Resident Evil Gaiden

"Good GBC game, bad Resident Evil game"

Resident Evil is hands down my favorite video game series. Gaiden definitely isn't the highlight of the series, but it is by no means another Survivor. Gameboy Color has been plagued by below average, big name games. Among these disappointments are games based on movies and other forms of entertainment as well as ports of big name Playstation and Nintendo 64 games. Gaiden may be the exception to the latter.

Scared of Your Pocket? Not likely.
Most Resident Evil fans will agree that Survivor is the worst in the series and 2 is the best in the series. It should be a crime to compare Gaiden with the likes of Resident Evil 2 or 3, which is why this game is so underrated. This game brings a very questionable twist in the Resident Evil universe. With the previews of Resident Evil 4, it seems the story has already been contradicted by Capcom. The fight system in Gaiden is unlike any other Resident Evil game, it's almost more like a RPG than a survival horror game. The main problem I have with this game as a Resident Evil fan is that it's just not scary. The trademark of the RE series, the king of all survival horror games, is the scare factor. One of the most frightening experiences someone can have with video games is playing one of the RE games in the dark. You can't even see this game in the dark, let alone play it. Regardless of visibility, this game has nothing that will make you jump or make you eerie about going around the next corner. I'm sure most Resident Evil fans would have rather seen the Resident Evil 1 port that was initially planned.

RE aside, this is pretty good.
The gameplay in this game has it's ups and downs. The down is definitely the fight system. Instead of simply shooting zombies using auto-aim, like in all other Resident Evil games except Surivior, Gaiden switches to a FPS screen where you have to hit a bar in the center of a meter. The bar gets bigger as the enemy gets closer. This odd fighting system really takes away from the survival aspect of what is supposed to be a survival horror game like the other Resident Evil games.In the other REs you could just run away from or dodge enemies when you are low on health or ammo. In gaiden, there is no close range dodging, you either have to avoid them all together or fight them. Besides the fighting system, Gaiden is a very complete GBC action game with a very nice but linear system of finding keys and weapons.

Resident Evil games have always been able to scare and entertain people regardless of the story. Gaiden has only three playable characters. Two of these characters, Barry and Leon, are nothing new to RE fans. Barry was in Resident Evil 1 and Leon was in Resident Evil 2. The third character, Lucia, is a new addition to the world of Resident Evil. Although I doubt we will see her in another game. What happens in the later part of this game does not fit in with the rest of the series at all. I won't tell you how, because that would make me a spoiler. The game ends on a twist that is as good as you could expect from a GBC game.

Replayability- non-existent. There really is no reason why you would want to play this for a second time. After you see the ending you will likely not play much of this game again. Play time is another downer, as this game is pretty short and way too easy.

I recommend this for anyone that likes playing good handheld games and only for the die hard RE fans. It's a great game, but don't expect a great Resident Evil game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/03, Updated 06/19/03