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[finley83]

Being able to skip in-engine cutscenes in the GC versions is amazing for replays, hard to overemphasize how cool that is after you already know all the dialogue.

One big difference not listed here is the 1/2 second delay when loading new backgrounds on the PS1 versions, which is practically eliminated on the PC and GC versions (not sure about DC as I never played them).

 

[s_mirage]

PC
Same as the Playstation original with the following differences:

*Uncensored, colour opening intro video/Kenneth death scene​

This gets quoted a lot but it isn't always true. An ISO downloaded from questionable sources to test did have the colour intro, however, my original UK copy from back in the day has the censored intro.​

 

[Mr. Nice_Guy]

Love these kinds of threads, great work! Always an interesting read, especially for a game with so many releases!

 

[TheSeks]

You're forgetting that Deadly Silence also includes subtitles in English. Something the series didn't do until... 5?

 

[immortal-joe]

Playing RE 1, 2 and 3 on the PSP or Vita feels so good.

 

[Semajer]

I've always wanted to go through all the games, and mark out the differences, but I don't own all the consoles, or have the patience to go through them all.

It would be nice if people with the Japanese versions could help to add all the differences between regions for each release as well. I know that the SourceNext releases have a door skip option like RES, and I think (but I'm not sure) that the boutique is locked, and cannot be entered in the DC and PC versions of RE3 because of the extra costumes. The DC version of RE2 has some glitch were the animation for falling small distances can be skipped by running.

Although the GC versions of RE2 and RE3 don't have all the content, the cutscene skip makes those version the ones I would recommend if you plan on playing them more than once.

What do I need to do to get Capcom to consolidate all of these different versions for a single definite release that has all the content? I'd even pay full price.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

I dont know whats worse:the fact there are so many versions of each game or the fact I own most of them

DAT COLLECTOR ITCH

 

[andshrew]

I dont know whats worse:the fact there are so many versions of each game or the fact I own most of them

DAT COLLECTOR ITCH

Haha yeah.

OP not sure what you mean by Playstation Dual Shock Ver (UK Platinum label) in the Resident Evil 2 section as PAL / UK never received a Dual Shock version of Resident Evil 2. We did eventually get the NTSC Dual Shock version via the PS Store.

 

[Roldan]

Amazing thread.

As a classic RE enthusiast, I love to read about these differences. Already knew most of it, but still great work regardless.

 

[Draft]

It is insane that RE did not have auto aim. The years since playing that version have dulled my memory, but I recall needing to do crazy things like enter and leave rooms over and over to learn where enemies spawned so that I could line up my character before getting hit. I don't think it had the 180 degree turn, either. Talk about hard mode!

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

It is insane that RE did not have auto aim. The years since playing that version have dulled my memory, but I recall needing to do crazy things like enter and leave rooms over and over to learn where enemies spawned so that I could line up my character before getting hit. I don't think it had the 180 degree turn, either. Talk about hard mode!

Fun fact: The game did have auto-aim from the beginning, they just removed it from the US and PAL versions to artificially increase the difficulty. (Among some other stuff.)

 

[randomwab]

A lot of great corrections so far, thanks guys. I'm trying to go through and confirm everything now. A big problem with doing this is there are quite a few "Version comparisons" around, but very few are accurate. For example, I saw three separate sources saying the Cube versions of 2 and 3 have 60fps FMVs which, having just tried RE2, is absolutely untrue.

OP not sure what you mean by Playstation Dual Shock Ver (UK Platinum label) in the Resident Evil 2 section as PAL / UK never received a Dual Shock version of Resident Evil 2. We did eventually get the NTSC Dual Shock version via the PS Store.

Just checked this out further, and you're right. I saw a few mentions of RE2 Platinum and thought this was referring to the UK Platinum series release, but it was actually referring to the US PC version. I'll update the OP.

You're forgetting that Deadly Silence also includes subtitles in English. Something the series didn't do until... 5?

I'll update the OP with this one too. Thanks!

One big difference not listed here is the 1/2 second delay when loading new backgrounds on the PS1 versions, which is practically eliminated on the PC and GC versions (not sure about DC as I never played them).

