Resident Evil 5 is a game that encapsulates the beginning of the downward ebb. It's not a bad game but is clearly designed around addressing complaints that came from new players who came to the series off the back of the brilliant Resident Evil 4. It's co-op and ruthlessly designed around this being the proper way to play it. You can move while shooting, which misses the fundamental point of why that wasn't possible in Resident Evil 4. The controls are a bit of a mess as they try to accommodate as many players as possible. It's not really very scary either, as it is much closer to a straightforward co-op action game. When played with friends it's a good little game in its own right but its a crap Resident Evil game.

Also, let's not talk about the extremely questionable tribal village section.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica

The weakest of the 'classic' style Resi games. Far from terrible but it is a game that has a few issues and represents the end of the first ever Resident Evil cycle. The series had become massive by this point and also inspired a billion copycats and the magic had faded a fair bit. It felt tired. It STILL feels a bit tired. The switch to full 3D backgrounds allows for a few dynamic camera angles but at the expense of a lot of the detail and vibrancy of the pre-rendered backgrounds. It just looks so dull.

It is also possible to get into a position where it is pretty much impossible to continue, especially if you’re not staggering saves - and if you are, you can find yourself having to replay some lengthy sections because you didn’t leave a character with enough ammo or weapons to beat a boss you had no warning was coming up!

Code Veronica also features the worst character in the entire series, Steve Burnside. I'm so glad he gets killed and didn't make it into any other game. He is truly, truly dreadful.

Resident Evil 0

Perhaps the first controversial position? Resident Evil Zero doesn’t do anything to piss you off, like Code Veronica has the occasional tendency to do, nor does it ever really excite. The weird maggot enemies aren’t particularly compelling, sandwiched between the iconic zombies of the REmake and the brilliant Ganados of Resi 4. The ability to switch between them doesn’t really offer any meaningful gameplay changes - Billy is strong and has a lighter, Rebecca is weak but can mix herbs - you’ve basically just got a moving extra inventory. And speaking of inventory, there’s no longer any magic boxes to dump items in. You can either transfer them directly between characters or, in a series first, just drop them on the floor to be picked up later.

It was clear by this point that the old style was running out of ideas. All of the changes to the formula in Zero and Code Veronica are small sideways steps at best, looking for ways to tweak what had previously worked and sold millions off the back of. If you’re absolutely jonesing for some classic style Resident Evil you can do far worse than Resident Evil Zero. The train setting is pretty cool, the pre-rendered graphics are gorgeous and there’s a couple of nice nods to the game it precedes in the increasingly convoluted storyline.

Resident Evil Village

When you meet Lady Dimitrescu a few hours into Resident Evil Village, the iconic character is quickly boiled down to a simplistic stalker-type enemy that has fast become the series' trademark in the last few years. Despite all of the memes and fan reaction pre-release, the actual in-game appearance of the lanky lady is quite disappointing and over fairly quick.

Unfortunately, it is also the best part of Resident Evil Village.

Once again, the Resident Evil cycle is nearing the end. After the resurgence seen in Resi 7 it took precisely one game for them to abandon almost all of the brilliant horror elements and nods to classic style Resident Evil games and end up with a fairly average first-person action game. Too slow and unresponsive to be a shooter, puzzles are barely present and it simply isn't scary enough to be considered a decent survival horror game. It doesn't really offer anything particularly thrilling for either crowd and comes across feeling a little uninspiring and middle of the road. Still enjoyable to a point but the missed potential is massive.

Resident Evil 2 Remake

Another no doubt controversial position. I wanted to love this. I still do. I've fired it up a few times since my initial playthrough and all I feel is the same emotion I felt as that first time... it bores me to tears, this. I just don't know why it exists? They've take a brilliant PS1 game and turned it into the same game as everything else in 2022 but attached to design decisions that were only in place in 1998 due to technical limitations. This made the game feel really disjointed, like it didn't know whether it wanted to be the future of the series or a wonderful nod to the past and ended up being, sadly, neither.

