The first Resident Evil game was a trendsetter that spawned set the bar for the genre known as “Survival-Horror” in Games today. The Game was released in 1996 for the PlayStation 1, and was soon ported to other consoles. Its production company was Capcom, whom continued the franchise into the present day.
Resident Evil draws a lot of inspiration from a game called Sweet Home, a Japanese precursor to the “Survival-Horror” genre. The game, called Biohazard in Japan, features characters who are trapped in a mansion, being assaulted by mutated creatures as they attempted to solve the mystery of the mansion, and make their way to safety.
In the game, you start as a member of an Elite Team of Racoon City’s Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS), who is dispatched to the manor after gruesome reports of murders and cannibalism on the edges of the city. When you arrive, you either take control of Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, the game’s protagonists, as you learn the truth behind the attacks and the “T-Virus”.
Resident Evil was chosen as a name, when it was realized that the name Biohazard couldn’t be trade-marked in the United States (a band and another game had the title). To that end, the Company held a contest to decide upon the name of the game, and Resident Evil was chosen because of its setting in a home. Although many thought it was cheesy, it had a certain marketing flair, that has become a cultural phenomenon to this day.
Resident Evil has sense enjoyed a wide array of success. Everything from a series of movies, to toys, and further installments of the series itself. However, all of these things owe their existence to the original Resident Evil.