Just compared the DC version to the GC and you're right, the GC background transitions seem slightly quicker. Might have to grab an Elgato or something to capture all this for an attempt at a definitive comparison.

It would be nice if people with the Japanese versions could help to add all the differences between regions for each release as well. I know that the SourceNext releases have a door skip option like RES, and I think (but I'm not sure) that the boutique is locked, and cannot be entered in the DC and PC versions of RE3 because of the extra costumes. The DC version of RE2 has some glitch were the animation for falling small distances can be skipped by running.

This gets quoted a lot but it isn't always true. An ISO downloaded from questionable sources to test did have the colour intro, however, my original UK copy from back in the day has the censored intro.

I'll try and look into both of these, but these might be a bit harder to narrow down exact information on.

I agree re2 on dc is amazing and run at 60fps but not RE3

Checked this out and you both seem to be right. I'll update the OP.

The regular DC with the original music is available on the japanese PSN store too, original NTSC speed and uncut intro/Kenneth scene as well.

Text is japanese but voices are in english, so if you want to grab the first game from PSN and have already played it, the japanese store is your best bet.

Didn't know this, with the speed this might be the better version but at least there's a choice. Thanks!

This is a weird one. The EU Director's Cut intro was uncensored and in color in the german and french versions...all the other european versions were still cut for some reason. And even in those two versions, Kenneth's death was still censored. On PSN you'll only get the UK version in Europe though. The japanese version is the only one on PSN that's uncut. (Though still in black and white, it's always been like that.)

I knew of this but didn't include it to try and avoid confusion, but I'll throw it in the OP anyway. Cheers!

I believe the Dreamcast version of Resident Evil 2 uses 320x240 backgrounds but the game does run in 640x480, so it's a mix of low res images and higher res 3D models together.

I just wish the issue about what resolution separate assets were running at between GC and DC would be settled.

This is the most important thing I want to figure out, because comparing both games side by side, there's a clear difference in the background quality but I'm not sure if one is native 640x480 or just upscaled. I'm trying to see if some friends in the Resi modding community have a more definitive answer on how each game handles resolution and backgrounds.

 

[Mufausa The 3rd]

Wow, this is exactly what I asked for. Gaf actually listens to people

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

I'll try and look into both of these, but these might be a bit harder to narrow down exact information on.

I can help for some of the regional differences for the PS1 versions.

RE1:

In the japanese version:

- You have auto aim
- Enemies have less health than they do in the US/PAL versions
- Both Chris and Jill have more health than in US/PAL
- Each ink ribbon pickup contains 3 instead of 2 ribbons
- The intro is in black and white but otherwise uncensored, all the dog and Joseph gore is there, Chris smokes, etc.
- The Kenneth scene is completly uncensored
- You get a difficulty description in the character select screen. (Chris = Hard, Jill = Easy)
- All the files have a background image, while it's just a black background in the international versions
- Both the opening and ending use very cheesy vocal songs

Opening Song

Ending Song

RE DC:

- All versions are completly identical in regards to their difficulty, Original mode (Or Standard mode in some versions) is based on RE1's original japanese difficulty
- The japanese version now uses the same instrumental opening and credits music from the international versions

Other than that, all the same regional differences from before apply. (Well, apart from the uncut intro for the german and french versions...I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Germany of all places got one of the only uncensored versions for PS1.)

RE DC DualShock:

- The US version is slightly harder again (Enemies have more health and you have less...though the difference is not as extreme as it was in the original. Also, 2 ink ribbons instead of 3, again.)

Other than that, the same regional differences as before apply.

_______________________

RE2:

In the japanese version:

- Auto aim is always on, there's actually no way to disable it
- You have more health, enemies have less
- There are less enemies than in the international versions and they're placed differently.
- A lot of the ammo and health pickups are placed differently as well and a lot more obvious (No hidden dumpster ammo or ammo hidden behind the statue with the red jewel.)
- The game over screen is censored, it's just a black background with the "You Died" text
- The ranks go from S to D, while they go from A to E in the west

RE2 DualShock:

- In the japanese version there's an additional USA mode under "Arranged", which is basically the US difficulty mode.
______________________________________________

RE3:

In the japanese version, both Hard and Easy mode (Called Heavy and Light over there.) are easier, you have more health, enemies have less. That's it, the difference in difficulty is not as big as it was in the previous games.

