Let the throwdown begin! Original vs. REmake

[leftshoe18]

The Remake is one of my all-time favorite video games - not just Resident Evil but among everything. The original is great and without it the remake wouldn't exist but playing it now is like playing a less complete version of the remake.

[Burt Mustin]

Obviously you're not going to have something that looks like the REMake but at 256x320, but you could do alot more than Capcom did on that machine. REDeMake for the PSOne anyone ;-)

A mod that sees the original version becoming similar to the new would be worthwhile on it's own , but I think the more interesting thing would be to attempt to recreate closer to how the game was initially going to look at some stage-- if you listen to the PU podcast with Welsh, he mentions that both the courtyard and guardhouse were significantly reduced in size for the final version.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

I'd love to know more about the original plans for the Courtyard & Guardhouse. You could easily imagine more living and recreation space for the scientists working at the facility being added there. & Remember Yawn originally turning up in the shed?

Does anyone know how far the first person version got before it changed to AITD style gameplay?

[Rombie]

Not very far is my understanding. They released very early on it just wasn't possible on the hardware where it would work well. I know there are some design sketches of the idea and I think thats about it. People like imacwesker and News Bot might know more. As for plans of the gardens and guardhouse, a lot of what was cut was just reimplimented into the Remake. A big chunk of the "unreleased" material surrounded Trevor's Letters which was published in Japan when the Sega Saturn version came out... and most of the cut concepts and areas ended up appearing several years later. There might be some more that wasn't added back in, like the change with Yawn you mention, but probably not a whole lot.

Interesting to see the poll... when I looked at this a day or two back it was even on 11 votes a piece...

[Burt Mustin]

A big chunk of the "unreleased" material surrounded Trevor's Letters which was published in Japan when the Sega Saturn version came out... and most of the cut concepts and areas ended up appearing several years later. There might be some more that wasn't added back in, like the change with Yawn you mention, but probably not a whole lot.

That's a very good point-- artwork is littered throughout that "True Story of Bio" book, I just never knew whether it was created for the book release, or was pulled concept art from Capcom during those 95-96' days.

Yawn shed scenario was created for the demo only- *think* Kamiya confirmed this, atleast.

Who knows just how much Welsh has uncovered by now...those details surrounding the backstory of the Jill guardhouse scenario, Neptune originally being a grampus (lol) and not a shark, ect, were nowhere to be found previously.

[RaccoonSurvivor]

Both great in their own way..

RE1 with its charm, classic-ness, Jill's casual alternate outfit..
REmake for its amazing BGM and graphics, and all the added extras and modes.

[khasho]

Resident Evil Director's cut chris advance mode is my favorite version and harder than original...

[Lanzagranadas]

They made a great remake and I give them credit for that, I prefer the remake. They added many good things and enhanced the game experience withouth killing the essence in the process.

Can't say the same about Tomb Raider and Silent Hill, I still like a lot more the original PSX/PC releases than their remake counterparts.

[Enigmatism415]

Since my first encounter with the series featured RE3 followed by RE2, I initially thought RE1 was a pile of dogshit (these graphics on a Playstation? Come on!). When REmake came out, I enjoyed the game for the first time, and it's now my favourite title in the series.

[Mikhail]

Since my first encounter with the series featured RE3 followed by RE2, I initially thought RE1 was a pile of dogshit (these graphics on a Playstation? Come on!). When REmake came out, I enjoyed the game for the first time, and it's now my favourite title in the series.

If you think re1 is dogshit try playing survivor, even time crisis and die hard had slightly better graphics.

[Guest]

It only took six years until they decided to remake the original? Wow, I've never looked at it like that before, it's kind of surprising when you think about it. Perhaps I'm too used to waiting decades for games to be released at this point that six years feels like nothing at all, it certainly doesn't warrant remaking a game in todays market that's for sure, some games are expected to have an active life of that long let alone dying and being resurrected. It's like Capcom deciding to remake Dead Rising or something and even now that game doesn't feel like it needs it. It makes me question why the game was remade so quickly in the first place, perhaps the original just didn't meet their expectations or something, or perhaps it was typical Capcom capitalising on the market by reselling old ideas. Who knows?

As for which is my favourite, probably the original as it still has the whole B movie style to it and for me that was part of the charm. It was kind of lost in RE2 onwards which was fine as they brought their own charm to the series, but I certainly enjoy returning to the original for those reasons. Remake is cool I guess, very pretty, but not quite the same, perhaps the HD rerelease might change my mind on that.

[Enigmatism415]

To be honest, when I first saw the REmake announcement in a game magazine (featuring juxtaposed screenshots of the old and new versions), it was immediately obvious to me why Capcom decided to remake it: the original just looked plain awful even by 2002's standards. However, as bad as it looked, the game itself was fantastic and thus worth remaking in the first place.

Hey, do you fellas know what other famous Japanese video game originally came out as a Playstation-exclusive and was remade six years later as a GameCube-exclusive? Metal Gear Solid. They are both considered by many fans to be the first installments in their respective series as well (although this is only true if you consider MGS to be its own sub-series under the Metal Gear franchise).

[Guest]

To be honest, when I first saw the REmake announcement in a game magazine (featuring juxtaposed screenshots of the old and new versions), it was immediately obvious to me why Capcom decided to remake it: the original just looked plain awful even by 2002's standards. However, as bad as it looked, the game itself was fantastic and thus worth remaking in the first place.

Hey, do you fellas know what other famous Japanese video game originally came out as a Playstation-exclusive and was remade six years later as a GameCube-exclusive? Metal Gear Solid. They are both considered by many fans to be the first installments in their respective series as well (although this is only true if you consider MGS to be its own sub-series under the Metal Gear franchise).

Very true, and the funny thing is it also took six years for Metal Gear Solid to be remade as well (Resident Evil 1996 - 2002, Metal Gear Solid 1998 - 2004)! Perhaps it's testament to just how good of a console the GameCube was, it's surprising finding that two of the Playstation's most successful titles were remade on a competitors platform. Both are absolutely stunning, and both were able to take their gameplay to levels beyond that of their original counter parts. Interesting stuff!

[Lanzagranadas]

It only took six years until they decided to remake the original? Wow, I've never looked at it like that before, it's kind of surprising when you think about it.

Good point. Perhaps that's the reason why it's a good remake, I'd barely expect anything good from a RE2 remake now that more than 15 years have passed and the gaming world's mind has completely changed.

[Rombie]

Perhaps it's testament to just how good of a console the GameCube was, it's surprising finding that two of the Playstation's most successful titles were remade on a competitors platform. Both are absolutely stunning, and both were able to take their gameplay to levels beyond that of their original counter parts. Interesting stuff!

Entirely subjective. Personally to me TTS is a downgrade. The acting is certainly worse due to limited budget, unclear direction, and character choices. The cutscenes - while entertaining on their own merits - are so over the top compared to the original that I just can't sit there and say they're better, and the gameplay elements lifted wholesale from MGS2 often break the game because the environments are 1:1 pologon maps from the PS original and weren't designed with those elements in mind.

It certainly looks nice, and there are also some other smaller positives throughout, but if I tried to say TTS was anything like the quality of improvements of the Remake over the PS original I'd be kidding myself. I don't think I'd be the only one around here to think this either.