The worst part of RE2R is Mr X, who at first has been made into this brilliant, terrifying stalker who no longer appears in scripted moments but instead follows you around the police station. He can hear your gunshots so it forces you to either risk running past zombies or risk him tracking your position. Having Mr X stumble across you when you're dealing with a tricky situation instantly ramps up the horror and this all seems like a brilliant change until you see him get confused by you running around a table or a parked car.

Sadly, he's so easy to deal with, he basically is little more than additional busywork. Found a key that is going to let you explore the game further? Well, lets hope you don't have to give Mr X an utterly un-scary run around the building for a few minutes before you can press on.

I expect that one day I will play this and suddenly love it. It hasn't happened yet.

Resident Evil 3 Remake

Oh yes, the remake of Resident Evil 3 over Resident Evil 2. Basically, RE3R is a lower budget, smaller scope game which is far more linear and far less interesting than the remake of 2 but for my money, the shorter and more focused run through some Resident Evil 3 high spots was far more engaging for its six or so hours.

Sure, the Nemesis encounters are almost entirely scripted, so there's none of the dynamic stuff you got with Mr X but it was all pretty spectacular to look at and, honestly, I found it all far less annoying. Yes, there's less detail in the zombies and the locational damage you can inflict on them but I never found that to be a total deal breaker.

I don't ever feel like I'll go back and check this one out again, like I occasionally do with the remake of 2 but this was a short and sweet blast that ticked a bunch of boxes then fucked off while my opinion of it is was still fairly high.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

At times feeling a bit like an expansion pack for Resident Evil 2, this title put you back in control of Jill Valentine and had you cutting about Raccoon City with a bit more of a lean towards action that the prior games didn’t have. There’s a lot more zombies and a lot more ammo and blasting your way through areas instead of running is a lot more necessary.

Heading into the Raccoon City Police Department from Resi 2 is a cool moment, full of nice little nods and winks to what took place in that game that fans of the series will get a real kick out of, while a much more open Raccoon City brings a slightly different pace to the tried and tested formula.

It did, however, have an ace in the hole - The Nemesis. Expanding on what Capcom started with the Mr. X character in the B Scenario of Resident Evil 2, The Nemesis is a near-unkillable (but you can drop him, if you fancy spending most of your ammo when he shows up!) bio-weapon that stalks you throughout the game, like the bloody Terminator. The first time he travels between areas - something no enemy had done up to this point - was a genuinely terrifying moment and showed that he was going to be on your tail the entire game.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is the weakest of the three PS1 titles, but like the first three Die Hard films, the weakest is still a damn good way to spend your time.

Resident Evil

The original game has aged pretty well, largely because of it being a much simpler game than the others in this list. It lays the foundation perfectly for the series to grow from - you’re in a big, scary place full of zombies and you’re going to have to solve puzzles to slowly open it up, with resource management being a crucial part of keeping the tension ticking over.

The Mansion is still a treat to navigate, puzzles still enjoyable and, for an early PS1 game, still has an excellent sinister atmosphere. The combat is rough in the original release but in the Director’s Cut version they added an auto aim which can target enemies that are off screen, resulting in a lot less frustrating blind firing.

The mid-game mixup with the introduction of Hunters, the dogs coming in through the window, the massive snakes and spiders that make up the boss battles - Resident Evil is still a great game, but is lower on the list than perhaps it deserves because it is eclipsed in almost every conceivable way by its REmake, a game which is also far more accessible to people in 2018.

An undeniable classic, however.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

The third time the Resident Evil series has reinvented itself and it did so by reacquainting itself with its roots. Resident Evil 7 bares the most resemblance to the original game or its remake. It’s now first-person, bringing you closer to the horror than ever before, and you can even go one step closer and play the entire thing in VR, if you’ve got the stones for it because Resident Evil 7 is a very scary game indeed.

You’re in, for the most part, one large house that slowly opens up to you as you explore, solve puzzles and unlock new areas, all the while dealing with inventory management, limited resources and, of course, the inhabitants - no longer a game full of the shambling undead, but instead the infected Baker family. Mom, Sister, Brother and, of course, Jack Baker, the angry Dad.