And I'm not entirely sure, but I think they changed the ranks from S to D to A to E again.

Both the US and japanese versions were censored in various ways with later re-releases. For example, in the very first japanese release the first hunter you meet in the hospital would decapitate a zombie, in later revisions the zombie kept his head and there wasn't even any blood. You could still blow up zombie heads yourself though.

A special mention goes to the german version, there's no gore at all, the blood is grey and enemies just disappear after they're defeated. They also screwed up Mercenaries mode as you can only get a time bonus from killing zombie animals, and not from regular zombies, so it's basically impossible to get a good score.

 

[Dog Problems]

PC
Same as the Playstation original with the following differences:
*Uncensored, colour opening intro video/Kenneth death scene
*Exclusive unlockable weapon for each character (MAC-10 for Jill, FN Minimi for Chris)
*Different alt outfit for each character
-No auto-aim

Whoa, I had no idea about this. A friend and I were obsessed with this game when it came out and only played it on the PlayStation. I assumed the PC version was the same so I never bothered to check it out. If I had know about these weapons I would have definitely played it.

 

[televator]

Fired up RE3 on Nintendont using the PS4 controller. Awww yiiiiissss! The GameCube Dpad was wholly inadequate for this.

Holly audio compression batman! The FMVs are also badly compressed. I can't really tell what res the backgrounds are running at. Some areas and objects look better than others.

 

[Alo81]

Resident Evil 3
Gamecube
-Backgrounds are 640x480 (Can anyone confirm this?)

Just checked, and yep they are.

 

[StevieWhite]

Having flashbacks to playing Saturn version without auto aim... the horror....

 

[GalacticAE]

The N64 port of RE2 had Ex-Files and the PC and DC version of RE2 had Nightmare mode too.

 

[oldmario]

Now for that Twin Snakes re-release...........

how about we just leave that turd in the past and never speak of it again?

 

[Junahu]

A couple more differences in the N64 version;

It's missing one of its ending credits songs [this one].
The CGI cutscene where Annette explains Birkin's transformation is the same for both characters. It takes place on the upper walkway where Ada meets Annette, but it's dubbed with Claire's voice (i.e. it's wrong no matter which scenario you picked) [here]

 

[televator]

Just checked, and yep they are.

Is this on an emulator? It doesn't look like that for me on Nintendont...

I'm literally standing in that front shot of the cop car and I can't read that sign that says "street cleaning"

 

[Diablohead]

Having flashbacks to playing Saturn version without auto aim... the horror....

I had the original ps1 version, auto aim is for babies come on now

 

[Alo81]

Is this on an emulator? It doesn't look like that for me on Nintendont...

I'm literally standing in that front shot of the cop car and I can't read that sign that says "street cleaning"

Those are the actual textures dumped from the games ISO.

 

[televator]

Nm

 

[TGO]

Just checked, and yep they are.

They would still hold up with some characters model updates, but the game doesn't look like that.

 

[Alo81]

They would still hold up with some characters model updates, but the game doesn't look like that.

Here it is emulated in-game, compared against the bare texture.

So the textures themselves are still the higher res, but definitely blurrier in game.

 

[televator]

Here it is emulated in-game, compared against the bare texture.

So the textures themselves are still the higher res, but definitely blurrier in game.

Wow! That's super weird. The game pixelates the backgrounds artificially?

 

[ResidentDante]

Wow! That's super weird. The game pixelates the backgrounds artificially?

Looks like it, wtf?!

 

[JohnSpartanLee]

Well, since they do exist in 640x480 resolution there's no reason why this shouldn't get an HD Remaster (port with new models).
REmake's backgrounds only have a resolution of 512x448...

Just port the game to e.g. MT Framework and then use REmake Jill and REmake/RE5/RE6 zombies/dogs/mercenaries instead of the RE3 models (and redo or upgrade the RE3-only monsters and characters).

Are all RE2 backgrounds also available in (true) 640x480 pixels?

 

[Eila]

Damn, I played 2 and 3 on GC, thinking they were the best versions.
I'll try to check the PC versions.

