On March 22, 1996, Capcom released the original Resident Evil game on the PlayStation and the industry was never the same again. The OG Resident Evil may not have been the first survival-horror game on the market, but it coined the term and defined the genre, inspiring countless copycats and kicking off what has become one of the industry’s most successful franchises.
My earliest memory of Resident Evil is when my uncle brought his PlayStation and a copy of Resident Evil 2 over for Thanksgiving. I watched him play from behind a chair because I was terrified of the zombies and monsters on screen. A little while later, I talked my grandma into renting the original Resident Evil for PS1. My brother and I sat cross-legged on the floor, booted it up, and as soon as that first zombie turned its head and looked us dead in the eyes, I quickly turned it off and didn’t try again for another few years.
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I was a little older the next time I tried to play Resident Evil, and I became utterly obsessed with the franchise. I played every Resident Evil I could get my hands on. I traded in GameCube and PS2 games to buy Resident Evil 4 on its launch day from GameStop. I played Resident Evil 5 co-op to death with my brother to the point where we maxed everything out. I rolled credits on Resident Evil 7 and then immediately started over to play through the whole thing again. Needless to say, I love Resident Evil.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
Over the past 30 years, Capcom has released all kinds of Resident Evil games, from numbered, main series entries to experimental spin-offs, with varying degrees of success. With it being the franchise’s 30th anniversary, I took it upon myself to play through all the Resident Evil games that were released in the US and rank them.
While there were a handful of poorly-received Resident Evil spin-offs I didn’t play until the marathon, most of these were replays, allowing me to go for achievements/trophies I missed or see how fast I could beat each game. It was a mostly thrilling, extremely time-consuming ride with high highs and low lows, and after much deliberation, here is how I would rank every game in the franchise.
Since this marathon only focused on US releases, the rail shooter game Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica is not included. The multiplayer game Resident Evil Re:Verse is also not included because its servers were shut down last year.
29
Umbrella Corps
When Umbrella Corps first released, it received scathing reviews and so, even as a mega Resident Evil fan, I skipped it. Now that I finally played it as a part of this marathon, I have to say, Umbrella Corps‘ negative reviews weren’t exaggerating. Umbrella Corps is a miserable game, and one that can’t even be fully “enjoyed” in 2026.
Umbrella Corps is a multiplayer shooter game where the player character is bizarrely stuck to the far left-side of the screen. The thing is, Umbrella Corps‘ multiplayer is completely dead. I was unable to get into any matches during my time with the game, and so I had to make due with the horrendous single-player missions.
The single-player missions in Umbrella Corps are full of repetitive objectives like holding a point on the map and collecting X number of samples from zombies. The game reuses enemies and areas from other, better Resident Evil games, but presents them in the most boring, bland way imaginable. Many missions last a mere two minutes, if that, and there were instances when I felt like I spent more time loading into a mission than actually playing it.
- Released
-
June 21, 2016
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Intense Violence, Strong Language
28
Resident Evil Survivor
The first three Resident Evil games are all great games, but the franchise fell off a cliff with the fourth game, which is also its first spin-off. Resident Evil Survivor is the first Resident Evil game played from a first-person perspective, and originally meant to be a light-gun shooter. It may be slightly more tolerable as a light-gun game, but playing it on PS1 with a controller is an abysmal experience. The controls are awful, there is hardly any puzzle-solving to speak of, and the game is over before it even hits the two-hour mark. It has the skin of Resident Evil, but that’s about all it has going for it.
- Released
-
January 27, 2000
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ // Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- Developer(s)
-
Tose
27
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
A 4-player co-op Resident Evil game where players prowl the streets of Raccoon City as Umbrella operatives is not a bad concept, and it’s something that should be revisited at some point. Unfortunately, the execution of the idea in Operation Raccoon City misses the mark, to say the least. The controls are awkward if not downright terrible at times, with L2 used to swap guns and X to get into cover, but also pick things up, but also dive, leading to a lot of unintentional chaos. The controls are also not particularly responsive, which only adds to the frustration.
Operation Raccoon City is a clunky third-person shooter with bullet sponge enemies that are not fun to fight. Most of the enemies have no reaction to being shot until they die, and the game is obnoxiously dark to the point where it’s hard to see. It gets credit for having a lot of game modes and for fun fan service. Otherwise, it’s a disaster.
- Released
-
March 20, 2012
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
26
Resident Evil: Resistance
With asymmetric multiplayer horror games all the rage, it’s no surprise that Capcom took a crack at the genre with Resident Evil, though it was quite the half-hearted attempt. Resident Evil: Resistance is a multiplayer game tied to the Resident Evil 3 remake where four players work together to survive an onslaught of traps and monsters deployed by the player-controlled villainous “mastermind.” Resident Evil: Resistance offers a range of playable characters to choose from, all with their own unique skills, and that combined with the co-op element gives Resistance some Outbreak vibes (more on those games later).
I was unable to get into any matchmade games as a survivor or a mastermind in my attempts to play Resistance, so I had to make due with the tutorials and custom games. Even though you can’t play Resistance how it was meant to be played in 2026, it’s still a more enjoyable experience than Operation Raccoon City, Survivor, and Umbrella Corps.
