Editorials
The ‘Resident Evil’ Games You Might Not Know About
With ever more ‘Resident Evil’ games joining the library, and news of ‘Resident Evil 7’ just around the corner, we take a peek at some of the lesser known titles out there!
It’s kind of crazy to think that Resident Evil 7 is moving into production. In spite of video games being a sequel-heavy world, not many franchises work there way to number seven (and technically nine, if you count Resident Evil Zero and Code: Veronica, which you absolutely should) before resetting the clock or revamping in some manner. The series’ commitment to continuing down this main timeline is a testament to the work they’ve done and the story that’s been built, but in the meantime there have also been an abundance of side stories and ugly redheaded step-zombies that have crept up along the way. You know the core games in the series to death, so here’s an opportunity to look at some of the lesser known games in the Resident Evil series that actually came out, whether you believe it or not.
Resident Evil Gaiden
Platform: Game Boy Color
Resident Evil Gaiden is such a bizarre, glorious experiment for the mere prospect of saying, they released a Resident Evil game on the Game Boy Color!? Yes, Capcom’s famous zombies were presented in the Game Boy Color’s classic 56-color scheme. Gaiden is…problematic, to say the least, but still a wonder that it squeaked by in the first place. A shocking amount of effort was put into Resident Evil’s first foray into the handheld market, with the original Resident Evil’s Shinji Mikami acting as an advisor for the title, with the story actually being written by Hiroki Kato, who would later go on to be Code: Veronica’s director. There’s a great deal of novelty present in this title, but it still manages to put forward a pretty creative story, too. The title’s set on an ocean liner, for instance, long before Resident Evil: Revelations was mining that territory, and sees you playing as Leon Kennedy and Barry Burton, of all people. It even features a BOW that’s ultimately a shape-shifter who ends up turning into Leon, in a welcome twist to the bosses that you fight. Due to the Game Boy Color’s limitations, your zombie action takes place in a top down view, with the shooting mechanic creatively swapping to a first-person perspective using a Mario Golf-like reticle-matching system to fire. Resident Evil Gaiden is a nice reminder of what we were willing to put up with, just because we were so eager for any more Resident Evil to get our hands on.
Resident Evil: The Missions
Platform: Mobile Phone
The first of the many obscure mobile Resident Evil games that would see release, The Missions might not pack a lot of story, but it’s the perfect sort of fodder for the mobile platform. Available in both a 2D and 3D version, the title is more or less a modified sort of spin-off of the Mercenaries games (which also have their own mobile title), giving a hefty list of 150 bite-sized missions to work through as Jill Valentine. It’s hardly anything special, but it’s a more than fun way to kill a few minutes while you’re waiting for the train to come.
Resident Evil: Genesis and Resident Evil: Uprising
Platform: Mobile Phone
Genesis and its follow-up, Uprising, are both essentially puzzle adventure games, making them extremely interesting takes on the survival horror material. With these titles specifically made with the smaller screens of mobile devices in mind, careful thought was put towards areas like movement and button pushing, lending itself to this puzzle structure. With a creative setup behind them, these titles were set to re-tell pivotal events from the Resident Evil titles, but in this new context. Genesis has you as Jill Valentine, working through events of the original game, with Uprising exploring Resident Evil 2’s canon as Claire. In spite of the limitations of their hardware, these actually make for creative, fun games. It’d be interesting to see a modern take on this premise (exploring more recent Resident Evil main universe games), even if the whole point of these was to capitalize on the hardware’s limits.
Resident Evil: Confidential Report
Platform: Mobile Phone
One of the perks of these weird offshoot mobile games is their tendency to mix up Resident Evil’s genre every now and then. Confidential Report, for instance, mixes survival horror with turn-based strategy while incorporating a grid-based combat system. Confidential Report at least tries to do its best Resident Evil 2 impression structure-wise, giving you two (bland) characters to play as, Tyler Hamilton and Naomi McClain. It might not all totally mesh together, but it is an impressive, unique deviation in the series, all while being on your phone, no less.
Resident Evil Assault the Nightmare
Platform: Mobile Phone
Certainly one of the more visually grabbing Resident Evil titles that are out there, Assault the Nightmare pulls its look from an art style reminiscent of anime, while mixing this with the aesthetic of first person shooters. Here zombies are cartoonish rather than frightening, and people resemble typical anime fare. The inconsequential story is set at a nondescript castle, with the title utilizing your phone’s arrow keys to aim your gun. Assault the Nightmare probably isn’t worth your time, but it’s still an interesting footnote, and radically mixing up Resident Evil’s look (imagine a cel shaded title?) isn’t necessarily a bad idea.