 

[Sakujou]

you guys forgot about the cencored version of re3.it had 'mutants' with black smoke coming out, you couldnt shoot limbs or their heads off and after 'dying' they were blinking amd vanishing while you still stood at that place.
german re3 was a gamebreaker, so no one was interested in it while re and re2 were so incredibly gory back then. 2 was forbidden to be advertised and sold in germany where minors could reach that item.

 

[televator]

Looks like it, wtf?!

I wanna see if the dreamcast version does the same thing. I don't have mine readily available though.

 

[ResidentDante]

I wanna see if the dreamcast version does the same thing. I don't have mine readily available though.

Please do!

When I see those wonderful RE3 backgrouns I just want to have a game running them in 1080p in full 3D, I would love to see it like that.

 

[Madao]

That's so weird that the Gamecube version of RE2 isn't the best console version, but the RE3 version is (at least for performance, but not options).

strange.

it's especially bizarre that they didn't port the N64 version to GC and went with the PS1 version.

Capcom is so weird.

 

[randomwab]

I've updated the OP again to reflect some of the replies, thanks to Alo81 for confirming the background resolution for the Cube release of 3 (If you could, would you be able to check the Cube release of 2 to confirm the same?), to Junahu for the additonal details on the N64 version of 2 and a massive thanks to Charlouie Jonesman for the regional information.

I've tried to incorporate all of those as well as some details I found from posting over on The Horror Is Alive board which has been very helpful, most notable with the following:

-Resi 2 Dreamcast has 2 missing music tracks
-PC releases of all 3 games include door skipping
-Slightly more specific Resi 2 DC and N64 technical details
-Some additional regional and censoring differences

Again, if anyone has any further notes or corrections, please keep them coming. I'll try and add credits in the OP and to try and tidy it up further when I get some more free time.

 

[Junahu]

I doubt this counts as a meaningful version difference, but there's no harm in mentioning it anyway, right?

For european copies of the N64 version of Resident Evil 2, you select the game's language (English/French) before the title screen. With French as the selected language, zombies and items are rearranged to match the Japanese release, and Ink Ribbons are worth 3 saves instead of 2.
The game uses the same save files for both the English and French versions, allowing you to save in French and load in English, or vice versa.

 

[HeelPower]

Just checked, and yep they are.

Amazing art direction.

 

[bengraven]

Looks fucking great in those pictures. Any way we can play that version or is it just dumps?

 

[Alo81]

(If you could, would you be able to check the Cube release of 2 to confirm the same?),

Cube release of 2 is significantly worse, the backgrounds are rendered at 256x240.

Wow! That's super weird. The game pixelates the backgrounds artificially?

I don't think it pixellates them artifically so much as in the backend they scale it to fit the game worlds aspect ratio and as a result of whatever scaling they do it blurs up the image.

 

[alf717]

These are probably minor but:

RE2 DC has a strange pistol gun sound when you fire it. It kind of sounds muffled.
RE2 GC when compared to the DC version there is a green hue going on with the image. Maybe the backgrounds on the DC version are cleaner?
RE2 GC if you let the game sit it will eventually pause the game. The DC version fades the screen
RE3 DC game models have a weird wiggly outline to them. Almost like a PS1 3D model but not as bad. Look at Jill's shoulders and you will see what I mean.
RE3 DC is much brighter than any other version and FMVs are washed out as well.
RE3 GC doesn't have that wiggly outline for 3D models like the DC version does.

Cube release of 2 is significantly worse, the backgrounds are rendered at 256x240.

I don't think it pixellates them artifically so much as in the backend they scale it to fit the game worlds aspect ratio and as a result of whatever scaling they do it blurs up the image.

Well that explains why the backgrounds shift slightly when I compare the DC and GC versions.

 

[SpecialAgentZ]

It's a shame we never got a Dreamcast version of RE1.

 

[SURGEdude]

I know this is an old thread, but it's highly useful.

I don't know if it was around when the OP was written but there's a feature complete beta of the canceled RE 2 for Gameboy advance that was leaked a while back. Pretty impressive looking.

Thanks OP for the list of differences, makes choosing a version much easier.