While most stick to their own areas (with Mother Marguerite having a particularly freaky, bug-filled outhouse to herself), the highlight is the first couple of hours as you explore the main area of the family home, stalked continuously by the seemingly indestructible Jack. Like the Nemesis, he’s instantly iconic, and the confrontations with him at the dinner table, in the garage and in the basement, as you duel with chainsaws in a battle to the death, are up there with the series’ best moments.

The latter part of the game splits opinion somewhat, as it turns into a bit of a shooting gallery full of the ‘Molded’, weird slimy humanoid beasts that are the game’s zombies, the basic enemy you encounter when not being hassled by a member of the family. They’re simply nowhere near as interesting as the Bakers and the game does end on a bit of a bum note, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that Resident Evil 7 is a real return to form - a true survival horror game that brings back all the best aspects of the early titles with a new twist.

Resident Evil 2

The best of the PS1 Resident Evil games, Resi 2 expands on the framework of the original game in interesting and meaningful ways and, really, became the standard bearer for Survival Horror games for many years. Two characters, Leon and Claire, are split apart in a car accident at the start of the game and there’s a separate scenario for both characters. Playing through the ‘A’ scenario with any of the two character unlocks a ‘B’ scenario for the other, that takes place parallel to the events in the first playthrough.

Lickers, Mr. X, William Birkin… Resident Evil 2 is a game full of memorable Resident Evil moments and the constant changing of pace - the frantic run through the city, to the more traditional building exploration of the police station, to the Umbrella laboratories, full of one-off monsters and big boss battles - keep things fresh throughout. It’s also the Resident Evil game that begun the series’ now traditional bonus unlockables. Finishing the game under certain parameters unlock unlimited ammo, rad weapons and the brilliant The Fourth Survivor mode, where you play as an Umbrella Soldier called HUNK who has to make it through a section of the game with a limited toolset and escape the city. It’s a lot of fun, and definitely laid the groundwork for a lot of the unlockables to come.

Resident Evil 2 is everything you’d want in a sequel, and unlike Resident Evil 6, was an example of how to offer a much bigger game but fill it with improvements, rather than wholesale changes that ignore what people loved about it to begin with. 

Resident Evil Remake

A genuine survival horror masterpiece, REmake - as it is lovingly referred to - takes the original game and remixes it, retaining the claustrophobic tension of the mansion and the underground laboratory, but improving on it in almost every conceivable way and changing things up just enough to keep veterans guessing. There’s a few brilliant moments where you solve a puzzle that existed in the original game, only for it to deviate from what was expected upon solving it and open up a new area or offer up a surprise item, is a great way of ensuring that even the most hardcore Resident Evil fan never feels comfortable.

Then, there’s the Crimson Heads. One of horror gaming’s finest enemies. Whenever you kill a zombie, if you didn’t blow their head to bits you have the option to burn the body using an extremely finite amount of petrol. If you leave a walking corpses, well, corpse lying on the floor, there’s a chance that after a certain part of the game is cleared, they’ll get back up as a faster, tougher and relentless Crimson Head. On the first playthrough, this is a terrifying moment for newcomers and veterans alike. On repeat playthroughs, knowing that they’re a possibility makes you antagonise over every use of the petrol, and celebrate every random headshot.

It looks stunning, too. When it was originally released on the Gamecube you could make a strong case for it being the best looking console game at the time, but with the HD rerelease in the past few years, the pre-rendered backgrounds have really stood the test of time. The B-Movie tone of the original release has been replaced with something a bit more serious and the result is an incredible update of a horror classic and what can be considered a very high watermark when it comes to remaking and revamping older games.

Resident Evil 4

The King of Kings. Resident Evil 4 was Shinji Mikami’s return to the Resi fold and what a return it was! As the classic survival horror formula became stale, Resi 4 changed things up a bit and not only rejuvenated the series, but set a new benchmark for action games as a whole. That’s right, action games. Resident Evil 4 popularised the now standard third person over the shoulder camera angle, filled much more open areas with Ganados - infected humans that retain way more of their, well, humanity than the walking corpses of old - and introduced a free aim that coupled perfectly with the much more varied weapon set to allow for a lot of creativity in how you battled your way through the game.