Resident Evil: Degeneration
Platform: iOS/Nokia N-Gage 2.0
The cream of the mobile crop here, Resident Evil: Degeneration actually looks pretty damn good. Using the build of Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition (yes, that was a thing), full 3D environments are in play here, with Degeneration being the mobile title that operates the most like your standard Resident Evil game. Based off of the events of the CGI film of the same name, Degeneration has you controlling Leon Kennedy, stuck in an airport while preventing planes full of viruses from taking off. Originally developed as the flagship title for the second coming of Nokia’s N-Gage (you remember the N-Gage, right? Right!?), this hardware was eventually just absorbed into most modern mobile phones in the first place. While a very impressive title, due to Degeneration’s nature to not mix up the norm, it ends up just feeling like a poor-grade Resident Evil title. For completists and staunch zombie haters though, it’s certainly worth checking out.
Resident Evil Zombie Buster
Platform: Mobile Phone
Resident Evil Zombie Buster’s twist on the norm is that it presents Resident Evil as a top-down shooter, with you plowing down seemingly endless hordes of zombies. It’s a monotonous time-killer of a game, but one that’s at least made a little more fun by its Resident Evil makeover. In Zombie Buster’s defense, it is one of the earlier mobile titles included here, and one that still gives you the (pointless) option as choosing between Claire and Leon.
Resident Evil Survivor, Resident Evil Survivor 2 Code: Veronica, and Resident Evil: Dead Aim
Platform: PlayStation (Survivor), PlayStation 2, Arcade (Survivor 2), PlayStation (Dead Aim)
Granted, while some of you might be familiar with Resident Evil’s Gun Survivor series, its relative obscurity still warrants these games to be touched on. After all, these can’t all be niche mobile entries. Starting off on the PlayStation, Capcom’s Gun Survivor series set out to turn some of its most popular survival horror titles into revamped light gun shooters. It’s a plan that’s a natural fit for Resident Evil (and one that makes so much sense it would later be touched on in the Wii’s Umbrella and Darkside Chronicles).
Resident Evil Survivor, the first attempt at this, is a first person light gun title (although the US release didn’t include the guns due to what was going on with Columbine at the time), where you play as an amnesiac protagonist, as you you’re bombarded with enemies from the series’ first two titles. Survivor 2 Code: Veronica is largely the same deal, except with Code: Veronica as its playground. It’s also famously remembered for maddeningly all being a dream of Claire’s in the end! Dead Aim (which has the infinitely cooler title in Japan, Gun Survivor 4: Biohazard: Heroes Never Die) mixes things up a little bit by using a third person perspective when you’re moving around, but switching to first person when shooting. It’s a little awkward of a transition, but adds a little depth to the experience at least. Dead Aim is not a great Resident Evil game, nor is it a great light gun game, which is really its biggest hang up. It’s still surprising that 2005’s Namco x Capcom actually had the titles protagonists, Bruce and Ling, as characters, confirming that this wasn’t just a crazy fever dream.
If anything, it even feels like Capcom has gotten a little looser with the Resident Evil license in recent years. More tangential titles could certainly be on the horizon, and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Resident Evil invading the mobile market either (especially in Japan). Who knows, with the many cameos of Resident Evil characters in fighting titles, and some recent appearances in Project X Zone 2, maybe something like a Resident Evil fighter isn’t even out of the realm of possibility. All I know is that I’ve got dibs on Barry, if that’s the case.
Editorials
Silly, Self-Aware ‘Amityville Christmas Vacation’ Is a Welcome Change of Pace [The Amityville IP]
Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”
After a number of bloated runtimes and technically inept entries, it’s something of a relief to watch Amityville Christmas Vacation (2022). The 55-minute film doesn’t even try to hit feature length, which is a wise decision for a film with a slight, but enjoyable premise.
The amusingly self-aware comedy is written and directed by Steve Rudzinski, who also stars as protagonist Wally Griswold. The premise is simple: a newspaper article celebrating the hero cop catches the attention of B’n’B owner Samantha (Marci Leigh), who lures Wally to Amityville under the false claim that he’s won a free Christmas stay.
