Resident Evil 2 is Capcom’s 1998 survival horror sequel, and the Nintendo 64 version is the port that should not exist. The original shipped on two PlayStation compact discs. The N64 used cartridges a fraction of that size, and the idea of fitting a game with pre-rendered backgrounds and full-motion video onto one was treated as a joke until somebody did it. The result is a genuine technical marvel and, more to the point, a genuinely good version of a great game.
Raccoon City
You play rookie police officer Leon Kennedy or college student Claire Redfield, thrown together on the night a disastrous outbreak turns Raccoon City’s population into zombies. Each has a separate campaign, and the game’s famous structure lets you see the story from both sides, with the choices in one run shaping what the other character finds. Leon is looking for a way through. Claire is looking for her brother. Both find the police station, and the police station is one of the great locations in the genre.
The Horror
Resident Evil 2 is survival horror in the original sense. Ammunition is scarce, saves are limited, and the fixed camera angles hide what is around the corner on purpose. The tension comes from management, not reflexes, and the game’s pacing between dread and release is close to perfect. The station, the sewers and the laboratory beneath the city are a descent, and the game makes you feel every step down.
The Cartridge
The N64 port compressed the whole thing, video included, and added a few things of its own: higher-resolution character models, adjustable violence and blood settings, randomized item placement as an option, and a set of extra files that tie the game into the wider series. The video is grainier than the disc version and the audio is compressed, but the game is complete, and playing it on a cartridge with no load times has a pleasure of its own.
The Remake
Capcom rebuilt the game from the ground up in 2019 with an over-the-shoulder camera, redesigned maps and reworked story elements, and that remake is the version most players know now. It is excellent. It is also a different game, and the original’s fixed cameras and tank controls are part of what made the fear work.
Where It Falls Short
The controls are of their time, and a new player will fight them before fighting anything else. The video compression on the cartridge is visible. The two-campaign structure means a good deal of the second run repeats the first. And the story, pulpy and earnest, is not why anyone is here.
The Verdict
Resident Evil 2 is one of the best horror games ever made, and the Nintendo 64 version is a small miracle of engineering that keeps everything that mattered. It is not the prettiest way to play it. It is one of the most impressive.
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