- Released
-
April 3, 2020
- ESRB
-
m
- Developer(s)
-
Neobards Entertainment
25
Resident Evil Gaiden
This is a weird one. Developed by M4 instead of Capcom, Resident Evil Gaiden is a non-canon spin-off that was released exclusively for the Game Boy Color. Considering the hardware limitations it had to deal with, Resident Evil Gaiden is fairly impressive for what it is and successfully recreates the Resident Evil feel of high-stakes survival-horror and exploration on the GBC.
Resident Evil Gaiden utilizes a unique combat system where players have to stop a reticle on a meter to land their shots against the zombies and other monsters in the game. When they’re not shooting enemies, Resident Evil Gaiden players spend most of their time exploring a cruise ship as fan-favorite characters Barry Burton and Leon S. Kennedy. The game can be needlessly confusing to navigate and there are plenty of frustrating moments, but it’s got a surprisingly interesting (albeit cheesy) story and is probably the best Resident Evil was ever going to be on Game Boy Color. It’s still miles behind the better Resident Evil games, though, and definitely one of the harder spin-offs to recommend considering how archaic it is.
- Released
-
June 4, 2002
- ESRB
-
t // Blood, Violence
- Publisher(s)
-
Capcom, Virgin Interactive
- Engine
-
RE Engine
24
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
The Mercenaries is a bonus game mode in some of the main series Resident Evil games where players battle waves of enemies all the while dealing with an intense time limit. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D attempts to take that mode and turn it into a video game of its own, effectively serving as a “Greatest Hits” collection with various characters and locations from Resident Evil 4 and 5 translated to the 3DS. The mission structure is a little weird, but back in the day, it was neat having a Resident Evil experience on the go, even with how barebones The Mercenaries 3D is. The game was highly controversial at launch because you can only have one save. It still delivers solid action though, and it’s definitely more fun to play than many other RE spin-offs.
- Released
-
June 28, 2011
- ESRB
-
M
- Developer(s)
-
Tose
- Engine
-
MT Framework
23
Resident Evil: Survival Unit
Most other major video game franchises have mobile spin-offs, so why not Resident Evill? One of the more recently-released games on this list, Resident Evil: Survival Unit is a mobile game where players manage a base of operations outside Raccoon City, upgrading structures and fighting off undead hordes using a variety of characters from the main series games. Like most other free-to-play mobile games, Survival Unit is full of microtransactions, and it’s overall a fairly basic experience, but there is fun to be had. It mixes in classic Resident Evil puzzles with its base management and fights, and it uses the RE2/RE3 remake aesthetic to great effect.
22
Resident Evil: Dead Aim
As a major Resident Evil fan, I have played most of the games on this list all the way through multiple times before my latest marathon. One exception to the rule was Resident Evil: Dead Aim, a first-person shooter that I have been curious about since I first saw it on store shelves in Walmart in 2003.
Dead Aim is the story of government agent Bruce McGivern as he explores a cruise ship overrun with zombies, not unlike the plot of Resident Evil Gaiden on the Game Boy Color. Dead Aim can be considered a follow-up to Survivor, but it is significantly better than that game, delivering a more traditional, albeit bite-sized, Resident Evil experience with better controls and more substance than its predecessor. It has great music and an interesting antagonist, but it’s way too short and the sections after the cruise ship aren’t nearly as fun.
- Released
-
June 17, 2003
- ESRB
-
m // Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
-
Capcom Production Studio 3
21
Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2
Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 has some notable improvements over its predecessor, like the ability to choose specific characters to be your AI companions, but it’s otherwise a retread of what came before. The Zoo level with the zombie elephant is cool, but the game still suffers from issues like long load times and the fact that it was an online multiplayer-focused game released on a platform where that wasn’t a big focus. One day, I would like to see the two Outbreak games collected together and remastered for modern platforms, so the spin-offs can live up to their full potential.
- Released
-
September 9, 2004
- ESRB
-
m // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer
20
Resident Evil Outbreak
Resident Evil Outbreak is one of the biggest missed opportunities in franchise history. The concept of a co-op, classic-style Resident Evil game is genius, but Outbreak released on the PS2, a console that wasn’t exactly known for its robust online multiplayer support. With no co-op available on a single console, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of people that played Outbreak played it as a single-player game.
As a single-player Resident Evil, Outbreak is fun but nothing remarkable. Players choose from a variety of different characters and then try to make it out of various scenarios alive, with the usual Resident Evil puzzle-solving and exploration. The scenario I have replayed the most is the one set at the bar because I always felt it best captured the feel of games like Resident Evil 2 and 3. Side note, you can also choose to simply break down doors if you can’t find their keys, which I always thought was a neat touch. The game’s hyper-limited inventory system holds it back when not playing in co-op as the AI partners aren’t particularly smart, and the load times are atrocious, but I do think a new version of Outbreak would have a ton of potential.
- Released
-
March 31, 2004
- ESRB
-
m // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
-
Capcom Production Studio 1
- Engine
-
id Tech 3
