{"id":136639,"date":"2026-03-28T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-199184"},"modified":"2026-03-28T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T13:00:00","slug":"opinion-as-resident-evil-turns-30-its-time-capcom-revisits-the-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/03\/28\/opinion-as-resident-evil-turns-30-its-time-capcom-revisits-the-classics\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: As Resident Evil Turns 30, It’s Time Capcom Revisits The Classics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span> Image: Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last weekend, Resident Evil<\/strong> turned 30 years old \u2013 can you believe it? The original game launched on the PS1 all the way back on 22nd March 1996, kickstarting an enduring franchise that\u2019s arguably more popular now than it’s ever been.<\/p>\n

I still vividly remember borrowing the PS1 trilogy from my brother, completely entranced by the terrifying enemies, the loading door animations, and the god-awful voice acting. I was acutely aware that I was way<\/em> too young to be playing such games, since my own collection largely consisted of Pok\u00e9mon Blue<\/a> on the Game Boy Color and Crash Bandicoot<\/a> on the PlayStation. Yet if it weren\u2019t for those jaunts through the Spencer Mansion, R.P.D, and Raccoon City, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d be as passionate about horror as I am now.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s a shame, though, that Capcom doesn\u2019t seem particularly interested in revisiting some of the earlier games in the series. Titles like Survivor<\/a>, Outbreak<\/a>, Gaiden<\/a>, and Dead Aim<\/a> are all officially locked to the consoles on which they originally released, and while more prominent entries like the original trilogy and Code Veronica<\/a> have seen re-releases on other platforms like PS5 and GOG, Nintendo fans have largely been left in the dark.<\/p>\n

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Resident Evil (1996) \u2014 <\/span> Image: Capcom<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I understand why, to a certain extent. Since Capcom began its streak of RE Engine remakes in 2019 with Resident Evil 2<\/a>, these have supplanted the originals in the official canon. Requiem<\/a>, the latest mainline entry, definitively confirmed this by including flashbacks of Leon\u2019s first visit to the R.P.D as a rookie cop, with the building itself modelled after the remake instead of the original.<\/p>\n

So, for Capcom, the question of why it should release the original 32-bit trilogy when the remakes are sitting right there is legitimate, but I would argue that both can exist at the same time. The PS1 games, while certainly dated in many ways, perfectly encapsulate Capcom\u2019s original vision for the franchise, one that has shifted and morphed multiple times over the years, yet nevertheless largely remains intact.<\/p>\n

They also offer a beautiful glimpse into the wider pop culture scene at the tail end of the \u201890s. Play Resident Evil<\/a> on the PS1, then go watch a few episodes of The X-Files<\/strong> from the first season, and you\u2019ll see just how similar some of the musical scores are. It\u2019s wild.<\/p>\n