Evil released

Gun Survivor series

The PAL boxart for Resident Evil: Dead Aim.

The following are Resident Evil-related titles that were released as part of Capcom's Gun Survivor series in Japan. The gameplay in the Gun Survivor series is different from the main games in which the action takes place from a first-person perspective and player can use a light gun (Namco's GunCon) in addition to the controller (although, this feature was initially taken out from the North American release of Survivor). Note that the third Gun Survivor title (Dino Stalker) is not related to the Resident Evil series at all, being based on the Dino Crisis series instead.

While the Gun Survivor are not part of the main series, some fans consider the games to be canonical due to a reference to the original Survivor in Resident Evil 0 (Sheena Island, Survivor's location, is listed as a source of a T-Virus outbreak) and the fact that Flagship writer Noboru Sugimura (who wrote the scenarios for Resident Evil 2, Code: Veronica and 0), also wrote the Gun Survivor games. The titles are:

• Biohazard: Gun Survivor (Resident Evil: Survivor) (2000) -- PlayStation, PC (Asia only)
• Gun Survivor 2: Biohazard Code: Veronica (Resident Evil Survivor 2 - Code: Veronica) (2001) -- Arcade, PlayStation 2 (Japan and PAL territories only)
• Gun Survivor 3: Dino Crisis (Dino Stalker) (2002) -- PlayStation 2
• Gun Survivor 4: Biohazard - Heroes Never Die (Resident Evil: Dead Aim) (2003) -- PlayStation 2

To date, all of the Gun Survivor games have launched with poor to mediocre reviews ^[6] that became increasingly better with each installment. The series has achieved something of a cult status - somewhat respected for Capcom's attempt to do something new with both the series and light-gun games in general, but declared to have problematic, clumsy controls and typically inferior graphics.

Other titles

The boxart for Resident Evil Gaiden.

In 2001, Capcom released a Game Boy Color game titled Resident Evil Gaiden. The game was not developed internally by any of Capcom's studios, but by British-based developer M4 Limited, although creator Shinji Mikami supervised the development of the game, and Code: Veronica director Hiroki Kato wrote the story. The game was an RPG featuring an overhead view for exploration and a first-person view for battles. Set during the events of Code: Veronica, Gaiden featured Barry and Leon investigating a cruise ship infested with bio-organic weapons while working for an Anti-Umbrella organization. The game is generally considered non-canonical due to a cliffhanger ending, in which Leon becomes infected with an unknown disease. Though this disease was never explored in subsequent games, when Resident Evil 4 was initially in development, Gaiden provided an explanation as to why Leon, a protagonist in both games, would have been sick with an unknown disease in RE4 -- infection from a monster attack in Gaiden. When RE4 was released, however, it was revealed that Leon's illness was due to events within RE4 and is not linked to infections from previous games.

Capcom also released several mobile phone games in Japan based on the Biohazard series.

• Resident Evil Gaiden (Game Boy Color, 2001)
• Biohazard i Survivor (i-mode, 2001)
• Biohazard: Zombie Buster (i-mode/Vodafone/au-phone 2001)
• Biohazard: Zombie Shooter (i-mode/au-phone, 2001)
• Biohazard Assault: Nightmare (i-mode/Vodafone, 2002)
• Biohazard: The Missions (Vodafone, 2003)
• Biohazard: Confidential Report (Vodafone/au-phone, 2004)
• Biohazard: The Stories (i-mode, 2005)

Abandoned titles

Resident Evil 0, Nintendo 64

Rebecca Chambers shoots a zombie in Resident Evil 0 for the N64.

Resident Evil 0 started production on the Nintendo 64, and featured graphics close to Resident Evil 2 and 3 in appearance. The developers believed that the system's cartridge media would give the quick load times required for the game's character switching system.

Production shifted to the GameCube halfway during development, in order to compete with the Shinji Mikami-directed remake of the original.^[7] The scenario and storyline in the released GameCube version remained largely unchanged, though Rebecca's recieved a new outfit (she originally wore a white beret and shoulder pads, similar to Jill Valentine's original costume) and the graphics were significantly enhanced to take advantage of the GameCube's hardware. Several of the EX Files featured in the Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2, namely Rebecca's Report and Mother Virus Report, alluded to the events of Resident Evil 0.

Resident Evil, Game Boy Color

The mansion foyer, as it appears in the Game Boy Color version.