Every aspect of Resident Evil 4 feeds back into its core - it is a game that never wants you to be comfortable. The Ganados are relentless, but not mindless. They’ll scheme, flank you, attack from range and generally do whatever it takes to put a sickle between Leon’s eyes. When you press the aim button, like the older titles, you’re rooted to the spot, the camera pulling in close so you can’t see what is trying to sneak up on you. Rooting you to the spot also means that when you choose to fire, it’s a real commitment. Plant your feet, aim your weapon and make sure your shots are accurate and pick off the tide of enemies walking you down. Watch that ammo, though!

After the initial trek through the Ganado’s village (a section which must go down as one of gaming’s greatest openings) Resi 4 begins to tread the boards of the older games. There’s a lot more interior sections that have you looking for keys, crests, items that will open doors and let you progress. There’s wild setpieces against huge bosses and, much like the Crimson Heads in the REmake, there’s plenty of twists with the basic enemies that keep you on your toes from start until the thrilling climax.

There's also the factor of the recent Quest 2 VR release. An astonishing VR experience, it doesn't just give you a virtual reality viewpoint like in Resident Evil 7 but is a fully featured, interactive Resident Evil 4 that you can play around it. You can reload weapons by pushing in clips and shells, swing your knife with the Quest 2 remotes and they've even redesigned all of the puzzles so you actually have to grab things and place items. It all works perfectly and is a brilliant way to play the game for first timers and experts alike. It is the closest thing I've seen to an essential, must-buy hardware seller for VR.

Resident Evil 4 not only gave the Resident Evil series a new lease of life by changing things up, doing away with the fixed camera angles, but bringing key aspects of the series into this new style. It feels like a brilliant action game. Like a brilliant horror game. And ultimately, like the best Resident Evil game.

Recommended: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

After the announcement of the Cowabunga Collection, another brilliant looking retro collection by Digital Eclipse containing a bunch of classic Turtles games from around their late 80s/early 90s boom period, I fired up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (TMNT:TF for the rest of this piece) to reacquaint myself with one of my favourite SNES games and one of my favourite fighting games from that console. Look, Digital Eclipse confirmed that the SNES version of TMNT:TF on the collection will have online play, so I need to make sure I'm match fit!

I love a nice feeling old fighting game that has been torn to bits by a dedicated community who are playing it at a level that the developers never imagined they see. eSports wasn't a thing, so these fighting games were made to have a few matches against your mates and that's it. They were never balanced with competitive play in mind, so they're a total fucking Wild West and it is a lot of fun to start figuring out all the broken stuff in them.

This game has unbreakable grab loops, the ability to command grab people out of blockstun animations, a shark that has a safe on block flash kick attack that is so lethal the community has had to think of strategies to deal with that one move alone, unblockable situations... all the good dirty stuff that would be patched out of a game within days in 2022 but in one from '93, its all legal, baby. Once you've learned a few of these tricks and glitches matches become about which player can inflict their worst stuff upon a player the fastest, almost guaranteeing victory once they do. It's extremely quick fire, tense and requires a lot of practice and skill.

It's worth it, too, because underneath all of this, TMNT:TF is a wonderful fighting game. It looks great, feels great, sounds great and has a nice amount of variety within the characters. For my money, the only fighting game on the SNES better than it is Street Fighter II and that is high praise indeed.

So, whether you fire up an emulator, jump onto Fightcade or wait for the collection, I recommend this one. It's a good entry point into the mad, glitch-filled chaos of retro fighting games. Get practising and see my Super Shredder online later this year, yeah?

OTHER STUFF WORTH LOOKING AT THIS WEEK IN ONE SENTENCE.

F-Zero X - The king of N64 racing games comes to Switch with some kind of hacked-in online multiplayer.

ZeroRanger - A shmup in the itch.io Bundle for Ukraine that is more than meets the eye.

DUSK - Currently in the Humble BoomerShooter bundle alongside some other belters, DUSK is - genuinely - the best FPS game I have played in years and stands shoulder to shoulder with Doom, Quake, Duke 3D, Blood and anything else you can think of.