Naturally it turns out that the house is haunted by a vengeful ghost named Jessica D’Angelo (Aleen Isley), but instead of murdering him like the other guests, Jessica winds up falling in love with him.
Several other recent Amityville films, including Amityville Cop and Amityville in Space, have leaned into comedy, albeit to varying degrees of success. Amityville Christmas Vacation is arguably the most successful because, despite its hit/miss joke ratio, at least the film acknowledges its inherent silliness and never takes itself seriously.
In this capacity, the film is more comedy than horror (the closest comparison is probably Amityville Vibrator, which blended hard-core erotica with references to other titles in the “series”). The jokes here are enjoyably varied: Wally glibly acknowledges his racism and excessive use of force in a way that reflects the real world culture shift around criticisms of police work; the last names of the lovers, as well the title of the film, are obvious homages to the National Lampoon’s holiday film; and the narrative embodies the usual festive tropes of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies.
This self-awareness buys the film a certain amount of goodwill, which is vital considering Rudzinski’s clear budgetary limitations. Jessica’s ghost make-up is pretty basic, the action is practically non-existent, and the whole film essentially takes place in a single location. These elements are forgivable, though audiences whose funny bone isn’t tickled will find the basic narrative, low stakes, and amateur acting too glaring to overlook. It must be acknowledged that in spite of its brief runtime, there’s still an undeniable feeling of padding in certain dialogue exchanges and sequences.
Despite this, there’s plenty to like about Amityville Christmas Vacation.
Rudzinski is the clear stand-out here. Wally is a goof: he’s incredibly slow on the uptake and obsessed with his cat Whiskers. The early portions of the film lean on Wally’s inherent likeability and Rudzinski shares an easy charm with co-star Isley, although her performance is a bit more one-note (Jessica is mostly confused by the idiot who has wandered into her midst).
Falling somewhere in the middle are Ben Dietels as Rick (Ben Dietels), Wally’s pathetic co-worker who has invented a family to spend the holidays with, and Zelda (Autumn Ivy), the supernatural case worker that Jessica Zooms with for advice on how to negotiate her newfound situation.
The other actors are less successful, particularly Garrett Hunter as ghost hunter Creighton Spool (Scott Lewis), as well as Samantha, the home owner. Leigh, in particular, barely makes an impression and there’s absolutely no bite in her jealous threats in the last act.
Like most comedies, audience mileage will vary depending on their tolerance for low-brow jokes. If the idea of Wally chastising and giving himself a pep talk out loud in front of Jessica isn’t funny, Amityville Christmas Vacation likely isn’t for you. As it stands, the film’s success rate is approximately 50/50: for every amusing joke, there’s another one that misses the mark.
Despite this – or perhaps because of the film’s proximity to the recent glut of terrible entries – Amityville Christmas Vacation is a welcome breath of fresh air. It’s not a great film, but it is often amusing and silly. There’s something to be said for keeping things simple and executing them reasonably well.
That’s a lesson that other indie Amityville filmmakers could stand to learn.
The Amityville IP Awards go to…
- Recurring Gag: The film mines plenty of jokes from characters saying the quiet part (out) loud, including Samantha’s delivery of “They’re always the people I hate” when Wally asks how he won a contest he didn’t enter.
- Holiday Horror: There’s a brief reference that Jessica died in an “icicle accident,” which plays like a perfect blend between a horror film and a Hallmark film.
- Best Line: After Jessica jokes about Wally’s love of all things cats to Zelda, calling him the “cat’s meow,” the case worker’s deadpan delivery of “Yeah, that sounds like an inside joke” is delightful.
- Christmas Wish: In case you were wondering, yes, Santa Claus (Joshua Antoon) does show up for the film’s final joke, though it’s arguably not great.
- Chainsaw Award: This film won Fangoria’s ‘Best Amityville’ Chainsaw award in 2023, which makes sense given how unique it is compared to many other titles released in 2022. This also means that the film is probably the best entry we’ll discuss for some time, so…yay?
- ICYMI: This editorial series was recently included in a profile in the The New York Times, another sign that the Amityville “franchise” will never truly die.
Next time: we’re hitting the holidays in the wrong order with a look at November 2022’s Amityville Thanksgiving, which hails from the same creative team as Amityville Karen <gulp>
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