A Game Boy Color port of the original PlayStation Resident Evil was announced around the same time as the Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 0, with new enemies and save features to be included.^[8] Though HotGen Studios, the developer of the port, was able to capture the original game's three-dimensional gameplay on the Game Boy Color's hardware through the use of picture compression routines, the project was cancelled.^[9] As both HotGen and Capcom felt that the game was of too poor quality to produce, a replacement title, Resident Evil Gaiden, was developed with the Game Boy Color's limits in mind.^[10] The game is now only available as a ROM image for Game Boy emulators.

Resident Evil 2 (Prototype), PlayStation
Often referred to as Resident Evil 1.5, the first attempt at a sequel to the original Resident Evil, saw a PlayStation version apparently over 60% complete and just one month from launch date when Capcom abandoned the title.

The development team regrouped, starting development from scratch. The team borrowed characters from the first attempt, namely Leon S. Kennedy and Marvin Branagh (the dying police officer in the beginning of the game. Branagh was originally scripted to survive and aid Leon's escape along with Ada, but would die in the new version). Notably absent was Claire Redfield, with the prototype featuring a very similar blonde-haired motorcyclist named Elza Walker in her place.

Supporting characters in the story included the Birkins (William, Annette and Sherry), Ada Wong (who was originally an official researcher), Heikki V and Robert Kendo (the gun store owner, who played a major supporting role in Elza's scenario). Brian Irons, the police chief, also appeared in the prototype, but did not play the villanous role he did in the released version. The main setting was in a decidedly more modern police station instead of the more gothic precinct in the finished version. The prototype also featured sewers, prison and lab areas, with the latter being reused for the finished version. Creatures featured in the protype included man-spiders, zombie apes, different zombie cops and a different version of the G-Virus creature.

The game was rumoured to possess such perks as throwable grenades and equippable armor. There were also rumours a graphical feature; Blood splashes onto and stains the player-character's clothing when firing upon an enemy within a close range.

The game, however, lacked the zapping system where one character's scenario would overlap with the other. Instead, Leon's and Elza's scenarios were independent of each other (much like Chris' and Jill's in the original), with multiple endings depending on the survival of the partner characters.

Concept art for the game have since be released through various Biohazard-related sourcebooks and materials. In addition, gameplay footage of the game was featured in the Biohazard: Complete Disc bonus disc included with the Dual Shock version of Biohazard: Director's Cut in Japan. Petitions to have a playable version of the game released in some form or another has been unsuccessful so far.^[11]

Resident Evil 2, Sega Saturn
A Saturn version of Resident Evil 2 was announced while the first PlayStation attempt was in development. When the PlayStation version was abandoned, the Saturn version was also dropped, though it is unclear if development had even started.

Late in the Saturn's lifespan, Capcom re-announced Resident Evil 2 for the Saturn based on the new Resident Evil 2 that utilised their new 4MB cartridge. This too was cancelled, with the developers claiming they were unable to capture the quality of the PlayStation version.

Resident Evil 4, PlayStation 2 & GameCube
The game Devil May Cry was originally intended to be a Resident Evil sequel, but the game underwent several radical changes and was considered too much of a departure from the series. The original concept for the game starred a European police officer named Dante (who shared the same name with the main character from the finished game) who is sent investigate a castle that has been infested with bio-weapons. Many of the creatures in finished Devil May Cry were original planned to be monsters created from a new kind of virus.

Afterwards, Resident Evil 4 got its official start as a GameCube game. The GameCube version of Resident Evil 4 went through three different incarnations during development, each with a different premise, before Mikami decided to take directorial charge of the project and go on to deliver the released Resident Evil 4.

The first prototype of the game, known to the developers as the "Fog Version", featured Leon fighting what appeared to be a fog-like entity. This was to be the result of his infection with the Progenitor virus covered in the Resident Evil remake and in Resident Evil 0.

The second prototype, the "Hook Man version", featured Leon's fighting paranormal enemies, including dolls that had come to life, suits of armor (which actually make an appearance in the final version), and the aformentioned "hook man" (a dark, blood-covered/severely wounded silhouette/humanoid (depending on which footage you see) that drags a chain and hook with him). Gameplay footage of this prototype was featured in the Biohazard 4 Secret DVD and can be found by scrounging around on the internet. However, all is not lost for the two obmitted characters. Both the "Hook Man" and "Fog" will make an appearance in Resident Evil 5.

The third version (and final proposal before the released version) reportedly featured zombies as enemies again and would have depicted the events leading to Umbrella's shutdown, something only alluded to in the released version. This version was short-lived, rejected by the developers as too formulaic.^[12]