



Resident Evil Title screen Production information Developer HotGen Studios, Ltd. Publisher Capcom Co., Ltd. (cancelled) Game information Platforms Game Boy Color

Resident Evil was planned for a GameBoy Color adaptation in a project outsourced to British company HotGen Studios, Ltd. Intended for an Autumn 1999 release, it was repeatedly delayed due to programming issues, and ultimately cancelled in March 2000 in favour of M4, Ltd.'s alternate proposal for a new game made from the ground-up for the console, which became Resident Evil: Gaiden.

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Development

HotGen was approached by Capcom to develop the game sometime before April 1999, and was initially intended for an Autumn release. HotGen was ambitious in its port of the game, and intended to make it as close to the original PlayStation version as possible, with the characters, enemies and mechanics as expected, as well as a new pause feature to replace Ink Ribbons, which was more convenient for handheld consoles, which were limited by battery life and the available time for the gamer.[1][2] Based on an interview with HotGen founder Fergus McGovern, greater variety in enemies was envisioned as well as a booby-trap disarming mechanic.[3] Problems however were taking place behind the scenes due to the significant difficulties in replicating a 64-bit 3D title (pre-rendered backgrounds notwithstanding) on an 8-bit handheld. McGovern would admit that changes had been made to certain environments, and there were "tight restrictions on the use of sprites that make things difficult" for development. At the time of interview, HotGen was hoping for a March 2000 release, a mere two months away, though it had already pass its delayed release date of January.[3] In March, however, it was announced that Capcom had cancelled the project, saying they were "not confident that the product would have made both consumers and Capcom happy."[4]

Recovered prototypes

Since the game's cancellation, two cartridges containing the game's ROM dumps have been recovered. The second one found, "Cartridge 2", is an older version of the game.

"Cartridge 2" is considerably more buggy than the later "Cartridge 1". The codenames which appear onscreen are based upon the order they were purchased by the ROM dumper. Only Chris is playable in this build and the game is very incomplete for the most part compared to the "Cartridge 1" build.

Both versions end at the Lab Elevator, although elements from the final areas remain unfinished.

Gallery

Cartridge 1

The " Bazooka ". According the description it kills enemies in one hit. However, it doesn't seem to be possible to equip it. The coding probably wasn't complete at this point. Barry giving Jill Forest's "Bazooka". Jill fighting a Zombie with a Shotgun in the Storage room stairway/Hallway. Forest's dead Body in 8-bit. Jill in the Storage Room under the stairs in the Spencer Mansion . Yes, that is a debug mode of sorts showing the player's current location. A Zombie in a Hallway. The Zombies don't lay on the ground when they die. Instead, They fall on their knees and stay that way. Richard Aiken. Chris and Barry seem to use the same sprites in the game. Though Barry appears to have been edited to feature his trademark beard. If the player waits on the title screen for a bit, the game will cycle through various backgrounds found throughout the game. This is one of the images of the outdoors portion of the mansion involving the bridge that accesses the waterway and needs a crank to work. Another background the game's "demo mode" cycles through. Yet another background that the "demo mode" cycles through.|Another one of the various backgrounds the game cycles through. Barry seems to be a slightly edited version of Chris's sprites in this game. The only addition seems to be the beard to differentiate his sprites from Chris's. The room with the huge deer head. The bar with the Piano in the Mansion. The infamous "Lady Drawing Water" Room. You Died........

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Cartridge 2

This is prototype build 2's intro. This build is much earlier than the one above as previously mentioned. This earlier version forces you to play as Chris regardless if Jill is selected or not. There are also more bugs than the other one. Unlike the later build above and the other ports' final versions, Chris starts off with his Beretta, Shotgun, and Survival Knife in his inventory. In the later build, he starts off with only a Survival Knife, Just like in all the other versions of RE1. This is actually in both builds but since it wasn't shown above, it will be shown here. The Zombie that killed Kenneth noticing Chris/Jill. The color pallete shows certain limitations resulting in many odd colors. This odd overlapping bug with the Zombie that killed Kenneth is fixed in the build above. This earlier build is considerably more buggy than the other since it is earlier in this port's production. As was mentioned earlier the Zombies don't fall on the ground when dead. Instead, they fall onto their knees and stay there. This is present in both builds. It's possible that the animations for the Zombies' deaths were simply not finished yet.

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Videos

Resident Evil GBC - Chris in the Residence





Further notes

It has been said recently that the full ROM for this game is available by one of the games developers. However the gentleman will sell the one of the two ROMs (one was given to Capcom) for US$2000. The website Assembler Games has attained all the money. However, the community was given both ROMs, not just the first build.[5]