Cancelled Resident Evil Game Revived 30 Years Later

A cancelled Resident Evil game has been revived almost nearly 30 years after being released.

The Resident Evil series is one of the most popular properties of all time, and each new entry in the legendary Capcom property arrives, it’s usually a big deal for the video game community. Some could even fairly argue that today, this survival horror franchise is more popular than it ever was.

The first game in the series launched on the original PlayStation in 1996. After S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team investigated claims of cannibalistic shenanigans in the Arklay Mountains, on the outskirts of Raccoon City, their helicopter crashed, and the team went missing.

In comes S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team, consisting of team leader, Albert Wesker, Barry Burton, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Brad Vickers and Joseph “The Coward” Frost. However, the team soon encounters troubles of their own, which results in them fleeing into the nearby Spencer Mansion.

Oh, and to make matters worse, this Spencer Mansion is owned by the sinister pharmaceutical company, Umbrella, and it’s filled with zombies, horrific mutated creatures and deadly traps. Wonderful.

The original Resident Evil would not only launch on PlayStation, but also PC, SEGA Saturn, Nintendo DS and would even receive one of the greatest remakes of all time (in my opinion) on the Nintendo GameCube in 2002.

There Was Going to be Another Resident Evil Port

However, there was supposed to be another platform. None other than the Nintendo Game Boy Color in 1998. Sadly, due to technical limitations of the handheld console, the game got pushed back to 2000 before it was eventually cancelled by Capcom, despite being reportedly around 80% complete, give or take.

If I remember correctly, when seeing earlier builds of this game, when engaging in zombie combat, it kinda went into a first-person perspective, with the accuracy of your gunshots being determined by a QTE of sorts.

Now, thanks to some wonderfully talented indie developers, the Resident Evil Game Boy Color port has been revived, it’s about 98 percent complete, and you can play it for free right now.

Our first big Christmas update is with an amazing recovery of the final build of Resident Evil on Gameboy Color,” Games That Weren't posted over on X.

“Hotgen's impressive conversion that got canned.

"This is much closer to completion, and seems completable too. Lots to discover!”

Being 98 percent complete, you’re bound to encounter some bugs, and maybe even small sections of the game skipped. That being said, almost the entirety of the game is playable, complete with Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine as the playable characters. What a time to be a Resident Evil fan!

Hopefully, Capcom won't pull this revival from all existence, because that would absolutely suck.

The next game in the series is Resident Evil Requiem, which arrives on 27 February 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.